Photocall achieves extensive press coverage

Challenge

Extensive press coverage needed to be generated in order to spread the core messaging of the Partnership.

Solution

To illustrate the key messages – free help, warmth, energy efficiency, and four Local Authorities working together – we dressed four Council leaders in a bespoke four-person woolly jumper – which we got made by a local knitting enthusiast – and invited local press photographers to attend a photocall at the iconic De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea. Each of the authorities – Eastbourne, Hastings, Rother and Wealden – gained coverage in regional newspapers and radio, reaching an estimated 135,000 people, with a value of more than £17,000 for a cost of just £2,275.

The campaign image of a house in a woolly hat and the slogan ‘Free insulation at the drop of a hat’ was then used across newspaper adverts, a de-jargonised campaign booklet, the partnership website, bus shelter and on-bus advertising space.

Later press releases, tapping into national and regional news stories, such as Britain’s coldest weather for 18 years, generated further media coverage.

Result

Just four months after the market-launch, East Sussex Energy Partnership had 2,700 job-referrals on its books and had completed 1,050 installations, delivering £370,000 worth of assistance to households.

As a result of this solid programme of works, the Partnership was awarded with an increased budget allocation in the 2009/2010 financial year from the Government Office for the South East.