Westerleigh Group: Covid-19 Memorial campaign
The brief
Westerleigh Group is the UK’s largest owner and operator of crematoria and cemeteries, with 37 sites in England, Scotland, and Wales, all set within beautifully landscaped gardens of remembrance which provide pleasant, peaceful places for people to visit and reflect.
In May 2020, Westerleigh Group asked Empica to create a campaign that would improve community engagement around all its sites, drive footfall to it sites, engender positive relationships with local authorities, politicians and stakeholders and support the group’s wider efforts to promote its crematoria locally while building the brand nationally.
Westerleigh also wanted the campaign to set the group apart from its competitors a well as generate a regular flow of media stories.
What we did
Empica proposed Westerleigh Group create Covid-19 memorials at each of its sites, to provide tranquil places for people to remember loved ones lost during the pandemic and focal points to reflect and give thanks for the way the NHS, key workers and communities came together during the crisis. The project would be supported by a full media relations and communications campaign. Westerleigh Group agreed and the campaign was launched. It involved:
Media relations campaign
We spent some time carefully curating media distribution lists; regional print and broadcast media had several Westerleigh sites within their audience area, and we wanted to ensure media outlets only received one media release at each campaign milestone, with information about Westerleigh sites relevant to their audience – whether that was one crematorium or multiple.
Releases were issued, to a combination of local, regional, national and trade media, at numerous milestones through the project, including: announcing plans to create the memorials; issuing an artists’ impression of how the gardens would look; progression of the development of the gardens; publicity around a design competition; announcements of official opening/unveiling events at each crematoria.
Design competition
To maximise awareness and community engagement, Empica suggested a competition be launched, inviting people of all age and backgrounds to suggest ideas for appropriate designs to be etched onto the stone monuments which formed the centre-piece of each memorial. Six winner would be chosen, one for each of Westerleigh Group’s geographic regions, with the design being etched onto the monument of each crematorium within that region.
Commemorative brochure
Empica created the content for a commemorative brochure to mark the end of the project and to be handed out to those who attended the unveiling of the memorials.
109 pieces of Press coverage on the Covid Memorials between July & August 2021
4 Radio Interviews
5 TV broadcasts
Outcomes
Empica’s media relations activity generated multiple requests for broadcast media interviews and hundreds of pieces of online and print media coverage. During the memorial unveiling period, Westerleigh Group saw a 37% increase in Facebook engagement, compared to the same period the previous year, and a 310% increase in new followers.
The design competition attracted hundreds of entries from all over the country. The winning designers ranged from 10-years-old to 70-years-old, demonstrating that the campaign had truly reached people of all ages and backgrounds.
The project led to direct engagement with Government Ministers, MPs, VIPs, councillors, celebrants, funeral directors, ministers, charities, the NHA, civic leaders, schools, arts and community groups and local support groups, many of whom attended the memorial unveilings at Westerleighs sites.
Empica’s work was shortlisted as a finalist in the media relations campaign category of two prestigious PR annual awards.
Jana Smidkova, Head of Marketing at Westerleigh Group, said:
“The campaign to install Covid-19 memorials at our crematoria spanned two years.
“Empica were an excellent partner who guided us with their expert communications advice and wordsmithing skills throughout the campaign. Thanks to our partnership with them, the project exceeded our expectations for our communications-related targets, including press coverage, broadcast coverage, social media and community engagement.”