It’s been a very surreal year so far for Sundae, one that we would never have anticipated.
One of the biggest challenges to the lockdown has been leaving our office and working from home. Not only do we miss the social aspect but we miss the buzz of working together as a team, bouncing off creative ideas, celebrating successes and meeting with our clients.
However, even though we have had to completely change the way we work and exchange physical meetings for Zoom meetings with our cats, we have achieved some amazing results through hard work and determination.
We also came to the realisation that everyone is in the same boat and have utilised that opportunity to develop even stronger relationships with journalists by mucking in together and helping one another. Whilst they all sensitively share all the breaking news that comes with a global pandemic, they are also keen to keep audiences and readers entertained with more positive news.
Our main highlight so far has been working with our lovely client, Hoopla to launch a brand new series of Daisy & Ollie on its new home on Channel 5’s Milkshake! in March.
Daisy & Ollie, which is voiced and exec produced by British comedian Jason Manford, is a 2D animated show, which aims to help preschoolers explore the world around them and helps to answer some of life’s biggest questions.
Before the Coronavirus lockdown, we had planned an autism-friendly preview screening in Manchester to celebrate the very special episode created in collaboration with the National Autistic Society (NAS), hosted by a presenter from Milkshake! along with NAS ambassador Christine McGuinness but then the Coronavirus outbreak changed the world, and we found ourselves in the midst of breaking news and a whole new way of PR life.
We had to think on our feet and approach the publicity campaign in a brand new way. The new series was still set to launch and we were armed with an array of amazing celebrity cameos including Paddy & Christine McGuinness and stand up comedian Romesh Ranganathan. Either way, we were determined to make this a success for not only Daisy & Ollie but to also shine a light on the fantastic work that the National Autistic Society do and World Autism Awareness Week
In the following weeks, we worked closely with all parties in order to deliver an incredibly impactful press announcement for ‘How Do I Make Friends With Theo?’, the special Daisy & Ollie episode which aired on World Autism Awareness Day.
Sundae delivered an outstanding nationwide press, digital and social campaign to launch the new series and as a result, landed blanket coverage for Daisy & Ollie in nearly all key national newspapers including Mail Online, Daily Star, Daily Express, PA, The Sun, Metro Online and The Daily Telegraph.
With daytime shows such as This Morning and Good Morning Britain also in the midst of constant breaking news and adapting to a new way of working, airtime was like gold dust and we were delighted to land some key interviews for Christine McGuinness and Jason Manford on these shows via Skype, raising even more awareness around the campaign.
Other broadcast interviews followed, including Granada Reports, BBC Radio Manchester and also Channel 4’s brand new daytime programme The Steph Show, in which Jason was able to announce Romesh Ranganathan’s special episodes.
The Romesh press announcement was also picked up by comedy title Chortle and the Daily Star, which was fantastic.
To support the campaign further, Sundae also worked closely with Hoopla and the celebrity guest stars’ press teams to promote the show via their social channels, resulting in some fantastic reach.
Overall, the press campaign and celebrity cameo announcements resulted in some amazing national coverage stemming across entertainment sites, trade press, television and broadcast news outlets. It was amazing to see Daisy & Ollie receive such wonderful recognition for the special episode and the new series.
MC x
