Launching £50 million research projects in bioengineering at a London press conference led to substantial national and international coverage for a University of Leeds research institute.
The brief
The Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (iMBE) – part of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Leeds – had secured £50 million funding for research and commercialisation and wanted to mark this milestone. With expertise in orthopaedic joint replacements, spinal biomechanics and tissue engineering, research in iMBE works to improve quality of life and extend the economic productivity of an aging population. This led to the campaign concept: “Engineering 50 active years after 50”.
Campus PR was asked to devise a media strategy to support the announcement of these new research projects and generate the maximum national publicity as possible, to position the Institute globally as a true centre of excellence and create a platform for longer term research promotion.
Our response
We negotiated with the Science Media Centre at the Royal Institution in London to host a press conference to launch the research, using leading academics and a representative from industry as spokespeople
Working with the Faculty Marketing Manager and the University design team, we researched and put together a media pack, including an interactive CD where users could focus on various parts of the body to see related research projects and find out how research by iMBE had already had a positive impact for patients.
To ensure maximum success at the launch, we ran a rehearsal press conference and advised the spokespeople to ensure they stayed on message, communicated their research clearly and could tackle any difficult questions with ease.
Campus PR was the main contact for journalists, but we were in regular contact with the University of Leeds press office to ensure all media enquiries were handled quickly and efficiently.
Outcomes
Cove
rage was truly global, and included the Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Mirror, BBC lunch time and evening news, Sky news, CNN, the BBC World Service, ABC Australia, and CBS in the USA. The story appeared in multiple mainstream on and offline publications around the world.
The Institute continues to get requests from journalists, including interest from Channel 4 and Horizon regarding participation by the lead academics in documentary programmes.
