10 Sep 08
The Scottish Government - One Scotland (anti-racism) Campaign
Rock Against Racism
Background
Bauer Radio Events approached The Scottish Government and their agency, Mediacom Scotland, re: the creation of an innovative music property for their ‘One Scotland’ (anti-racism) campaign. The Government was facing a challenge - to make the campaign more relevant and engaging for a younger (14-25 year old) audience and thus secure buy-in / active particpation from them
The Big Idea
Bauer suggested that the Government should meet the target audience in one of their key comfort zones – the live music arena. We therefore created a live music tour entitled RoAR (Rock Against Racism) which visited 4x 1000 capacity venues across Scotland. We advocated that all of the influential musicians involved should be the mouthpieces for the anti-racism messages, conveying to the young audience that the campaign really was ‘for them’ and instilling a trustworthiness and credibility that wouldn’t have otherwise existed.
Making it happen
Through our established relationships with record labels and artist management, Bauer assembled a strong artist line-up and far-reaching tour schedule: Hard-Fi in Edinburgh, Amy Macdonald in Troon, Scouting For Girls in Dundee and The Zutons in Inverness. The acts appeared entirely free of charge…..a talent roster which would normally have cost at least £300,000 to book privately. The high calibre of acts meant that press partners were keen to get involved from the outset and coverage was both constant and widespread. All artists were role models for the target audience and - via radio, press, web and TV interviews - we made sure that they were constantly seen to speak out against racism and to encourage young people to celebrate cultural diversity. Crucially, we also installed an “unsigned Support Act” mechanic into the campaign whereby new Scottish talent could win the chance to open the show for the headliners. This not only ensured grass roots support from local stations and papers but it sparked a deluge of entries from around the country with the final tally of demos submitted topping 1,000. The shows themsleves were very well-attended by both press and punters and impactful venue branding, carefully-crafted presenter scripting and the bands themselves ensured that the One Scotland message was never lost. All 4 shows were recorded by Clyde 1’s OB unit and broadcast across the network within a fortnight of the shows taking place.
Results
On-air campaign reached 75% of target audience & delivered 150% ROI. Official event site attracted 320,000 hits across campaign’s 20 week duration (av. 2,285 per day), delivering 174% ROI. Over 1,000 unsigned acts registered & around 30,000 listeners voted to choose their favourite. The site’s ‘Why I’m Rocking Against Racism’ & ‘Have Your Say’ sections, (through which the public can voice their opinions on race issues) generated a fantastic response in terms of quantity (8,000 messages posted) & quality of content – showing that the public was truly interacting with the project. PR campaign delivered 340 cuts over half of which carried RoAR or One Scotland logos . The press, online & TV PR campaign delivered £300k of value for a modest investment. Total campaign value estimated at 2.9 times investment.
