Red Alert Media hits the target as archery raises its profile
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| Client: |
 |
GNAS (British Archery) |
| PR Team: |
Red Alert Media |
| Campaign: |
Raise profile of a minority sport |
| Timescale: |
January 2004 onwards |
Objectives
"We don't get any Press coverage, yet there's
always plenty going on in our sport," said David
Sherratt, chief executive of the British archery governing
body, the GNAS. The challenge to Red Alert Media was
to change that, and - taking on board the success they
had with the women's lacrosse World Cup in 2001 - they
were ready to rise to the occasion. Said Peter Jones,
partner and account executive:
"Archery's an Olympic sport, and in Olympic year
there's lots of opportunities. It's our job to exploit
those opportunities and make sure the achievements of
our leading archers receive the coverage they deserve."
Expectation was realistic, but the Red Alert Media team
were fired up for the challenge ahead.
Strategy Plan
Initially to work out the best avenues to explore,
and to maximise coverage ahead of the Junior World Championships
in the summer. The idea was to make the governing body
look busy and pro-active (which of course, they are!),
and an initial "must" was regular coverage
in the UK Sport's weekly newsletter. Getting the sport
in the national newspapers and in other areas of the
national media was also a goal, but a big part of this
project was to raise the profile of archery local, and
generate interest in the sport.
Measurement & Evaluation
So far, so good! Peter Jones sought to make the most
of the build up to Olympic selection, and spent time
at various shoots looking for angles and stories with
which to tempt the media.
There was initial success when the Red Alert Media
team organised a feature item to be broadcast on Radio
5 Live just days after they were hired. His next "hit"
came in the Eastern Region, when local TV, radio and
newspapers took up his story of the 8 year old "boy
wonder" who was tipped to be a British Olympian,
possibly by 2016.
But the biggest success to date coincided with the
success of Lord of the Rings at The Oscars. The film
included archery, and Peter had word that some clubs
had enjoyed an uptake in interest because of it. It
was all he needed! The day after the Oscars, Peter was
in touch with the national media telling them how archery
was "booming" thanks to the film. The Times
did a half page spread, the Daily Star did the story,
Radio 5 Live featured it, the BBC website carried a
feature item, and the story was duly picked up by a
multitude of local newspapers and radio stations. Channel
4's Richard and Judy programme also did a feature on
archery.
Since then, archery features in the UK Newsletter almost
weekly, and coverage of tournaments appears in local
papers, and - in some cases copy lines have been spotted
on Ceefax and Teletext. BBC Online have been very pro-active
thanks to Red Alert Media's enthusiasm. When the women's
shoot-off for the Athens Olympics took place at the
beginning of April, news was carried on Radio 5 Live,
BBC Online, Ceefax, The Daily Telegraph, The Times and
the Press Association. The local media in the areas
where the qualifiers come from have all been extremely
interested in the story, and coverage has been good.
Red Alert Media is now putting together a Press Pack
ahead of the Olympics, and monitoring the progress of
the male archers, who are still chasing a place at Athens.
The Red Alert Media team continue to look for any and
every opportunity to raise the profile of archery, and
are helped greatly by the enthusiasm and co-operation
of everyone involved with the sport.
Said one observer: "You were given a difficult
brief, but you've risen to the challenge with enthusiasm,
and the results have been very impressive".
Results
So far, so encouraging. Archery, like other "minority"
sports, will always struggle to achieve regular recognition,
but coverage of the sport this year has been encouraging,
though Peter Jones says there is still much to be done
- television coverage is a massive challenge, but one
that the GNAS and Red Alert Media are determined to
rise to. One item on archery on a local radio station,
as a result of the Lord of the Rings line, received
enormous response from the public. Said Peter: "It's
been a pleasure working with the GNAS, they're very
keen, very co-operative, and most importantly, go out
of their way to give us enormous support and encouragment.
Everytime we get a hit I take an enormous amount of
satisfaction, because I know how much it means to the
archery fraternity to be getting the recognition they
deserve."
www.gnas.org
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