Brief A stunt that would raise awareness of UKTV’s
newly launched gardening channel.
Strategy In the run up to the 2005 election we decided
to piggyback the news agenda with a stunt that celebrated
the lack of excitement around the general election with the
humble garden gnome. A set of political gnomes were commissioned
featuring Tony Blair digging for weapons of mass destruction,
a vampire-like Michael Howard (with a big ‘Keep Out!
sign) and a rotund Charles Kennedy sitting on a fence drinking
beer. A story was leaked that the UKTV Style Gardens website
had gone into meltdown since featuring the gnomes and over
1000 viewers wanted details on how to buy them. The gnomes
were then positioned as the ‘must have’ garden
accessory in the run up to the general election. A gnome photo-call
was arranged on Parliament Square and attended by every national
paper.
Results
Our highlight was the front page splash in The Sun featuring UKTV’s
gnomes under the leader ‘Is this the dullest general election
ever?’, further coverage included The Times, The Guardian,
The Star, The Daily Record, Metro and a star appearance on Sky News.
PR Week commended Taylor Herring for making gardening issues front
page news and numerous websites also featured the story. The agency
went on to take requests to buy the gnomes from Jeremy Paxman and
Sun Editor Rebekah Wade to name but a few.
What
The Client Said
"Taylor Herring immediately understood
our business ambitions and responded with creative and effective
ideas that in a very short space of time, have already generated
outstanding results. What stands out a mile is the team's character
and determination and their ability to make each project bigger,
better and more fun than the one before."
Elaine Roberston, Head Of Press, UKTV
