Setting the Stage with Moda
Moda is bringing a new way of life to cities all over the UK and we were honoured to get stuck into their latest launch in Leeds for Moda New York Square. In order to show off exactly what Moda has to offer, including their private dining room, sky lounge, cinema room and two roof terraces, the team invited local media to enjoy an exclusive dining experience on centre stage at the incredible Leeds Playhouse. Securing coverage in Yorkshire Postand Leeds Guide,this neighbourhood promises to be something special and we can’t wait to see it come to life.
Cleaning Up With Bissell
We’ve never shied away from getting our hands dirty, that’s why our partnership with floorcare specialists, BISSELL, was a match made in heaven. Back in March we welcomed this iconic brand into the Carousel PR and Social family and, since then, we’ve been hard at work securing exceptional coverage across National, Regional and Consumer media. Highlights from the year include bumper coverage across most national and consumer outlets, with stand-out features across the Daily Mail, The Mirror, The Daily Telegraph and Evening Standard.
We also actioned a hardworking influencer programme and have landed BISSELL into the hands of leading clean and home influencers, as well as micro influencers across the car and family space. From a social perspective, in the last 11 months alone we have grown BISSELL’s instagram to over 23.5k followers, engaging with existing brand fans and welcoming a new wave of followers with creative content across the pet space with brand partnerships, charity tie-ins and aspirational competitions.
Walk, Walk, Fashion Baby
It's been a big year for events for the L.O.L. Surprise! team!
First off, back in April we held a star-studded L.O.L. Surprise! party complete with a DJ set from Laura Whitmore, an uplifting self-condifence workshop from award-winning speaker Inspiring Vanessa, dance-offs and a giant custom throne to strike your best pose with, attracting celeb guests including Rachel Adedeji, Katie Piper, Antony Costa and Rachel Stevens.
Next, we were challenged to make waves for the new L.O.L. Surprise! Fashion Show range, so we invited thousands of L.O.L. Surprise fans to Westfield in London for a live Fashion Show. The event included special guest Katie Piper, a DJ set from Gok Wan and a chance for guests to strut their stuff on the catwalk!
The team have secured national coverage in the likes of the Daily Express, MSN and Yahoo, as well as blanket social coverage from celebrity attendees across the events, delivering above the campaign KPIs in the process.
Thanks to all who attended, we’re so excited to be back putting on events that get people sharing. Here’s to the next one!
Checking In With Kimpton
Kimpton Clocktower Hotel is a stalwart building on the Manchester skyline and we were especially excited to welcome them into the family this year! Dating back to the 1800’s, the hotel oozes style and sophistication and we couldn’t wait to get stuck into their ongoing PR strategy.
Working with the hotel and the Refuge Bar and Restaurant team, we’ve delivered out of the box activations, collaborations and partnerships to make the hotel and restaurant the number one destination in the city. With creative campaigns from the hotel’s very own Music Concierge Service to the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel Jubilee Street Party and even helping pooches stress-free on Bonfire Night, we’re proud to be spreading the word about this fantastic Grade II listed icon across National, Consumer and Regional media. Coverage highlights include The Independent, Hello!, iNews, The Times and Time Out.
Celebrating Award Winning Work!
Social media networks can be a busy place these days and to cut through the noise, sometimes you need to make a bit of a song and dance of it - so that’s exactly what we did with our client L.O.L. Surprise!, picking up an award in the process!
As one of the globe’s top-selling toy brands, L.O.L. Surprise! must constantly strive to compete for relevance in a competitive toy market. Amongst a packed calendar of new range launches, our task was to make L.O.L. Surprise!’s new Dance Dance Dance range the most talked-about doll range in town.
We enlisted celebrity musician mums Emma Bunton (Spice Girls) and Kimberley Wyatt (Pussycat Dolls) to share child-focused Dance Dance Dance play imagery on Instagram, alongside 46 parenting micro-influencers to make maximum impact. This activity was supplemented with gifting and mailer activity to known influencer fans including Anna Saccone Joly, Casey Barker and Olkafiolka, Keith Lemon, Fearne Cotton and Becky Vardy to deliver 29 free of charge pieces of coverage in total.
