Since the partnership formed between Sheffield Theatres and Meadowhall in late 2016, which aimed to allow children in the S9 area of Sheffield (where engagement with the arts is at its lowest in the city) to be able to experience live theatre and have access to a rich cultural education, MK were required to promote Oona the Elephant – a life size elephant puppet from the play ‘Running Wild’ – and its visit to Meadowhall.

Children from Concord Junior School were invited to get up close and personal with Oona as she walked through the malls of Meadowhall on March 3^rd 2017.

Objective

Our main objective was to ensure maximum coverage for this amazing event; we were tasked with getting at least two broadcast to centre. This in turn would raise awareness of the collaboration between the two iconic Sheffield names and the work they are collectively doing to boost arts education in the city.

Strategy

MK were tasked with liaising with the school to visit Meadowhall for Oona’s visit; our previous connections with Concord Junior School and Meadowhall’s existing relationship with them meant we were able to quickly and easily identify them as a key school to be involved in the project.

MK then put together a Media Advisory to send out to all consumer journalists within the area; this was then followed with a follow up call to gauge interest and availability for the day.

MK arranged for a photographer to be in centre on the day and put together a comprehensive brief on what was to take place for Oona’s visit and the exact shots needed to gain coverage in local and regional publications.

MK followed up all previous journalist interactions to ensure attendance for the day and liaised with contacts of Meadowhall and Sheffield Theatres to make sure spokespeople, visuals and allocation were all available for press attendance.

Post-event, MK distributed a selection of images and a press release to all local and regional press contacts both online and in print.

Results

We received coverage from the following:

• ITV Calendar (evening bulletin)
• BBC Look North (evening bulletin)
• BBC Radio Sheffield (x1 afternoon preview, x1 drive time feature)
• Sheffield Live
• ITV news (web)
• BBC news (web)

Total broadcast for this event equalled to 15 minutes and 7 seconds and total AVE was £92,925.35

The event received consistent footfall for the duration of its 6 week run – which was fantastic!