Get your gold wings

The Brief

With construction of the park nearing completion, Gravity Force needed a marketing strategy that would allow it to launch with a bang, and get the punters flooding in from day one. This would all have to be achieved with a modest budget and work alongside an existing marketing team of web designers and media buyers.

The Response

Gravity Force had already met with three other agencies by the time we came to pitch; we managed to clinch it all the same. We proposed an integrated approach. Working in partnership with our friends at Proud PR we’d blend good old-fashioned media relations with a heavy focus on social media. Since Gravity Force’s main customer demographic is young urban sports fans, and we needed to target specific geographic areas, this approach proved very sensible indeed.

We devised a ‘Gold Wings’ competition to drive awareness and engagement with Gravity Force. ‘Gold Wings’ was promoted to all local schools. It operated solely through Facebook and worked very simply. People were invited to comment the words ‘Gold Wings’ on an image, for a chance to attend the Gravity Force launch party. Daily winners were chosen in the two weeks prior to the park’s launch night.

Alongside Facebook advertising we boosted posts relating to ‘Gold Wings’ and pinned them to the top of Gravity Force’s page. The best thing about it was that every time someone entered the competition, it was further exposed to his/her network. In that way competition entries experienced a domino-effect and brand exposure for Gravity Force snow-balled. Alongside the crescendo of social media noise, we pursued a rigorous PR campaign. We figured that media interest in England’s very first trampoline park would be high. We weren’t wrong.

A ‘teaser’ press release was used to generate press interest and start the dialogue for when it came to media attendance at the launch party. An opening picture story press release was also used post-launch. In-between we knuckled down to story-pitching to press, bloggers and Facebook groups alike. We made sure that photos, video and imagery of the build in all its stunning purple and yellow trampoline-ness went viral, so that people could understand the entirely new concept of trampoline parks.

The Results

Where to start… The Gold Wings competition had a cracking 711 entries, with 1,200 post engagements. Giving the competition a reach of 25,800 people.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Facebook advertising gained 3,682 page actions, giving Gravity Force a whopping total reach of 43,739 people. In fact as a result of our efforts, Gravity Force were 400% over their targets for both footfall and sales. (And their business plan wasn’t exactly pessimistic either!)

The PR campaign garnered the following results:

• TV coverage with BBC London, ITV Meridian and CBBC Newsround
• Radio coverage on BBC Radio Two, interviews with BBC Radio Surrey and BBC Radio One Newsbeat (including it’s YouTube channel)
• A national newspaper exclusive interview with The Daily Express
• Magazine interviews and coverage in Top Sante, Fitness Pro, Family Business united, PT Magazine, Healthy magazine, Wellbeing magazine, Weightwatchers magazine, Yareah and Surrey Life
• Reviews by bloggers from MumsNet, Aukids, Babyworld, Surreymummy, Mummyconstant, What's Up What’s On and Not before Tea
• Local coverage in the Camberley and Sandhurst News & Mail, Get Surrey, Surrey Heath blog, Camberley on the Web, Haslemere UK, Local UK News, UK Wired News.