Case Studies > PR > AIM Series

The Challenge

• To create and implement a high impact PR campaign that would gain maximum cut-through media exposure and would support and assist in establishing the Orange AIM Series and the Orange BRITS as the official platform and competition circuit for professional snowboarding and freeskiing in the UK.

Our Approach

• The Soul Sports in-house PR team created and implemented an extensive PR campaign that would achieve quality pre and post event coverage to maximise exposure of the Orange AIM Series events, the Orange BRITS and the events supportive sponsors, across all media sectors, including national, regional, mainstream and core.
  

• Focusing on four key timelines, including long lead (pre-event), short lead (pre-event), on-site and post event, the PR campaign used contemporary and effective tactics, in keeping with the tradition of the sports, to communicate all major elements of the events amongst target publics to ultimately maximise CORE public and media attendance as well as competitor participation at the Orange AIM Series events and the Orange BRITS.
  

• As a major part of the Orange AIM Series is a regional element, the PR team also integrated an extensive regional media campaign into the overall PR plan, with a key feature of the campaign including utilising Orange AIM Series national and local ‘activists’ in media relations, to promote participation at the various events, as well as create background noise for the upcoming Orange Brits.

• Soul Sports and Orange decided to incorporate a new element to the Orange BRITS 2006 competition to provide British skiers and snowboarders the opportunity to set the standard in a totally new and exhilarating event. The 'Orange Air Time Event' was created, where competitors would jump from a crane suspended high above a free-standing snow quarter pipe. As this had never been staged before in Europe and had only ever been attempted once before anywhere in the world it created a headline grabbing PR tactic resulting in increased widespread coverage of the stunt and ultimately the event.

Results

• £4,171,324 PR value for Orange AIM Series 2006, as supplied by independent media analysis consultancy, Metrica

• Core - 50 Titles included: Whitelines, Document, Snowboard UK etc

• Mainstream - 90 Titles included The Guardian, Boys Toys, Stuff, Maxim, Trace

• Regional - 58 Titles included Yorkshire Evening Post, Sheffield Star, MK News, Bracknell Times

• TV - 18 Titles included Freesports on Four, Extreme Channel, ITV West Country

• Radio - 15 Titles included BBC Radio Lancashire, Radio 1, Revolution FM, Horizon FM

• View 33 samples of exposure
  

Client Quote

• Mat Sears, Consumer PR Manager, Orange "Soulsports are a great company to work with. Not only have they helped us produce excellent PR results, in terms of a large volume of strongly branded and on message coverage throughout the Orange AIM Series and BRITS, but also they consistently offer professional insight, advice and creativity in an area which is often difficult for brands like Orange to break into and sustain. I look forward to working with them again."

• Jamie Wynne-Morgan, Director, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment ""Working with Soul Sports has been invaluable to achieve a fully integrated PR campaign around the Orange AIM series and Orange Brits. Their contacts in the industry and core press are second to none and we worked well as a team to exploit these properties to their full potential".
  M&C worked on behalf of Orange to support the key messages within the sponsorship.