Challenge:
Co-op challenged Be Broadcast to create a compelling strategic PR campaign to shed light on the emotional significance of funeral songs and facilitate conversations around funeral wishes.
Action:
Be Broadcast rose to the challenge by executing a comprehensive PR campaign highlighting the power of music in honouring loved ones during funeral ceremonies. Be Broadcast leveraged the collaboration with Co-op Funeralcare to generate media interest and engage key stakeholders. The agency’s actions included:
- Data Analysis: Be Broadcast unearthed the nation’s favourite funeral songs by analysing data from 93,000 funerals, and this formed the foundation of the campaign.
- Expert Interviews: The agency secured interviews with influential individuals to provide personal perspectives on funeral songs. Russell Watson, renowned for his recordings of many songs in the chart, shared insights about singing at funerals and reflected on his own mortality. Michelle Monaghan, Propositions Manager at Co-op Funeralcare, and James Murray, a singing Funeral Director from Swansea, contributed their professional insights.
- Media Outreach: Be Broadcast implemented a targeted media outreach strategy, to a range of publications, broadcasters, and online platforms. The goal was to secure media coverage and interviews that would amplify the campaign’s message.
Results:
Be Broadcast’s PR campaign yielded impressive media highlights, showcasing the campaign’s success in reaching a wide audience and generating substantial coverage:
- Overall Results: The campaign garnered 527 pieces of coverage in total, with an impressive reach of over 267,695,900 individuals, highlighting the significant impact of the media outreach.
- BBC Radio Network:
- BBC Radio 5 Live featured the campaign, providing a platform to reach 5.5 million listeners.
- The Zoe Ball Show on BBC Radio 2 also covered the story, further expanding the campaign’s reach.
- BBC Radio 3, with a listenership of 1.9 million, aired content related to the campaign.
- Other BBC regional stations, including BBC Radio Wiltshire, BBC Lancashire, and BBC Cumbria, covered the story, resulting in a total of 238 individual pieces of coverage.
- Times Radio: Broadcaster, author and campaigner, Mariella Frostrup, hosted an interview related to the campaign, reaching an audience of over half a million. Times Radio featured the piece 14 times, ensuring significant exposure.
- Commercial Radio Network: The campaign dominated the Commercial Radio Network, with a total of 1,322 pieces of coverage throughout the day, providing extensive reach and visibility.
Be Broadcast’s strategic PR campaign in collaboration with Co-op Funeralcare successfully achieved extensive coverage across prominent radio networks about the emotional impact of funeral songs. It effectively facilitated important conversations around funeral wishes, and the high profile interviews with Russell Watson, Michelle Monaghan, and James Murray, highlighted the power of music in providing a meaningful farewell to loved ones during funeral ceremonies.
Read about how Be Broadcast and Co-Op partnered again in a campaign for compassionate leave.
