- In this anniversary year BAFTA Cymru wished to further raise the profile of their Awards, while introducing their separate Games Awards to new audiences
- Increase the coverage achieved in 2015, with national outlets including BBC Breakfast a particular target
- Use the Awards to increase BAFTA Cymru membership
- Over 2200 pieces of coverage for the 25th British Academy Cymru Awards alone, including BBC Breakfast, Daily Mail and the Guardian, as well as Metro, The Sun, Radio 5 live and being the most read story on BBC website.
- An increase in BAFTA Cymru membership, with an increase in VIP ticket sales for the awards
- Over 30 media outlets attended the awards and dozens of celebrity interviews were carried out on the red carpet as well as backstage
We’re used to bagging coverage across the world for our clients, but managing the PR campaign for the 25th British Academy Cymru Awards took our achievements to another level. When our client BAFTA Cymru informed us that Monty Python Terry Jones would be receiving the Outstanding Contribution Award from his writing partner Michael Palin at the ceremony, we knew we had a big story on our hands. But this wasn’t an ordinary award or an everyday story- Jones’ family had decided to break the news about his onset of dementia through our press release. We knew we had a story that needed careful handling but could reach the world over.
The Award ceremony was the culmination of a five month campaign, which saw our team head up the media management, controlling the red carpet and behind the scenes interviews for over 30 media outlets on the night. Highlights included managing BBC Breakfast, Radio 4, 5Live and ITV interviews for Michael Palin on the emotional subject of his best mate’s work.
Our efforts resulted in over 2000 items of coverage, the aforementioned alongside stories in the Telegraph, Guardian and Daily Mail, as well as being the second most read story on the BBC’s website worldwide. Our team were even quoted in the New York Times. Importantly, we ensured the media was briefed on the messaging that positioned BAFTA Cymru and Terry’s work in the light it deserved.
Rewind to the beginning of the project, and we worked with BAFTA Cymru to create two campaigns that would target the industry as well as general members of the public to raise both their Award ceremonies- including their relatively young Games Awards. Both campaigns involved handling confidential information sensitively and professionally, and careful liaison with clients in Cardiff and London.
For both awards we created and managed diary markers, interviews and nominee announcements, as well as drip feeding information to keep the story fresh. Coordinating the press accreditation is the penultimate element of the awards campaign work, selling the awards and its story to press and media nationwide and in the case for 2016, worldwide. The finale is ensuring that our attention to detail and coordination skills are second to none, when managing over 30 outlets to include their cameras, sound people and photographers on the red carpet.
