Maximising publicity for Martlets’ biggest fundraising event yet
Martlets Hospice is a charity that cares for people affected by terminal illness in Brighton and Hove, helping patients and their loved ones to live life to the full during the precious time they have left together.
Martlets appointed Fugu to manage the media campaign for Shaun by the Sea, an eight-week citywide public art trail of 40 artist-designed Shaun the Sheep sculptures, in autumn 2023. Our brief was to maximise publicity of the project to support the charity’s fundraising. Our target was to beat the previous art trail’s fundraising total of £310,000.
Working closely with the charity’s ambassador, Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), Shaun the Sheep creators Aardman, and the trail organisers, Wild in Art, as well with the art trail’s sponsors, we created a PR-led campaign targeting regional media titles, TV and radio.
In total, we secured more than 85 editorial results in online, print and broadcast media, including 6 TV pieces and 12 radio features. One BBC South East TV interview took place with art trail artist, Ali Lapper, and ITV and ITVX covered the trail’s launch. We also achieved front page stories in city newspaper The Argus and numerous BBC Sussex radio interviews with the Martlets team and ambassador Norman ‘Fatboy Slim’ Cook . In total, the campaign media results reached an estimated 394 million people.
What’s more, Shaun by the Sea was Martlets’ most successful art trail and fundraising event to date. Thousands of local residents and visitors took part, the trail app was downloaded more than 11,000 times and, crucially, over £800,000 of income was generated by the trail.
“We are over the moon with the amount of media coverage Fugu has secured for Martlets. It was brilliant to see our name and brand across so many outlets and to receive such phenomenal public engagement as a result. The team at Fugu were a joy to work with. Their passion for Martlets and the community we serve came through at every stage of the project. We are so proud of what we have been able to achieve with their support.”
Claire Kidd, Head of Fundraising at Martlets
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