March 2011 saw the launch of our Comic Relief campaign for home wares brand, HomeSense, where we got creative for charity. Joining forces with Liberty, a limited edition bag was designed for Red Nose Day which we promoted with a ‘bling your bag bar’, where shoppers customised their bags for free. Even Liz McLarnon got herself one!
RunLiverpool Marathon 2011 was a huge highlight for us as we launched the event – back after two decades – to press and dignitaries at the Liver Building before running the nine-month PR campaign leading up to the run. As well as attracting celebrity ambassadors, Jamie Carragher and high profile sponsors, we generated £2.5m worth of broadcast, national and online coverage including the BBC and ITV. The event contributed £3m into Liverpool’s economy and attracted over 9000 runners and 30,000 spectators.
Well, you know we love our food, and 2011 was a great year for Taste Cumbria and the Liverpool Food and Drink festival. The Taste Cumbria Food Festival, listed by The Guardian as one of the best food festivals in the country, attracted over 20,000 visitors thanks to our innovative communication strategy. We undertook all branding for the event and carried out an integrated campaign encompassing advertising, PR and marketing activity. The high quality coverage we secured included the Financial Times, the Guardian and BBC.
We also took Taste Cumbria to the Radio One Big Weekend where we promoted the brand of luxury Cumbria hotels and restaurants to the world’s biggest musicians including Lady Gaga and The Black Eyed Peas.
The Taste Cumbria events began in February when we held a Food Tourism Summit. More than 200 hospitality professionals, restaurant owners and local producers flocked to attend talks and seminars from big names in the industry including Jay Rayner, Simon Rogan, Matthew Fort and Edwin Booth.
The Liverpool Food and Drink Festival was our best yet and attracted thousands of foodies, more than 100 bars, restaurants and producers and an A-list line-up of celebrity chefs. This is one of the UK’s biggest public food festivals and we were delighted to organise the attractions for the weekend that included cooking master-classes, a dedicated music zone and vintage wine area. The event even won the Culture Award at the Juice FM Style Awards!
To end the festival with a bang, we held the Liverpool Food and Drink Festival Awards in a glittering ceremony to honour the very best of Liverpool’s bars and dining. Celebrity baker, Paul Hollywood, hosted the night held in Camp and Furnace – the venue in the city – where 300 guests were treated to a summer picnic theme.
Launching the fabulous addition to Liverpool’s hotel scene, Hotel Indigo, was a fantastic night. Marco Pierre-White, Jennifer Ellison and Amanda Harrington were just some of the celebrities that attended the orange carpet event, sampled Cotton Candy Martinis and enjoyed the live music and cool DJs.
We’ve also been involved in some great projects for Liverpool City Council where we’ve brought in exhibitors and concessions to large-scale public events such as Bonfire Night celebrations, the waterfront event ‘On the Waterfront’ and the Hub festival.