The biggest challenge presented by the campaign was having a very short lead time until the open day, and the Big Cat team worked really closely with the college to ensure that the campaign was time efficient from the planning stages, right through until delivery.

The outdoor budget was focussed heavily towards transport media such as train station platform panels and both interior/exterior panels on busses. We organised activity on local radio stations, with presenters taking part on the day, and captured parents of potential students by featuring details of the open day on all arterial routs into Kidderminster. Competitions were run to aid our social media fan acquisition efforts and our contextual / geo-targeted YouTube adverts also proved really successful.

The footfall achieved on the day was 200% greater than the target outlined in the initial brief.

2011 hailed the launch of Birmingham’s Digital Week, a series of events which aim to educate and inform organisations about the use of digital and how it can be implemented in a number of areas to improve processes, turnover and audience engagement.

This year marked a new start for the city’s Digital Week with the launch of Hello Culture; a one day conference specifically targeted at the creative and cultural industries.

Featuring a mix of seminars, workshops and panel discussions the event explored how the cultural sector can exploit digital technology, innovation, knowledge and skills to improve audience development, organisational operating processes, raise the business profile and collaborate across sectors to develop new product practices and partners.

Big Cat worked in collaboration with Lara Ratnaraja and Birmingham City Council to develop both an engaging and informative event which provided organisations, no matter what their understanding of digital, a framework of how to improve their business through the use of digital technology.

Taking place at the Custard Factory, Digbeth, Big Cat were appointed as event managers for the conference and worked closely with the speakers to ensure all sessions ran as smoothly as possible. The team worked across four venues within the Custard Factory, preparing each room individually to meet the needs of the sessions.

In the run up to the event, Big Cat’s digital team managed the build and maintenance of the Hello Culture website which included the upload of session content, speaker biogs and blogs.

In order to raise awareness of the event, an e-marketing campaign was implemented, informing potential delegates of what was on offer, the latest speaker announcements and early bird offers.

On the day of the event, all four venues were filled to capacity. To enable global participation with the sessions, a microsite was set up with partner event broadcaster Event with Me who streamed live content onto the web. The sessions saw participants from as far away as the US take part through the live stream and interaction with the twitter feed.

Big Cat implemented an extensive social media strategy which combined tweeting with blogs, Vox Pops and Linkedin discussions. There were over 555 uses of the #helloculture hashtag on the day of the event, a significant increase on previous years.

Encompassing services from across all departments, Big Cat Group were tasked with officially launching the new £66 million facility.

12 months in the planning, Big Cat were awarded the contract following a competitive pitch with a number of other agencies.

The launch event was to be held for 500 VIP guests from across the country ranging from local and national dignitaries, funding bodies and supporters of the new build. The aim was to showcase the stunning new facilities which provide educational facilities for 15,000 full and part time students.

The events team managed the complete set up of the evening which included a light show, flashmob, contemporary dance, ice sculpture and an exclusive keynote speech from TV personality Chris Tarrant. Capital FM presenters Dan & Katy were also brought in to compere the evening and DJ throughout. The evening concluded with a spectacular 5 minute firework display to music from Requiem for a Dream which could be seen from across the city.

The launch was fully branded with the words ‘AMAZING’ which had been designed by Big Cat’s design team who also created a 16-page memorial guide which was placed in gift bags for all 500 guests.

The PR team managed all regional press around the launch which included interviews on BBC WM and coverage in all local papers both before and after the launch.

To hail in the digital era within the new college, a Digital Time Capsule was also created, containing over 50 images, videos and sound bites starting as early as the 1800’s.

In the run up to the event, a national and regional press campaign was triggered across print, online and broadcast media. Interviews with Reggae Reggae genius Levi Roots, The Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra and Gospel singer Monique were secured throughout these mediums.

One week prior to the event, a Press Day was held in Victoria Square, Birmingham which aimed to give passers-by a taste of what was to come at the festival. Olympic athletes Jonathan Edwards and David Moorcroft OBE were both in attendance, talking to the general public, organisers and press.  Local school children took part in a traditional drumming workshop and guests were invited to learn how to play Dominoes by senior members of the community. Local print and broadcast media were invited to attend the Pres Day and as a result coverage was achieved across BBC, and Global Radio networks.

Big Cat Group managed the build and set up of Jamaica Live which included securing nine street vendors and their stalls, a 20ft yurt, and large outdoor stage. In addition to this they also managed all of the acts on the day as well as their equipment and sets.  The entire event was built and taken down in 24 hours

On Saturday 23^rd July, Victoria Square in Birmingham was transformed into a Caribbean oasis featuring real Jamaican food, arts and crafts, storytelling, spoken word poetry and face painting. At the heart of the square a large stage was erected which played host to 6hrs of live music and entertainment which included a cooking demonstration from Levi Roots, gospel from Monique and a set from the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra.

Working in collaboration with some of the world’s leading international experts, Tutankhamun is the largest Egyptian replica exhibition outside of Cairo.

Big Cat Group managed the full build and break logistics of the exhibition, ensuring all artefacts were carefully placed to form this highly intricate exhibition. In addition to this, the events team took on full onsite operational management for the event which included staff, tour and merchandising.

In addition to the day-to-day logistics, the events team also organised a number of special evening events which featured talks and seminars from acclaimed historians about Ancient Egypt and its Pharaohs.

Originally running for five months before being extended for a further month due to phenomenal demand, Tutankhamun saw over 150,000 visitors walk through its halls and tombs before closing its doors for the final time in March 2011.

Through market audits, competitor analysis, service audits and staff interviews, Big Cat Group were able to develop a change management proposal which re-focused the team and its operation, enabling the organisation to stay ahead of its European competitors.

