We recently worked on an exciting and important PR and social media campaign that helped support Yorkshire Cancer Research with it’s annual ‘Give it Some Welly’ campaign. Centered around Yorkshire Day, 1st August, the campaign aimed to generate awareness and raise funds to help fund valuable research and support the charity in its work to save lives and support those living with cancer across the region. Here’s what we were tasked with and what we delivered:

The brief:

  • Launch a PR campaign centered around Yorkshire Day and the Give it Some Welly campaign theme.
  • Drive brand awareness in the region and generate action to help raise £100K for the charity.
  • Organise an official launch or stunt with the aim of achieving quality media coverage.
  • Use brand ambassadors, personal stories and examples of the charity’s impact to achieve high quality coverage in Yorkshire media, and engagement through Yorkshire Cancer Research’s social channels.

The campaign:

The campaign consisted of two strands of activity that both aimed to meet the objectives outlined above. The first part of the campaign was our art installation launch.  We partnered with Yorkshire artist, Anita Bowerman, and iconic Yorkshire location, Castle Howard, to create an art installation that represented all those across Yorkshire who are ‘Giving Cancer the Boot’. We had 195 wellies designed and hung on a ‘tree of life’ in the castle grounds. Each stainless welly represented 1,000 people in the Yorkshire region who are living with or have survived cancer. They also aimed to raise awareness of the work the charity is doing to help those affected by cancer in Yorkshire. We launched the installation by hosting a media day and inviting key members of the media to capture photography and interviews with our spokespeople. Present on the day for interviews included Hon Nicholas Howard, Castle Howard, Dr Kathryn Scott, Yorkshire Cancer Research Chief Executive and Anita Bowerman, Yorkshire Artist. Attendees to the media day included The Yorkshire Post, York Press and Yorkshire Life.

The campaign was featured by a range of Yorkshire press including BBC Radio Leeds and BBC Radio York, Stray FM, The Yorkshire Post and York Press. The art installation was on display at Castle Howard until shortly after Yorkshire Day and was available for members of the public to visit. Find out more on the Yorkshire Cancer Research website: https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/news/give-it-some-welly

Artist Anita Bowerman at the launch of Yorkshire Cancer Research’s ‘Give Cancer the Boot’ art installation. Photography: Simon Dewhurst.
Dr Kathryn Scott, Artist Anita Bowerman and Hon Nicholas Howard. Photographed by Simon Dewhurst.
Yorkshire artist Anita Bowerman & her art installation for Yorkshire Cancer Research at Castle Howard. Photography: Simon Dewhurst.

 

The second part of our activity saw us organise a Guinness World Record title attempt for the most people welly wanging on Facebook during one hour. We hosted the event on Yorkshire Day and in the run up to the day, we contacted a variety of Yorkshire celebrities; from MPs to sports stars and singers, to help support our record attempt and promote across social media. The celebrities that got involved with the campaign included Former England international cricketer, Ryan Sidebottom, Presenter on Heart Yorkshire Emma Lenny, Professional track and road racing cyclist, Connor Swift and Labour MP for Barnsley Central Dan Jarvis. We also achieved media coverage in Yorkshire titles pre and post event to build momentum behind the campaign.

As part of our work, we also developed a social media content plan for all Yorkshire Cancer Research’s platforms, including a paid strategy that was monitored and optimised daily, with the aim of getting sign ups on the Facebook event page. To enter the record attempt, you had to share a video of yourself wanging a welly and upload it to the designated Facebook event page. We’re thrilled to say that alongside Yorkshire Cancer Research, we set a new world record! We absolutely smashed it with 255 entries meaning on Yorkshire Day, we officially set a Guinness World Record title attempt for the most people welly wanging on Facebook during one hour. Find out more on the Yorkshire Cancer Research website: https://yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk/news/welly-world-record

Kirkgate Market in Leeds joining in the welly wang world record fun on Yorkshire Day. Photography: Simon Dewhurst.
Welly wanging taking place on Yorkshire Day in Leeds. Photographed by Simon Dewhurst.

The results:

  • 42 pieces of coverage in total
  • 7,245,338 coverage reach
  • 269 new social media followers
  • 54,185 engagements on social media
  • 8 celebrities involved
  • 255 world record participants
  • A new world record set!

We were absolutely delighted to work with Yorkshire Cancer Research on such a fun and exciting, but also very important and meaningful campaign. The campaign was a huge success from setting a new world record, to achieving multiple pieces of quality coverage and also devising a successful social media plan that all aimed to raise awareness of the great work the charity does.

At Prohibition, we work with a range of brands across all sectors, B2B and B2C, to create innovative PR campaigns that deliver real ROI. Get in touch with us today to find out how we could support you with your Public Relations. Drop us an email: hello@prohibitionpr.co.uk or give us a bell on  0113 430 4160.

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About Abbey Gray

Account Manager at Prohibition PR. First class journalism graduate, passionate writer and novice baker! Based in Leeds.