A Chester campaign that got the whole city guessing in 2016 has been shortlisted for a PR industry award.
Sightings of a mystery, hooded figure on the streets of the city generated a social media storm and was one of the top stories on the Chester Chronicle website for the whole of the year.
The figure, spotted at night on the historic Rows, at the ancient amphitheatre and peering through doors of local hostelries was eventually unmasked as the Plague Doctor.
Run by Cheshire PR and communications agency No Brainer and Chester-based heritage company Big Heritage, the campaign, to promote Big Heritage’s new Sick to Death attraction, is now in the running for a PRmoment Award.
Sick to Death is a family friendly visitor attraction supported by Wellcome Trust, which explores the gruesome but interesting history of medicine through time.
Based in two 14th century towers – the Water Tower and Bonewaldesthorne’s Tower – on Chester’s world famous Roman Walls, more than 550 people came through the doors in the attraction’s first few days.
The campaign has been recognised as one of the best seven PR, social and content marketing campaigns of 2016 and is up for PRmoment’s coveted ‘Low Budget Campaign of the Year’ title.
No Brainer, which works alongside a number of city-based clients including CH1ChesterBID, Cheshire and Warrington Growth Hub and Big Heritage, is also in the running for a separate title – ‘New Agency of the Year’ – at the 2017 PRmoment Awards.
PRmoment judges sifted through more than 850 entries and this year’s northern regional winners will be crowned at a red carpet ceremony at Manchester’s Hilton Deansgate hotel on March 16 this year.
Big Heritage managing director Dean Paton said: “The PR campaign we launched with No Brainer around ‘Sick to Death’ was innovative, impactful and, most of all, great fun!
“Being creative with ideas and delivering them in the right way doesn’t have to cost the earth. But when you get it right it can deliver widespread and valuable coverage that can exceed all expectations.”
No Brainer director and co-founder Gary Jenkins said: “We’re proud to be representing Cheshire’s creative sector at this year’s PRmoment Awards and we’re all delighted that [we] have been recognised alongside some incredibly strong competition from across the north of England.
“The PRmoment Awards are recognised as being a real benchmark of success in our field.”
Last year No Brainer was crowned ‘New Business of the Year’ at the Warrington Business Awards and made the shortlist in the same category at the Cheshire Business Awards.
The firm also made the final shortlist at last year’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations North West Pride Awards in the ‘Outstanding Small Public Relations Consultancy’ category, we’re recognised in the same category by the PRCA and were one of only ten business nationally shortlisted for ‘Best Micro Business’ at the British Small Business Awards.
