Edinburgh PR agency secures effective media partnership
WHEN our client CALA Homes took the decision to launch a dedicated £10,000 community bursary for good causes and charitable groups in East Lothian, a PR campaign was called upon to drive sign-ups and raise awareness.
With just one major regional news outlet now covering the area – the widely respected East Lothian Courier – we took the decision to work towards landing a full media partnership, giving the local paper regular exclusive content in exchange for its endorsement of the bursary.
By successfully involving the paper, to the extent that its Editor, Robbie Scott, will sit in the final judging panel, we have been able to land a series of powerful articles that have had an incredible effect – driving applications well into the three figure mark.
This has been done without any other forms of marketing – highlighting how effective local newspapers and effective content can be.
To create the best package of materials to make higher impact coverage, we first arranged for giant ‘CALA gold’ PVC letters to be made. Once they arrived, we coordinated a photoshoot with a local junior rugby team, the North Berwick Minis, who are sponsored by CALA.
We then proceeded to plan a series of stories, all highlighting the benefits of applying for the funding to local groups, helping ensure successful uptake.
From early April onwards, we’ve achieved the following highlights int he form of the six distinct rounds of coverage below:
- Round 1: Launch page in the East Lothian Courier, complete with application form, along with a front page teaser.
- Further coverage was then achieved in the Edinburgh Evening News, Housebuilder and Developer, Scottish Construction Now and UK Fundraising.
- Round 2: Further full page coverage in the East Lothian Courier, with examples of beneficiaries from a previous CALA bursary scheme – eye catching pic and another application form.
- Round 3: Further local paper coverage, with an update on the successful uptake – with applications already pouring in, just three weeks after launch.
- Round 4: A piece featuring local club, the NB Minis, highlighting the benefits of local funding and urging groups to apply.
- Round 5: Final call out – with just one week to go until the cut-off date we highlighted the final countdown, once again calling on all deserving groups to apply.
- Round 6: After the closing date and resounding demand, CALA made the decision to double the fund – with a celebratory page lead in the East Lothian Courier, bringing further good news to the region – just days ahead of the panel decision.
Using our storytelling skills and media nous, we took what could have been one announcement and transformed it into six identifiable rounds of coverage.
The results were astounding, once again proving the power and influence of media relations.
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