The brief
Sudeley Castle is as grand as it sounds – the UK’s last remaining private castle which was once home to Queen Katherine Parr, the last and surviving wife of King Henry VIII, who lived and is now buried there. The Grade I listed castle opens to the public seasonally, hosting a wide variety of events, and our job was to help increase footfall during key periods as we emerged from lockdowns in 2022.
What we did
A strong media relations approach targeting media within a two-hour radius, including national press, was the strategy for Sudeley, with it’s reopening event in April 2022 the main focus of early activity. As part of its conservation efforts the ‘Sudeley Sculpture Safari’ was brought to life again in 2022, this time with an ‘elephant in the room’ to celebrate British wildlife – a giant hedgehog sculpture. Given the incredible photography and visual storytelling the safari offered, we invited print, online, and broadcast media to a special press reveal event, landing coverage on places like ITV, BBC Gloucestershire, The Guardian, and The Times.
We also arranged for ITV West Country to broadcast its daily weather forecast live from the grounds in front of some of the sculptures for an additional media hit.
Other events were used to promote the Sculpture Safari throughout the year, including World Elephant Day in August which included having actress, conservationist, and Cotswold local Liz Hurley visiting the elephant sculptures at the castle to celebrate. Coverage included pieces in hello! magazine, MailOnline, and the Daily Express.
Finally, Sudeley Castle and Gardens is also a popular wedding venue, so press office outreach also focused on wedding venue round-ups in key press, including Tatler, Country Living, and Cotswold Life.
Footfall increased 16% and was back to pre-pandemic levels thanks to the coverage, interesting events and the British weather being kinder than in previous years!
Want to see how a strong media relations strategy can help your business? Get in touch!