Our weighty campaign for Manchester 2021 World Para Powerlifting World Cup
We recently wrapped up an exciting period of work for the Manchester 2021 World Para Powerlifting World Cup, held at the Wythenshawe Forum from 25-28th March. Communications around the event, which was the first international sporting event and National Lottery-funded World Cup to be held in the UK since the start of the pandemic, marked the culmination of a successful event-build marketing campaign.
From providing strategic services spanning crisis communications planning, creating media and social media plans, to developing internal comms processes and advising the delivery team, we helped to ensure process and protocols before and after arrival at this landmark event were clear and easy to understand.
Our expertise was crucial in helping athletes navigate the communications challenges of talking about taking part in the event whilst being mindful of the public mood, as well as offering support for athletes who were less experienced in media liaison. This approach led to a string of successful remote interviews for both broadcast and print.
Planning for the unique challenges presented by running an event in a pandemic was part of a wider campaign we devised and executed, including PR, copywriting, digital marketing and social media content.
Our campaign saw national, top tier media coverage spanning broadcast and print, with The Times, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 Saturday Live and ITV just a few of the impressive hits. Remote coverage of the event created a buzz and a digital marketing campaign brought a flexible approach to promotion of the live stream, boosting key ‘moments’ such as GB medal wins to help drive engagement on social media.
Commenting on the campaign, our MD Sarah said: “We’re delighted to have worked with the British Weight Lifting team on such an exciting and important event, and to be part of the team that has delivered a safe and successful result against a challenging and rapidly changing backdrop. Building excitement around the event and supporting athletes with high profile media coverage and fantastic results from our digital marketing has been a real pleasure.
“Following a recent CIM Marketing Excellence Award for our PR campaign for the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019, it’s been brilliant to sink our teeth into marketing another major sporting event, building on the contacts and expert knowledge we have developed over the years.”
Mathew Marshall, British Weight Lifting’s Head of Events added: “Conker’s work on this event was integral to making it a success. Feedback from all quarters was excellent and their work helped enable 125 athletes from 20+ nations to compete in pursuit of their Paralympic goals.
“The campaign the team worked on really helped us boost exposure for both the event and the sport in a wider sense, and their management and support of potential crisis comms and processes was invaluable, especially against the backdrop of the pandemic which was ever changing and challenging.”
