Project Description

Shining lights, Love Island lotharios and phenomenal festivities – Sparkling Bradford campaign captured the imagination of the district at Christmas with events, videos and Snapchat filters galore!  Approach PR supported the initiative with a two-month campaign of PR, social media and influencer engagement tactics.

The festive launch at the Broadway Bradford was a campaign highlight. It marked the start of the season with a host of celebrities, bloggers and Bradfordians celebrating the city’s Christmas lights switch on.

In the run up to and on the day of the launch, Approach PR supported with media liaison, influencer engagement and social media content. People used our unique Sparkling Bradford Snapchat filter more than once every minute during the launch event. And, it even reached more than 85,000 people over the course of the campaign.

PR and social media content reached a total of 7.4 million people over two months. That’s two million more than the entire population of Yorkshire!

Leeds lifestyle blogger, Lizi Legge, was involved with the Sparkling Bradford campaign. She said: “I was definitely surprised and impressed by how much Bradford has developed as a city centre since the last time I visited. I had the best time getting involved in the festivities. There is loads going on as part of Sparkling Bradford in the city centre throughout the lead up to Christmas. I would encourage everyone to get involved.”

Key results:

  • 28 pieces of online, print and broadcast coverage – including BBC Look North, The Yorkshire Post, The Telegraph and Argus and Pulse Radio
  • 92 key messages featured in press coverage
  • A total of 7.4 million people reached by PR and social media content
  • 85,000 views of the campaign video
  • 1,500 follower growth across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
  • More than 1000 visitors to the Sparkling Bradford webpage

Testimonials

“Sparkling Bradford 2018 was a great success. Footfall in the city in December was up on the previous year, while across the rest of the UK, footfall in December was 4% down.

Thanks to the excellent work by Approach PR, we reached 7 million people via the press and spread the campaign’s messages far and wide on social media, with almost a million people viewing the campaign video. The team really got on board with the initiative. They were able to creatively communicate the offering in a way that the public could understand and engage with. We’re looking forward to building on this in 2019!”

Ian Ward, General Manager, The Broadway Bradford and chair of Bradford BID