The Brief
Stories - Brought to Life was a groundbreaking immersive art experience from FRAMELESS Creative, the UK’s leading creator of immersive experiences, and was inspired by the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection.
This unique experience explored the fascinating lives behind some of the most iconic faces from the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection - people who have shaped the UK’s history and culture.
The experience used expansive immersive artwork and soundscapes to bring the stories to life, with sitters ranging from Audrey Hepburn and David Bowie to Nelson Mandela and William Shakespeare. Carousel were enlisted to launch the experience’s first ever run in MediaCityUK - a step towards making the National Portrait Gallery’s collection more accessible outside of the capital and getting a new audience excited by art.
We were challenged to maximise awareness and visibility across the North West through PR, influencer partnerships and social media marketing.
Our Response
Building on our success launching immersive arts events like Van Gogh Alive & David Hockney at Factory International, our approach began with a hardworking press office, seeding first-look experience concept artwork to local press and offering exclusives to priority titles to gain a strong burst of coverage from the get-go.
Next, to drive a strong spike in reach and awareness around the launch moment, Carousel’s event management specialists coordinated a preview morning for press, complete with guest appearance from Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer, artist and granddaughter of Audrey Hepburn, to create a press-worthy photo moment.
This was followed up by launch events for noteworthy leaders within the Manchester community, including celebrity appearances from BBC Radio 1’s Vicky Hawkesworth, and an influencer event to maximise social media sharing, with live Instagram stories on the brand channels from both events to grow the brand’s own social media footprint.
To match the PR activity, Carousel coordinated a targeted social media campaign to drive awareness, engagement and audience growth for Stories - Brought to Life. We created eyecatching videography to highlight the powerful nature of the experience, matching sitter stories and dynamic walkthrough shots with drone capture, vox pops and interviews with representatives from the National Portrait Gallery and Frameless. This was underpinned by a paid-social strategy and a series of collab posts with complementary local brand partners and lifestyle influencers to maximise awareness and impact.
The Results
Through our integrated approach to PR, Influencer Marketing and Social Media, we were able to drive mass awareness for Stories - Brought to Life within the Greater Manchester target market.
Our hardworking press office generated over 145 pieces of coverage in the first 4 months, with a combined PR reach of over 52 million. This included broadcast coverage on BBC North West news, multiple pieces across regional titles such as Manchester Evening News, The Manc, Proper Manchester and Manchester Finest, and interview pieces with BBC Radio Manchester.
Likewise, our influencer approach generated over 198k video views from our three coordinated macro influencer partners alongside over 33 different influencer and celebrity mentions with a combined reach of over 1M.
Finally, social media activity generated over 682k brand channel video views, alongside over 16k community engagements.
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