Ahead of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Grayling Birmingham was tasked with leading a three-part communications campaign for the Queen’s Baton Relay. The epic journey began in October 2021 when we unveiled the Baton and launched the relay in a unique ceremony at Buckingham Palace with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ahead of the Baton’s visit to 72 Commonwealth nations and territories, which secured both national and international interest.

Next we delivered a series of purpose-led creative tactics allowing us to engage with local communities from across the country to drive Batonbearer nominations for the English leg of the Relay. The campaign began with a research piece investigating societal attitudes, which reflected local values and highlighted why the Queen’s Baton Relay was a journey that mattered. A team of Baton Ambassadors, whose stories we leveraged for their local hero status, were also recruited to inspire others. We then launched the Queen’s Baton Relay recruitment campaign with Kadeena Cox in a national media moment that couldn’t be ignored – the unveiling of an attention-grabbing mural in the heart of Birmingham. 

Upon the Baton’s arrival in England, the team provided a strategic assessment of the full 24-day relay route to identify key media moments, secure media attendance, and manage media presence throughout.  

Sharing the inspiring stories of the Batonbearers, we worked to ensure the relay remained front of mind for the public by building momentum, generating excitement, and successfully capturing the attention of the nation. 

On the back of genuine consumer insights on the demand for wrapping guidance ahead of Christmas, coupled with the increasing need to have a sustainable Christmas, we launched Bullring & Grand Central ‘Under Wraps, a two day free pop-up wrapping boutique which ‘disguised’ gifts in innovative ways to avoid guessing, partnering with the UK’s most prestigious gift wrapping expert, Jane Means.

The ‘Under Wraps’ boutique also offered fully-recyclable wrapping options to all shoppers. To create excitement and drive footfall in advance, we polled the nation to reveal the extents they go to guess presents, and shared top tips and video content from Jane on how to have a sustainable Christmas, securing significant cut through across broadcast, national and regional media, as well as working with influencers to support via social media.

M&S asked Grayling Birmingham to plan and activate a strategic PR campaign for the opening of a new M&S Foodhall in Sheldon to drive maximum impact on a local level, embedding the store within the community and encouraging locals to shop there.

Using our team’s expert local insight, we devised a campaign to showcase the new store in the run-up to and during the launch period. This included a blended programme of announcement releases and proactive engagement with local media and influencers. Mayor of West Midlands Andy Street attended the opening and took part in interviews discussing the wider retail narrative and investment in the Midlands. Additionally, representatives for M&S Sheldon’s chosen local charities of the year cut the ribbon to mark the opening, alongside Penny Pig.

Coverage highlights included an exclusive sneak peek with Birmingham Live, Free Radio, a partnership with two local influencers and a local Facebook competition which received over 600 entries.

We brought badminton to Birmingham, in an exciting consumer event which gave people the chance to reignite their love with the world’s fastest racquet sport. For one day, shoppers could take part in a skills wall challenge to win prizes for points scored. We even challenged people to complete a tricky through-the-legs ‘hot dog shot’, and winners received an actual hot dog! Badminton icon Gail Emms MBE was on hand to encourage and challenge people and take part in a series of media interviews.

Our wider campaign to create excitement and drive ticket sales also included press office support and more creatively, we put badminton challenges to top football influencers to showcase badminton’s incredible skills, and partnered with Legoland Discovery Centre to create Lego versions of some of England’s top badminton players.

Aston Villa Football Club became the first English club in history to diversify its technical kit partnership away from traditional sporting brands by working with a leading UK fashion brand and an global manufacturer of technical garments.

Our objectives for the new kit sponsorship between AVFC, Fanatics and Luke 1977, were to deliver clear communication of the unique partnership to fans, raise the profile of Luke 1977 with AVFC supporters and manage fan sentiment.

WIthin 24-hours since launch, fan sentiment was recorded at 90% positive. Luke 1977’s website received a 2,188% uplift in traffic, with revenue generated increasing by 193%. Fan sentiment was recorded at 90% positive. and finally on social media, it saw a 48% increase in followers within a week of the announcement.