Not the usual beast!

Last night Brando won the EVENT award category at the prestigious CIPR (Chartered Institute of PR) Excellence Awards "Belting out a hit at Christmas has become as festive as scoffing mince pies". The Sun, Dec 2009 The CIPR Excellence Awards are the most revered in the PR industry and getting to the final is a massive coup. Last night Brando's GATWICK FACTOR won the EVENT category award against a number of extremely tough competitors. Following the sale of Gatwick by BAA to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), Brando were briefed to build the airport's profile, develop passenger loyalty and secure as much positive coverage and buzz as possible in the lead up to Christmas. Brando's solution was to launch the "Gatwick Factor" – a high-tech karaoke competition held in a giant, inflatable snow globe. X Factor runner's up, Stacey Solomon and Olly Murs opened the event, generating high profile PR coverage as they performed for passengers and engaged with crowds. Passenger's karaoke performances were filmed, uploaded onto a website and voted for by the public. Social media sites went wild with comments and 22,000 people voted across 112 countries. The judges felt it was a fun, creative, high impact event that also included an online experience. Results were outstanding, with an ROI of 1:22 and 86% of passengers saying it made their experience more enjoyable, as well as creating long term value for the airport. Not a bad day's work really...

Brando were briefed to develop an engaging, newsworthy, Xmas experience for Gatwick passengers. We created the Gatwick Factor – a karaoke competition…hosted in a snow globe complete with fake snow and Christmas trees! We launched three days after the X Factor TV final and negotiated runner’s up, Stacie and Olly to make it their first ever public gig and open the event. Santa came early for Gatwick as the event was covered by London Tonight, BBC, Channel Five News and most major print, radio and digital media. The campaign results were outstanding; a PR value of nearly 3m and an ROI of 20:1 - which meant everyone could have a very Merry Christmas!