The Brief
MediaCity has been growing its stature over the past decade as a destination to live, work and play. In 2023, it announced the launch of Central Bay – a £3.5m food and drink destination that was the first of its kind in Salford, and one of the biggest in the North.
Carousel was tasked with creating a programme of announcements and media moments over the duration of six months, to ensure Central Bay became the go-to destination from launch.
Our Response
We curated six months’ worth of activity to ensure hype was built, and consideration to attend was sustained post-launch. Our activity was built on a solid calendar of news announcements, such as initial offering reveals, followed by callouts for independent chefs to get involved, and full kitchen lineup ahead of doors opening. Throughout the duration of the campaign, we worked with regional media and local content creators to secure standalone review pieces and event listings, continuing momentum.
Earned coverage was supported by strategic media and influencer partnerships, ensuring maximum brand messaging was communicated across the board.
The launch event itself was a spectacle of food and entertainment - where Carousel helped manage a guestlist of over 400 attendees, as well as organising and hosting exclusive media shoots with all key regional press.
"Central Bay was a huge project of MediaCity and the region, and we knew it’d be in safe hands with the team at Carousel. It was great to see the team craft a media plan from start to finish - strategising not only all the key announcements around the food hall, but also helping manage the grand launch which saw hundreds of VIPs as well as all key media through the doors"
The Results
The launch was attended by over 150 media and influencers, with over 50 pieces of coverage going live during the opening week.
The campaign from start to finish generated over 120 pieces of traditional and social media coverage, with a total reach of over 290m, and footfall and revenue a month from launch was ahead of projections.
If you would like to get your brand story out in all the right places, get in touch to discuss how Carousel can help.
