CASE STUDY

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

How PLMR helped the Commonwealth War Graves Commission with their PR campaign for the 80th anniversary of D-Day
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Client

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Sector

Events, Leisure & Tourism

Services provided

Public Relations

Web Development

Photography

The Situation

PLMR was selected following a competitive tender by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) in March 2024 to deliver a media campaign for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.

The campaign centred around a Torch Roadshow, with the aim of passing on the responsibility of commemoration from veterans to young people given that this was likely the last major D-Day event with people with living memories of the Second World War in attendance. The Torch of Commemoration was set to travel across the UK, with events in over 20 locations, before arriving in France. With just 12 weeks to go before the high profile international events began and low brand awareness amongst their target audiences including young people, PLMR was brought on board with clear objectives:

  • 2 national profile opportunities for Director-General Claire Horton CBE, with additional pieces on other colleagues
  • 5 media moments, winning multiple pieces of coverage
  • Engaging 4 celebrities
  • A mention on The One Show
  • Developing an interactive roadshow map to build engagement online
  • Drive influence

What we did

PLMR mobilised quickly to design a creative, multifaceted media campaign that would increase the CWGC’s share of voice in the media, and speak to a new generation.

Created news through polling and press releases:

Our media campaign started in April – well before June when we knew the media landscape would be crowded. With a set of messages that focused on “passing the torch” to the next generation, PLMR created a long and detailed story planner with exclusive items, spokespeople and case studies to give to different media outlets. Our goal was to ensure a steady stream of coverage based around the Torch Roadshow. We also used polling to create unique angles and headlines that we hoped would spark national conversations.

PLMR’s digital team also developed an interactive map to allow the public to track the torch’s journey, which received over 8,000 users, 13,000 page views and 83% engagement rate.

As a result of our polling and targeted pitching to leverage every single opportunity, PLMR secured over 4000 pieces of national, regional and local coverage between April and June 2024.

Crafted bespoke pitches to showcase the Commission’s unique range of expertise:

The CWGC is an organisation with experts in sectors including horticulture, history, and archaeology. PLMR devised bespoke pitches to broaden the reach of our campaign.

PLMR secured over 200 pieces of coverage by leveraging nine CWGC colleagues showcasing their wealth of knowledge. This included securing placement for the Director of the CWGC Foundation in rolling D-Day coverage.

Secured celebrity supporters:

With no budget to pay for celebrity involvement, PLMR curated a list of potential supporters, who would have a strong pull to our campaign through their personal interests.

Despite the short timeframe, PLMR successfully built and managed relationships with agents to secure direct support from three celebrities at no extra cost, with written support and a willingness to collaborate in future secured from an additional four celebrities.

PLMR also leveraged goodwill built with the Ministry of Defence to secure the Prime Minister to officially launch our Torch Roadshow in Westminster!

Managed the media at home and away

As part of this project, to secure unique live and pre-record broadcast opportunities, our work included:

  • Running the international media tent at Bayeux War Cemetery in France
  • Securing interviews for the CWGC on the ferry carrying veterans to Normandy and organising the international media photocall when the veterans disembarked from the ferry into France
  • Providing on the ground support at six Torch Roadshow events across the UK
  • Running a desk-based press office throughout D-Day week and organising online interviews for CWGC staff with all major broadcasters

PLMR successfully built new relationships for the CWGC, which have since resulted in proactive outreach from the press and documentary makers. New contacts include: BBC Breakfast, Good Morning Britain, The Times, Sky News, LBC & more!

Grant Shapps and Rishi Sunak attending 80th Anniversary D-Day Event
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Number of people visiting the virtual map to track the torch
0 million
Number of online article views
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Pieces of national, regional and local coverage secured between April and June 2024

The Result

Through PLMR’s creative use of media relations, we won incredible coverage throughout an extremely competitive news cycle and proudly achieved (and surpassed) our objectives.

  • Generated over 4,000 pieces of coverage for the Commission, across national and international media, encompassing, broadcast, print, regional, local and consumer media outlets.
  • A four-minute segment on The One Show, following weeks of discussions to build a story that would work for the BBC’s audiences. We ultimately got The One Show to drop their original plan to focus on the CWGC’s event.
  • Double page spread in the Express on 6th June (D-Day) featuring the CWGC’s cemetery
  • Live interviews we organised on D-Day included: Sky News, BBC Breakfast, Good Morning Britain, LBC
  • Secured coverage for nine CWGC spokespeople, including over 350 media mentions of Director-General Claire Horton CBE
  • The Prime Minister launched the Torch Roadshow in London, which alongside the attendance of Dame Kelly Holmes ensured a strong start to the campaign and built media interest
  • Engaged three celebrities in the campaign, with further warm relationships built with four celebrities.
  • Share of voice grew by 14% between D-Day79 and D-Day80
  • Drove influence:
    • Media coverage resulted in the Speaker of the House requesting the Torch be brought to the Houses of Parliament
    • Achieved over 53 million online article views and reached 13 million 15 – 34 year olds via online articles – the true and enduring purpose of the campaign.

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PLMR’s crisis communications experience is second to none, and includes pre-emptive and reactive work across traditional and social media channels. We work with a range of organisations to offer critical communication support when they are faced with difficult and challenging scenarios.