Background
The Top Gear Live world tour hit Sydney for the second time in 2010. Brought to Sydney by Brand Events Australia and produced by the producers of the hit television program Top Gear UK, it was hosted by Jeremy Clarkson and James May on stage amidst the hottest cars, stunts and pyrotechnics.
The message was all-new, bigger and better than last year with all-new stunts, theatrics, jokes and a huge outdoor motoring festival featuring a range of interactive activities - a stunt school, classic cars showcase, Scalelectrix racing track, real Harley Davidson simulators and more.
Top Gear UK TV superstars Jeremy Clarkson and James May presented the show, along with local V8 Supercars and Bathurst hero Greg Murphy.
The objective was to sell tickets, to communicate this year's point of difference to attract both new and return visitors and to extend the message to a broader audience than 2009.
Our PR strategy for Top Gear Live 2010 focused on a strong, targeted and proactive media approach to hit the right media at the right time. We worked with a combination of big exclusive opportunities with the talent, as well as local angles that would attract broad coverage.
Despite limited access to overseas talent, due to their hectic tour schedule, the PR campaign was extremely successful, with majority positive coverage in the lead up to and throughout the tour.
Results
The PR campaign generated extensive and relevant coverage across all media within the key target markets of young motoring fans, young to middle aged men and families. We generated big-hit national coverage as well as broad, widespread local coverage.
We developed a proactive media strategy covering all key phases of the tour:
- launch of world tour
- country-by-country media opportunities
- ticket sales updates
- new talent, new partners and festival attractions
- arrival of tour in Australia
- live festival activity
- post event follow-up.
The PR campaign reached all target audiences through a combination of national mass consumer and lifestyle media, niche lifestyle media and special interest media, across all media channels (print, online/blogs, radio and television).
Our focus was on educating key journalists in each segment, building awareness and enhancing perceptions of the brand and event, and ensuring target audiences received consistent key messaging.
We built strong relationships between the brand and key journalists from an early stage in the campaign, while also leveraging media partnerships to maximise coverage.
Engaging major TV and long lead media early, achieved big-hit ticket sales early in the campaign.
We did not wait for talent availability or international news to generate major publicity, and instead proactively generated local angles and pitched unique PR ideas. We capitalised on local spokespeople involved with the tour to get local angles.
We generated more than 330 stories or mentions and achieved 55 million media impressions.
Media Coverage
Lights! Cameras! - Top Gear Australia, December 2009
Best planner - The Daily Telegraph, 12 December 2009
Win a double pass to Top Gear Live - The Age online, 24 December 2009
A career in the balance - The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 January 2010
Jeremy Clarkson - A Current Affair, 11 February 2010