Taking things one step further on social media, we worked with popstar Tallia Storm and 13-year-old award-winning dancer Princess K, to duet with JLS’s Aston Merrygold who choreographed a dance routine to the L.O.L. Surprise! ‘Crew REMIX’ single. The video content was shared on International Dance Day across Instagram Reels & Tiktok. Fans at home weren’t left out either – they were encouraged to discover which Dance Dance Dance character best matched their style through an interactive augmented reality filter!
Tapping into the trend of families hosting their own ‘kitchen discos’ during lockdown, we conducted a survey story on the top 20 songs families love to dance to in their homes. Combining this hook with brand mentions, we generated 4 pieces of coverage including 2 national hits.
We created one final moment of celebration, launching virtual dance classes with Pineapple Dance Studios on the L.O.L. social media channels. 600 families participated in the Zoom live-stream, copying professional dancers in L.O.L. branded clothing to recreate Aston Merrygold’s L.O.L. dance routine in their living rooms. Alongside fans, influencer families including Fashion Laerta helped spread the word, and releases were seeded into trade press, leading to 68 pieces of press and social media coverage.
We were absolutely delighted with our award from Influencer Marketing Awards to top it all off 🏆
Welcoming Silver Cross to the Carousel Family
For 140 years, parents have been putting their trust in Silver Cross and their expertise when it comes to keeping their children safe - and we were delighted when SIlver Cross decided to put the same level of trust in Carousel to look after their brand.
Back in June we were appointed by the luxury heritage brand to deliver (excuse the baby pun) their PR and influencer strategy and to prepare for a series of new product launches. The team hit the ground running and secured a wealth of coverage including The Independent, Hello and The Telegraph as well as key influencers such as Fleur De Force.
We can’t wait to see what 2023 brings 🍼
Bluedot
Bringing festivals back after a 3 year hiatus due to Covid was never going to be easy, however when it came to securing features in festival guides and roundups for bluedot, the team made it look effortless.
Taking place at Joddrell Bank against a backdrop of the Lovell Radio Telescope, bluedot had a stellar line-up of the likes of Björk and Porridge Radio and the festival placed within the top picks for best summer festivals for families as well as the best festivals to take in culture.
With coverage with heavy hitters in the UK media such as The Telegraph and The Guardian, we definitely brought this festival back with a bang.
A World Record Breaking Festival
What do you get when you cross kitchen disco aficionado Sophie Ellis Bextor with a crowd full of party goers? That’s right, the world record for the biggest ever disco dance!
As part of our ongoing work with our client Camp Bestival, we helped deliver headlines as well as some seriously smooth moves when we helped arrange for a successful attempt at breaking the world record for the biggest disco dance, with 598 attendees - all for a fantastic cause of raising money for Camp Bestival's official charity partner, the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.
Against a backdrop of a giant disco ball to tie in with Camp Bestival’s disco theme, the team secured coverage with ITV, Mail Online and Press Association.
Victorious Festival
Victorious by name, victorious by nature - because if there’s one thing that Carousel knows how to do, it’s making sure that everyone knows about your festival. Held across the August Bank Holiday weekend every year, this festival is regularly pitted as one of the beautifully located events of its kind in the UK, and when you’re on the Portsmouth coast next to a 16th Century castle, it’s easy to see why.
Running an always-on press office for this fantastic event included ensuring that Victorious was always in the headlines - all the way from each wave of announced acts, through to what’s-on guides, festival listings, influencer activity and post-event reviews. With an online reach of 2.4 billion and a print reach of 27.7 million, the constant beating of the Victorious drum throughout the year ensured fantastic attendance and a brilliant event. Coverage included stellar pieces in The Mail Online, NME, Evening Standard, Mirror Online and The Independent. Re-reading these pieces now is already getting us excited for 2023 - bring it on!
The Art Of Banksy Launch
When our client The Art Of Banksy wanted to make a splash when launching their new exhibition in MediaCity, we knew we had to take a page out of the rulebook from the man himself and hit the streets.
Banksy famously said; “Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a f*****g sharp knife to it.”, so the team did just that and our launch stunt stopped people in their tracks. Hitting the streets of Manchester during peak commuting hours, we brought some of Banksy’s most famous pieces of work to life.
