Client: The British Embassy and the British Council in Athens
PR Team: PubliCom/Hill & Knowlton
Campaign: To launch and promote ‘Britain in Greece’, an initiative
designed to improve Britain’s commercial and cultural image in Greece.
Timing: May 1994-October 1995
Cost: pounds 95,000
The British Embassy decided, early in 1994, to launch an in-itiative to
improve Britain’s commercial and cultural image in Greece. A two-week
festival was planned for September/October 1995 entitled ‘Britain in
Greece’, which would include commercial exhibitions, arts performances
and exhibitions, sporting events and displays.
Objectives
The objective of the project was to remind Greece of the richness and
variety of British culture and to show Britain’s commercial and cultural
range, especially in growth areas such as hi-tech and financial
services.
PubliCom/Hill & Knowlton’s task was to attract corporate sponsors to the
project. and, in the later stages, to market and promote the two-week
festival.
Tactics
The agency briefed the English press in Athens and arranged for the top
300 firms in Greece, with British associations, to attend a reception at
the British Embassy in July, where the ambassador outlined the project
and appealed for commitment and support.
Once the first sponsorship commitments were secured, details of the
project and the existing sponsors were fed to the Greek press in the
hope of stimulating further interest.
In February 1995 PubliCom officially launched ‘Britain in Greece’ to the
Greek and English media. During the pre-festival build-up PubliCom
targeted the press and encouraged the TV channels to commit to covering
particular events appropriate to their audience. Independent radio and
television channel FKAI, one of the event sponsors, prepared 60-second
infomercials which were aired on television and radio.
During the festival PubliCom arranged releases and press conferences
prior to each event. All those attending the festival qualified for free
entry into a prize draw. Also eligible for entry were readers of the
national tabloid newspaper Ta Nea, which, in exchange, provided free
promotion for each days’ events.
On 18 September two London sightseeing buses and a London taxi,
promoting ‘Britain in Greece’, arrived in Athens to commence a
promotional tour around the country.
Results
By January 1995, a total of pounds 450,000 had been raised from
sponsorship of the festival. No official measure of attendance figures
are available but around 15,000 people responded to the prize draw
competition.
In the absence of official data on media coverage, Nick Chaloner,
managing director of PubliCom/Hill & Knowlton estimates that a total of
one and a half hours of television coverage was generated during the two
week festival period. All 15 daily newspapers covered the build-up and
the festival.
Verdict
The campaign captured the imagination of the media, the TV channels were
reportedly smitten by the Red Arrow fly-past, which Chaloner says was
given ‘at least five minutes air time on all six channels’.
Apparently the press coverage for ‘Britain in Greece’ has resulted in a
pile of cuttings ‘several feet high’.
