The challenge
VocaLink asked us to make its sponsorship of Bonita Norris, a 22-year-old attempting to become the youngest British female to reach the summit of Mount Everest, a top news story AND ensure consistent exposure to VocaLink’s Mobile Phone Top-Up service.

What we did
As Britons attempt to break records every day, Skywrite understood reception to Bonita would be lukewarm until she reached the summit. We therefore segmented the story into three mini campaigns, designed to introduce Bonita to the media and then build on interest.

We launched Bonita’s story on International Women’s Day, using the ethos of the day as a hook to seed news stories and interview opportunities. We issued just one branded photo so that Vocalink's logo was clearly shown in news-focused stories. We kept in regular contact with journalists to encourage further stories to be written during Bonita’s climb, and were ready to confirm news with the press as soon as Bonita reached the summit.

Due to a fall on the way down Bonita could not be contacted, so we improvised by offering interviews with her family in branded T-shirts in the interim. With local journalists camped outside Bonita’s house all vying to break the story of her arrival home, we had to find a way to provide the national broadcasters with the story first. We decided not to create a media fanfare at the airport and instead of issuing a general photo call, arranged for a freelance photographer and B-roll crew to take footage of Bonita arriving in the UK, ensuring we controlled the story, not the media.

We leaked the news of Bonita’s arrival to broadcast outlets just as she touched down and edited the B-roll into a branded video feature for online sites and news aggregators. We also offered non-conflicting print titles interviews to further drive coverage, all the time offering time with Bonita in return for a guaranteed mention of her Mobile Phone Top-Up sponsorship

What we got
In just 12 weeks, Skywrite generated over 300 articles, including GMTV, ITV London, BBC South, Daily Mail, The Observer, Evening Standard  and Look. Coverage reached an OTS (opportunities to see) of more than 182 million people and an ACE (advertising cost equivalent) in excess of £1.5million. Over 55% of all articles included Vocalink messaging and, more importantly, during the campaign there was a 4.5% increase on the number of people topping up their mobiles than forecasted by VocaLink.