2009 PRO Awards: Polar Bears on the Thames

Agency: Taylor Herring PR
Client: UKTV Eden

UKTV launched Eden, a new natural history TV channel, in October 2008 to compete head to head with Discovery Channel. With limited talent support and no original programming, the network needed a way to make a big impression with the new channel out of the gate. They started by announcing the launch to the press and conducting trade interviews. Additional announcements over the next few months drew continual trade press.

To garner consumer attention during launch week, presenter Sir David Attenborough conducted an interview with The Daily Telegraph, while several other consumer publications picked up the story. But the real publicity came from a sculpture of a mother polar bear and her cub stranded on a 16-foot iceberg. A tugboat pulled the 1.5 ton sculpture down the Thames River, from Greenwich to the House of Parliament. Publicity photos were taken at strategic points along the way. A press boat full of reporters accompanied the float on its journey.

After the Thames, the bears went on a week-long tour across targeted UK cities, calling attention to the local media. At the end of its journey, the sculpture was donated to the Edinborough Zoo.

A press release and several photos were released to national, regional and environmental news desks both online and off on launch day. Eighteen websites featured the channel’s web film, which also garnered 58,000 hits on YouTube.

Overall, the promotion generated more than 300 press stories; web traffic to the Eden site grew 59%; and the first weekend beat out the Discovery Channel is every time slot. The polar bear sculpture and associated publicity generated 11% awareness, while paid advertising generated 12%.