Heroes UK Launch - taylor herring - public relations - media, music & entertainment brands

Case Study: Heroes UK Launch
Client: NBC (Sci Fi Channel)

Overview
Taylor Herring were hired by The Sci Fi Channel to generate a national mainstream campaign to promote their acquisition of the American drama series Heroes and to raise the profile of channel.

Campaign
Working closely with NBC in America, Taylor Herring put together a press briefing pack including quotes from quality American media such as Time and Newsweek on the Heroes phenomenon.

Taylor Herring commissioned a collectable Heroes branded portable DVD player which were supplied to key TV journalists with the first four episodes of Heroes on DVD.

This exclusive item could only be collected at an exclusive screening of the first two episodes at upmarket members club The Hospital. Thirty-five of the UK’s top TV editors attended ranging from Heat magazine to The Sunday Times.

Taylor Herring cultivated a ‘Heroes press fan club’ and supplied them with copies of American coverage, U.S ratings data and preview episodes (which had only aired in the USA) on a weekly basis.

Taylor Herring worked closely with the American production team to organise a press trip to visit the set of Heroes in Hollywood. Taylor Herring arranged for three journalists to travel to LA and interview the cast and production team These three journalists then supplied interviews and editorial to 20 UK publications.

None of the Heroes cast had UK media profile so Taylor Herring worked hard at ensuring the story centered around the American viewing figures, the new genre of drama and the fact that a small channel had beaten all the big UK players to buying the rights to America’s most successful new show.

Taylor Herring planned and implemented a dedicated radio campaign which kicked in three weeks before the first episode of Heroes aired in the UK. We sent twenty top radio shows DVD’s of two episode instalments twice a week so by the time of TX we had these DJ’s hooked and calling asking form more episodes and talking about the show constantly on air.

Taylor Herring supplemented this activity with a creative stunt, employing the services of paranormal expert to research where in the UK the most people claiming to have ‘Hero’ powers live. The news story resulted in branded coverage in The Guardian and Daily Star and our expert did 15 regional radio interviews, plugging Heroes transmission date and time.

Results
Blanket coverage across all media - features included Arena, Elle, GQ, Esquire, Nuts, Zoo, The Sun, The Guardian, Sunday Times Culture, The Word, Now Magazine, Sky Magazine.

Daily mentions on radio shows from Heroes fans Chris Moyles and the team, Jo Whiley, Edith Bowman, Jonathan Ross, Lauren Laverne, Dermot O Leary, Christian O Connell.

The first installment of the US import Heroes gave The Sci Fi Channel it’s highest ever audience with 467,000 people (3.2%) tuning in at 10pm on Monday night (19 February).
The two editions of Heroes also helped propel the channel to its highest ever peak time share - which made it the most popular multichannel offering over these hours, usurping the usual dominance of channels such as ITV2, E4 and Sky One.

What The Client Said
“I applaud you for your creativity, your passion and your commitment. What was once a big deal for a few people at the biggest sci-fi genre channel on Oxford Street has now become a huge deal for over a million people around the country. Long may that number grow and long may that interest continue!”
Dan Winter - SCI FI Channel Head of Press

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