Our client
Espresso is a leader in interactive, video-rich classroom resources which are designed to inspire curiosity in primary pupils and improve educational outcomes. We carried out a pre-show media relations programme for them, designed to publicise their acquisition by Discovery Education and to maximise their exposure at BETT, the learning technology show.
What they wanted us to do
Our pre-show media relations campaign had to achieve a number of key objectives. They wanted Livewire to:
- Raise the profile of Espresso and drive show traffic to their stand
- Launch Espresso’s new digital education content developed to help primary schools meet the demands of the new curriculum introduced by the Department for Education (DfE)
- Position Espresso as experts on coding, as well as spelling, grammar and punctuation
- Publicise the acquisition of Espresso by Discovery Education, a global leader in curriculum-based digital content for classrooms, powered by Discovery Communications, the number one non-fiction media company in the world
- Develop ongoing relations with the Department for Education
How we did it
Our campaign ran for six months leading up to the show and our media relations strategy included:
- A vigorous media relations programme to guarantee significant pre-show coverage and drive traffic to the stand
- Executive profiling and speaker bureau campaign for key spokespeople designed to position Espresso as experts in curriculum change
- The preparation of entries for the BETT Awards
- High level networking activities to develop relationships with the DfE and significant stakeholders
Five months before the show, we arranged a brainstorming session with the editor of the Times Educational Supplement’s ICT Guide regarding content and Espresso’s contribution to each particular feature.
In addition, we created a soundbite bible for their BAFTA-award winning Director of Content, Lewis Bronze MBE, which helped to secure interviews, opinion pieces and by-lined articles before the show, and which was hugely effective in positioning Espresso as experts in curriculum change.
We also pitched the benefits of a stand visit to Michael Gove, now former Minister of State for Education and Elizabeth Truss, now former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education. Obviously, we also made sure that we had suitable resources and goody bags to engage with the Gove and Truss children and so maximise the length of time each Minister stayed on the stand!
What we achieved for them
Overall, significant results were achieved on a relatively low budget, making it an extremely cost-effective exercise for Espresso.
This PR campaign was an enormous success and led to:
- Ministerial visits to the Espresso stand by Michael Gove, now former Secretary of State for Education, Elizabeth Truss, now former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education, and ongoing dialogue with the DfE after the show
- Eight on-stand meetings with leading journalists resulting in significant post-show exposure
- Significant coverage in top education trade titles – Primary Teacher Update, ICT in Education, e-Learning Update, Parent & Teacher Magazine, Education Business, ICT for Education, Education Investor, SecEd, QA Education, Education Technology, Innovate My School, Education Magazine
- 1,496,193 opportunities to see (OTS)
- 2 BETT Award wins – ICT Company of the Year – over £10m and ‘Outstanding Contribution to ICT Education’ for Director of Content, Lewis Bronze.
