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A Silentnight at Lancashire County Cricket Club

A consumer PR Case Study

SGPR was asked to help generate publicity around Silentnight’s sponsorship of Lancashire Country Cricket Club.
Here’s how we scored a century and then some, without nodding off.

Objectives

Although unlikely bed partners at first glance, Smoking Gun PR’s client, Silentnight, has made a huge success from
its achievements campaign, highlighting the benefits of a good night’s sleep for everyone from students to athletes.
As such the sleep expert’s sponsorship of Lancashire County Cricket Club makes perfect sense.

As part of this project’s next inning, our team was asked to help generate publicity around the relationship, making
it clear to both public and press why you won’t score many runs without first catching enough z’s.

  • Promote the partnership between brand and team
  • Secure national broadcast, regional and trade press coverage around the sponsorship
  • Create a buzz at the Lancashire Lightning V Nottingham Outlaws match with a VIP bedroom on site
  • Drive awareness of the Silentnight brand at the game, and the Emirates Old Trafford Stadium in general
  • Highlight the link between the success of Lancashire County Cricket Club and sleep, tying in with the overall Silentnight achievements campaign

We achieved this without anyone nodding off. Here’s what happened…

Strategy & Plan

Smoking Gun PR began by approaching leading regional broadcaster XFM, offering one lucky listener the
chance to win ‘The Best Seat In The House’- in short, the opportunity to watch the entire game, in the stadium,
with full VIP treatment, from the renowned comfort of a Silentnight bed.

After consultation with experts to understand which parts of the stadium were likely to feature on Sky Sports’
live screening the most, an area within the ground was designated as the Silentnight VIP area as part of the
brand’s overall sponsorship, which we then set about decorating as a bedroom. The radio winner, along with
three friends, would be taken here on match day, where they would receive their once-in-a-lifetime prize.

Lancashire CCC and Silentnight - A consumer PR Case Study A consumer PR Case Study - Silentnight

Measurement & Evaluation

Prior to the competition, Smoking Gun arranged a photoshoot at Lancashire County Cricket Club, visiting the
ground to meet with the captain and introduce Silentnight’s mascot, Hippo, to the club mascot, Lanky.
Photos were used for pre-event media outreach and on the brand social media channels. The XFM competition
ran for five days, promoted between Monday and Thursday of the week before the game, with the actual phone-in
taking place live on-air on Friday morning.

In addition to grabbing attention with the bedroom, Hippo was also present at the game handing out Silentnight
goody bags to fans, and participated in a pillow fight with Lanky before the match, before joining the regular
mascot race during the break. This was aimed at capturing the interest of Sky Sports cameras, thus increasing
awareness of the partnership between brand and club.

A consumer PR Case Study A consumer PR Case Study - Silentnight at Lancashire CCC

Results

The Best Seat In The House competition produced:

  • 39 mentions of the Silentnight brand name
  • 2.1million opportunities to hear the brand name
  • A constantly full switchboard at the radio station for entries
  • Sky Sports coverage, reaching 577,000 viewers
  • 8,000 individual Tweets
  • Total print and online coverage reach of 153,892

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