LAUNCHING IN GRAND STYLE
Creating a global buzz for Icons of British Fashion, Blenheim Palace’s biggest ever exhibition
6.3 BILLION GLOBAL REACH
COVERAGE ACROSS TV, RADIO, NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, PODCASTS, ONLINE
NATIONAL COVERAGE
DAILY Telegraph, the times, the guardian, financial times
GLAM AND GLOSSY
COVERAGE IN ELLE, WALLPAPER, HARPER'S BAZAAR, HELLO!, PRIMA, THE HANDBOOK
What was the challenge?
After securing a string of world famous labels, designers and brands for the biggest exhibition in its 300-year history, Blenheim Palace challenged us to create, coordinate and execute a seamless campaign to generate as much buzz for Icons of British Fashion, its blockbuster show for 2024.
On the surface, this was a conventional media relations campaign, but ‘behind the seams’ it presented a string of challenges - being highly organised, delivering clear and concise communication, and managing multiple stakeholders including 11 iconic designers - from Stella McCartney and Stephen Jones for Christian Dior to Lulu Guinness, Zandra Rhodes, and the team from Vivienne Westwood.
PROMOTE EXHIBITION
INCREASE WEB TRAFFIC
RAISE brand
awareness
Our approach
Our launch campaign centred around creating multiple newsworthy hooks, to maintain and build the momentum.
The first of these was a ‘teaser’ to get people talking. We created a standout visual that was immediately associated with fashion; this was shared on social media by Blenheim Palace and all of the contributing fashion brands and designers, and issued to the press simultaneously.
Shortly after the teaser went out, a stream of creative content followed, generating a buzz in the build-up to the launch event - but doing so in a way that didn’t give away too much detail or spoil the content of the exhibition for future visitors.
Milestone press releases included: the official announcement, the unveiling of the names involved, a spotlight release providing snippets of what could be expected from each designer and then the official opening.
Throughout the build-up, we had to ensure that as well as the internal Blenheim team, all of the exhibitors were happy with their representation. There was a tsunami of press interest from the moment the teaser dropped in September 2023, right up until opening in March 2024 and throughout the run of the exhibition.
We were in constant communication with the press, the designers and Blenheim Palace, arranging updates, imagery, interviews, exclusive previews, filming, reviews and more.
Interest was widespread, home and abroad: high end fashion magazines; local, regional, national, international and consumer press.
This campaign was the very definition of ball juggling, with so many moving parts and stakeholders: the Palace, designers and their marcomms teams, the [very interested] press.
Media titles, particularly the glossy fashion mags, had very specific asset requirements and set deadlines for exclusive access and imagery (which at the very outset of the campaign didn't even exist!).
Six months after the teaser went live, our regular stream of press activity culminated in a glittering VIP preview event, the night before the exhibition officially opened to the public.
Cab Campaign managed and executed the event alongside the Palace team - including a guest list that boasted celebrities, fashionista influencers, tier one media - and even members of the Royal Family.
The event was broadcast live on BBC, with interviews with the keeper of collections at Blenheim Palace, Kate Ballenger, as well as milliner Stephen Jones. ITV also aired a lengthy pre-recorded feature all weekend, showcasing the exhibition.
“Cab Campaign have been a dream to work with on Icons of British Fashion. Their hard work and clever ideas have delivered more press coverage that we have ever had before. They have been so supportive and constantly available to make sure the campaign ran smoothly.”
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