Leisure and tourism

Four Nominations For Rule 5 In The PRmoment Awards

2019 PR Moment Awards

Rule 5 has been nominated four times in the 2019 PRmoment Awards.

The news sees the agency shortlisted in four classes, including the coveted Boutique Agency of the Year category.

The agency’s campaign for Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester, Northern Rail Newsjack, made the Best Stunt of the Year shortlist, with the agency’s work with charity giving platform Wonderful nominated in two categories – The Corporate Purpose Award and Not For Profit Campaign of the Year, Agency.

Agency co-founder Julie Wilson said on the news: “This is a fantastic achievement for the agency and represents the breadth of our work. The PRmoment Awards are one of the industry’s most celebrated events and we’re delighted to be nominated.”

The PRmoment Awards celebrate excellence and recognise and reward outstanding campaigns and exceptional talent in the UK PR and Communications sector. The results will be announced on March 13th at a black tie awards dinner at the Hilton Hotel, Manchester.

Giant Japanese Spider Crabs Grip The Media’s Attention

Yesterday saw the launch of Sea Life Manchester’s brand new deep-sea attraction, ‘Lair of The Giant Crab’ and we were delighted to be on hand to tell the story with BBC Northwest Today.

Featuring two enormous Giant Japanese Spider Crabs, amongst other monster-sized sea creatures, the incredible new feature promises to be a hit with families.

Alongside the giant crabs, visitors will also see a Giant Pacific Octopus, the largest of all octopus species, and be invited to crawl amongst the fluorescent world of 100 floating moon jellyfish, in a brand new 360 degree doughnut tank.

Jenn McDonough, General Manager Manchester Cluster, Merlin Entertainments, said: “The fact that we’ve been able to provide a forever home for these amazing awe-inspiring creatures is just fantastic.

“It’s a monstrous milestone for us here at Sea Life Manchester, and we’re proud to be making a name for ourselves as experts in giant sea creature care.

“It’s incredible to be able to observe such remarkable creatures, and we’re certain that our guests will love them just as much as we do!”

‘Lair of the Giant Crab’ is included in the normal admissions price with tickets starting from £11.50. Pre-booking is strongly advised to avoid disappointment.

ICON In The News – Final Piece Of Track Installed

Last week saw a significant milestone reached in the development of ICON, Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s new £16.25 million rollercoaster as the final piece of track was installed.

Under the watchful eye of the media, coordianted by Rule 5 and Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the last piece of gleaming grey steel was hoisted into place, completing the 1.14 kilometre track.

The process was conducted by a 50-strong team over a five month period and sees Blackpool Pleasure Beach another step closer to launching what will be the world’s most interactive rollercoaster.

Amanda Thompson OBE, Managing Director at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, commented; “Since construction work began in December 2016 we have seen numerous pieces of material hoisted into position in anticipation of this moment.

“The track comprises of hundreds of tonnes of world-class steel transported from Germany and manufactured using state-of-the-art engineering processes for a smoother, faster and more exhilarating ride than ever experienced before.”

Nick Thompson, Deputy Managing Director of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, adds; “Today is the culmination of an intense design and engineering process to bring a ride that is the first of its kind to the UK.

“The completion of ICON’s track has been no easy feat, as it loops through and around the Pleasure Beach’s other rides 15 times. To see the track in its entirety is hugely rewarding and brings us a significant step closer to sharing this unique rollercoaster experience with the public in spring 2018.”

Activity saw yet another strong burst of media coverage for ICON, leading the lunchtime and evening news on BBC North West Tonight along with national UK print titles The Sun and MirrorOnline. A wealth of regional, leisure and tourism titles underpinned coverage. ICON will launch in spring 2018.

The PR campaign delivered by Rule 5 and Blackpool Plesure Beach to promote the new rollercoaster, has been nominated for Media Relations Campaign of the Year in the 2018 PRmoment Awards. The same campaign won Best Use of Media Relations at the CIPR NorthWest Awards in 2017.

A Swell of Coverage for Sea Life Manchester

Sea Life Centre Manchester - Loo the terrapin - education on illegal release of unwanted pets

The agency has delivered a swell of national coverage for client Sea Life Manchester and its national terrapin appeal.

The conservation story, Don’t Flush, urged Brits to think twice before buying terrapins as pets, as Sea Life centres are swamped with requests to re-home un-wanted Christmas gifts. Owners are believed to take shocking and unthinkable measures to dispose of the creatures, with terrapins flushed down toilets.

Adding further weight to the campaign, which saw coverage on the world’s most visited news website the MailOnline, alongside the SunOnline, IndependentOnline, AOL, BTonline and a wealth of regional titles, was news that Sea Life Manchester had renamed one of its terrapins Loo. Visitors can see Loo at the Manchester attraction located at Barton Square, Trafford Park.

Speaking on the subject, Alan Kwan, Lead Curator at Sea Life Manchester, said: “People wrongly assume that terrapins are going to be easy to care for. What they don’t realise is that they grow from 3cm in length (hand-sized) to 30cm in length (large dinner plate) and live between 30-50 years.

“Global warming and the resulting rise in temperatures across British waterways is leading to abandoned terrapins breeding and growing in population. Native to Florida, this alien predatory reptile is having a damaging effect on British pondlife and waterfowl with fish, frog, frogspawn and ducklings falling prey.”

Rule 5 co-founder Jules Wilson said: “We were confident of our ability to drive strong coverage with this story, combining hard-hitting conservation messages with creative tactics to maximise reach. The team delivered a brilliant job in what is our first month of work with Sea Life Manchester.”

Rule 5 Appointed By Merlin Entertainments

LEGO Ninjago Banner The agency has won a significant contract with Merlin Entertainments.

The announcement follows a four-way competitive pitch and sees Rule 5 appointed as the retained communications agency for Sea Life Manchester and Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester.

Work is already underway with the team busy developing plans to promote two new features at the popular family attractions, due to launch this spring. The features are the result of a £400k investment and promise to deliver an incredible experience for both first-time and returning guests.

The agency will also be responsible for delivering a sustained national media relations campaign for both attractions and supporting Sea Life Manchester’s acclaimed conservation programme.

Speaking on the announcement Jenn McDonough, General Manager Manchester Cluster, Merlin Entertainments, said: “Sea Life Manchester and Legoland Discovery Centre Manchester are two of our leading attractions and have been inspiring, exciting and educating families for over seven years.

“With the forthcoming launch of two new features the time was right for us to review our marketing approach and appoint a new agency to support us in driving the business forward. It was a competitive process that saw some great pitches but the communications plan presented by Rule 5 was head and shoulders above the rest, combining strong creative ideas with a solid and strategic approach. We really bought into the team.”

Agency Co-Founder Julie Wilson added: “This is a brief we were passionate about winning. The scope of opportunity presented by the attractions, the forthcoming new features and incredible conservation work undertaken by Sea Life Manchester is great and appealed to us both personally and professionally. It’s a privilege to be involved.”

RULE 5