Big Cat Group provided support on a number of levels including event management, PR, marketing, design and website maintenance. The events team managed the entire running of the 2-day conference, ensuring appropriate venues were booked, rooms branded correctly and that all speakers were prepared for their individual slots.

Big Cat’s design team developed all of the branding for this year’s digital festival which included emailers and posters and billboards. In addition to this they also designed the Hello Business 2010 website which was used as a ticketing platform and festival planner for guests.

The PR team managed all press inquires for the festival and established partnerships with local publications such as The Business Desk to raise the profile of speakers and the topics they were discussing.

Taking place at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, the Monster Energy Extreme Freestylers tour will see some of the world’s top motocross stuntmen take to track and perform a series of death defying stunts in front of a crowd of 40,000 extreme sport fans.

Big Cat Group have been appointed to provide PR, marketing, design and social media support with the aim of raising brand awareness and filling Millennium Stadium to capacity.

As part of the PR activity, Big Cat organised a press day down in London’s Docklands, inviting press to take a riding masterclass with the world champions and witness some of the stunts that they will be performing on the tour. Turnout at the press day included News of the World, Independent and Kerrang Radio with many more publications such as Nuts and Daily Mirror featuring stories.

Big Cat Marketing managed a direct marketing campaign which included organising flyer drops and competitions throughout the Midlands, Wales and South of England as well as outdoor billboards and other off-site promotion. Advertisements on local radio stations such as Capital and Kerrang were also briefed, produced and broadcast.

Big Cat Design worked alongside the marketing department with the design and production of elaborate marketing materials which included posters, flyers and stickers. All the materials were distributed at key events across the country, focusing on specific demographics which were relevant to the Extreme Freestylers event.

The social media arm of the campaign worked alongside all divisions, profiling the event, its riders and competitions that had been arranged with partners. Its main aim was to push volumes of interactive content such as videos to audiences within the UK.

With a membership of over 1,400 individuals, Big Cat Group manages and implements a calendar of networking, lobbying and educational events for both Birmingham Forward and Birmingham Future. These events range from the prestigious Chairman’s Gala Dinner, the highly attended AGM, debates, meet and mixes, seminars and various speed networking events.  A strategic and integrated marketing campaign runs alongside this activity to support an extensive events calendar.

Big Cat’s effective media strategy and PR support campaign achieved national and regional coverage in print, digital and broadcast, which included a series of broadcasts teaming up with local radio station BBC WM.

SHOUT covered a number of aesthetics in order to showcase Queer culture including film, theatre, visual arts, music, performance and literature with headlining artists and speakers such as comedian Paul Sinha, Gay Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and performance artist Qasim Riza Shaheen taking part throughout November 2010.

The month long festival successfully achieved an ROI of 1:7 through PR bringing in over 46,000 people to the events, receiving over 26,000 webpage hits between September- November 2010, achieving an EAV of £20,601.40, and overall reach of 3,389,816.

Beyond Bricks was intended to encourage local communities to work together, empowering them to coincide and become involved in local issues affecting them and their neighbourhoods. A collection of artists, artistic organisations and individuals from the community worked closely with local residents creating a buzz within areas taking part in the creative projects.

Big Cats remit was to raise awareness of the various workshops and projects in regional and national press. Coverage was achieved across platforms in publications such as Birmingham Mail, Birmingham Post, Children and Young People Now and BBC WM. Almost 2,000 residents across eight neighbourhoods in Birmingham and Sandwell participated in a range of 90 workshops and events.

Big Cat achieved an ROI of 1:10, generated an EAV of £30,000, PR value of £90,000 and circulation of over 3 million.

Big Cat coordinated the theatricality of the player’s introductions and created a musical and visual identity through the use of an innovative light show.

Big Cat coordinated the theatricality of the players’ entrances and produced shows and animations to generate world-class entertainment for the audience. In addition to providing sponsorship enhancements, Big Cat also created and set up interactive video screens and created a graphic and musical identity through light and sound design and video projections onto the court.

For five days in 2008 and nine days in 2009 and 2010 tennis fans, novices, tourists, Parisians and young and old alike discovered a veritable annex to the French Open. Big Cat provided various tennis activities including a clay-court replica of Roland-Garros Center court, a mini-tennis court for kids, a Smash-corner to measure the speed of your serve, practice walls, and even a Jokari court. In addition to equipping the event with a giant 55 m² screen to broadcast the matches, Big Cat also organised several tennis exhibitions with visits from tennis legends such as John McEnroe and Ilie Năstase. A French Tennis Federation stand and sponsor area complete with a Lacoste trampoline were also provided.

In addition to a carefully planned marketing and PR plan, Big Cat Communications also developed a social media campaign to trigger hype and raise awareness around this exhilarating attraction.

Due to the target market, Big Cat felt Facebook, Twitter and YouTube would prove to be appropriate tools, allowing for easy interaction between ‘fans’ and ‘followers’ whilst distributing content continually throughout the campaign.

Facebook was used to issue picture and video content to ‘friends’, enabling them to see some of the incredible rides within the NEC. The videos were a great success, as the rides at Funworld were all incredibly visual.

As part of the launch event for Funworld, X-Factor stars John & Edward performed a number of songs down at the NEC. The Facebook page became swamped with ‘Jedward’ fans who wished to know details about their appearance.

Post-launch event a number of videos were uploaded with fan’s singing tributes to their idols. All of the videos were uploaded onto the Funworld YouTube account and then distributed amongst Facebook and Twitter pages in order to increase audience numbers.