Red Alert's perfect publicity campaign makes it a Peter Pan-tastic Christmas for the Deco's Panto!
Think Panto in Northampton last Christmas, and there is a pretty good chance you will think Peter Pan at The Deco Theatre.
And the reason is that no stone was left unturned in publicising the show, which starred former EastEnders actress Louisa Lytton. Publicity for it was everywhere, and hardly a day went by when it missed out on a mention in one of the county's local papers, or on the radio.
And since the show's run came to an end on New Years Eve, the publicity machine ran and organised by Red Alert Media has earned the Northampton based PR company widespread praise, plaudits and herograms.
Self generated Press Releases, interviews with Louisa and her co-stars, high profile competitions, photo opportunities - the Red Alert Media team headed by Peter Jones and Lindsay Ephgrave did not miss a trick. And in the three months they had between being hired by producers Stage Right Productions, and the opening night on December 7, the media coverage they generated in terms of column inches was worth thousands of pounds in advertising equivalent.
"Peter and Lindsay were quite frankly phenomenal," said Jill Roach, of Stage Right Productions. "They didn't miss a trick, and proved beyond doubt that a properly organised, well run media campaign is worth its weight in gold. One Press Release used by all the local media achieves you coverage that would cost a fortune if you took out the equivalent space as an advert.
"Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of promotional and marketing options, and advertising is a very important way of getting infront of people. But in our case, we needed to be seen and heard, and the outstanding media campaign run by the Red Alert Media team took awareness of our show to levels we could only have dreamt about.
"Absolutely no stone was left unturned - even on the night Joe McElderry won X-Factor, Peter manage to turn it into local Northampton story, and sent out a Press Release with comments from Hazel Pude, one of our stars, because she also hails from South Shields.
"It was typical of Peter to spot that, as he spotted countless other opportunities for us, and it really was a top class service, which also included a crisis management plan in case of the unforseen, and preparing people for interviews if they, or he, thought they needed it."
Among the highlights during the four months they were involved, the Red Alert Media team sent out 24 Press Releases in 16 weeks, all of which were used. They organised media interviews with all the leading cast members, and some members of the production team too, when they sensed a good story, and generated a number of photo opportunities.
The Peter Pan cast switched on the Christmas Lights in Daventry, Rugby, Kettering, Rushden, Market Harborough, and Brackley, and were part of the fun in Northampton, and during its run, the show had visits from The Mayor, the local MP and a number of local celebrities.
Said Peter Jones: "I was very proud of the work we did with the Peter Pan show, but it's what we were hired for, and we set out to achieve that kind of publicity for all our clients if it's appropriate and achievable. We work very hard, and it's been very rewarding having people who I don't know coming up to me at business events and congratulating me for what we achieved for Peter Pan. It's nice to be noticed and recognised.
"But we were part of a team, from Stage Right Productions, who were fantastic to work for and with, to the cast, and of course, the marketing company - and I have to put a word in for Steve Bishop and his team at Beach Marketing, who complimented our services, and we developed a great rapport and understanding of each others talents and contributions.
"And that is a very important point about promoting your company or your event - make sure you have people doing the jobs that they do know, rather than the jobs that they say they know. I don't pretend to be an expert on marketing, and therefore stick to what I know best - achieving good, positive publicity; Steve Bishop doesn't pretend to be an expert in PR and dealing with the media, so we had our areas of responsibility, and it worked a treat."
So the message from Peter is to make sure you put round pegs in round holes. And that a busy publicity machine can be worth its weight in gold. As Red Alert Media proved with the Peter Pan panto!
January 24th, 2010 |
