The Brief
Winston S Churchill – grandson of the wartime Prime Minister – approached Edelman to launch the United Kingdom National Defence Association (UKNDA), a campaign calling on the UK Government to increase defence spending to at least 3% of GDP.
The aim was to deliver a successful launch event on a limited budget, securing top tier profile-raising coverage. The client also wanted press reports to increase traffic to their website in order to expand the organisation’s membership.
Campaign Overview
Edelman orchestrated a highly successful campaign which led the news agenda on launch day and in the weeks that followed.
"The media coverage - TV, Radio & Press - was tremendous. Thank you all again so very much - things really could not have gone better and it was a pleasure working with you!"
Winston S Churchill, President, UKNDA
On a tight budget and without full availability on launch day of spokespeople (which included UKNDA President, Winston Churchill, three former Chiefs of Staff and former Foreign Secretary, Lord Owen), we successfully ran a rolling programme of broadcast coverage across every major news programme (from GMTV to BBC News) and generated articles across every national newspaper (from the Sun to the Independent on Sunday) throughout a week of campaigning. This consistent and intensive media pressure led ultimately to questions and debates in both the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Results
The outcome was extensive top tier UK coverage:
- BBC Radio 4’s Today, GMTV, BBC Breakfast, Sky News, BBC One and Six O’clock news, ITV news, the British Forces Broadcasting Service and BBC Breakfast Scotland
- On launch day itself, there was considerable online newspaper and news website pick up including: BBC Online, The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Independent, The Guardian and in print in the Evening Standard
- The following day the story featured in almost all UK national newspapers. It was the lead story in The Daily Telegraph
- Website traffic to the UKNDA.org rose 400% on launch day and membership more than doubled