Sing Up
Using the power of local radio to sign up nearly 1,000 schools to a new initiative
Audio(.mp3)
Background
Sing Up is a programme designed to make sure that singing is at the heart of every primary school child’s life. Sing Up believes that singing has the power to change lives and build stronger communities.
The challenge was to get primary schools in England enthused and excited about singing by engaging teachers, parents and children. Sing Up set themselves a target of getting 500 schools to participate.
Why radio?
Sing Up decided to capture teacher’s and children’s imaginations by harnessing the sense of locality and community which every school is part of via their local radio station.
Local presenters are seen as celebrities in their areas whilst retaining the ability to communicate on a one-to-one level with listeners. Radio, therefore, via beyond-the-spot activity radio offered Sing Up the opportunity to harness this relationship.
Implementation
Sing Up selected 64 local stations to take part and use their influence within the local community to create excitement.
In the first two weeks teachers were invited to station events where they could meet local celeb’s and sign up to the campaign. Word spread fast and by week three stations were inundated with calls from local primary schools wanting to participate.
In weeks three and four people were asked to upload songs online and let children hear what other schools in their area had been singing. Stations also travelled to schools to help them record their entries leading to an on air finale where for a whole week songs were broadcast in the morning and afternoon ‘school run’ segments.
Results
The results exceeded all expectations. Nearly 1,000 schools either had a visit from their local station or recorded audio to upload to the website, which was double the original target.
RAB Comment
The challenge for Sing Up was not to appear like another worthy initiative with a big advertising budget but as a local and personal project that people had a genuine chance to get involved with. Key messages were knitted into the fabric of each station which created a hugely engaging and entertaining campaign.
"The Big School Sing Up radio campaign was a great success for Sing Up. It created a buzz around the programme with hundreds of schools registering to enter for their chance to be played on air. We saw an increase in web traffic, registration and brand awareness throughout the project, not to mention the impressive press coverage."
Clare Whitmore, Marketing and Communications Manager, Sing Up