viz - taylor herring - public relations - media, music & entertainment brands

Case Study: Viz Comic 25th Anniversary celebrations
Client: Dennis Publishing

Objectives
• To make Viz famous again! Our key objective was to remind the British public of a great British cultural asset – Viz Comic
• To generate features around the Boxtree book ’25 Years Of Viz’
• To build upon the book launch with targeted features across the board in the run up to the anniversary edition of Viz
• To secure sponsors and financial backing for the anniversary party
• To manage the party and ensure a superb celebrity and media presence leading to positive editorial both prior to and immediately following the event
• To promote the sponsors association with the event
• To drive sales of Viz the 25th Anniversary issue.

Strategy
• Key emphasis on the quality of the characters, the writing, artwork, humour and the people behind the magazine.
• History of Viz sheet providing ‘at a glance facts’ for all journalists
• Key characters promoted for interview
• Viz editorial team exploited fully at radio, TV and print
• Original artwork provided for competitions and editorial
• Magazine content offered for exclusives
• Amplification of the brand via a carefully timed stunt - ‘Viz dumps the Fat Slags in response to panned movie’
• Select comedy brands and drinks partners approached to sponsor the party
• Celebrity endorsement secured for Viz magazine via picture placement, party gossip and quotes
• Party hype amplified via news generation

Result
• Feature coverage included: The Sunday Times, The Observer, News Of The World, The Guardian, Metro, The Independent On Sunday, The Financial Times, The Times, The Mirror, The Star, Zoo, Maxim, Loaded, Ice, Arena and many more
• TV Coverage included: Newsnight, ITN, C4 News, The Culture Show (BBC2), BBC3 News, Richard & Judy and Celebrity Extra (Living)
• Radio coverage included: 5 Live, Virgin and over 40 regional radio interviews
• Party sponsor secured in the form of the comedy channel UKTV G2
• Red Stripe secured as a drinks sponsor
• Celebrity attendees included Boris Johnson, Rebecca Loos, Abi Titmus, Harry Enfield, Keith Allen, Lord Brocket, Jodie Marsh, Jeremy Clarkson, Ross Noble, Clive Owen and many more.
• Party coverage included: The Evening Standard, The Mirror, The Express, The Daily Record, ITN, Sky News and 5 Live.
• Equivalent advertising spend = £1,000,000 +
• Return on investment = £55 for every £1 spent
• ‘Taylor Herring exceeded all our expectations for this project, the energy and creativity they bought to the table gained exceptional results. Viz has a higher profile now at any point in the last 10 years – a superb campaign’ Margherita Douglas, Press Manager, Dennis Publishing.
• Sales uplift of 25% recorded as direct result of coverage achieved

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