Everyone wants to bring the best people into their teams, but how many actually consider bringing in some additional talent to boost a PR campaign or event?
GIANT has recently brought together three big names in a campaign to highlight the fact that beer company BrewDog is partnering with West Ham United to offer free football kits to grassroots teams across London and Essex.
Among the host of well-known names GIANT represents there was a stand-out choice to front the campaign – Neil Ruddock, known by football fans as the uncompromising defender who enjoyed a career spanning nearly 20 years with the likes of Liverpool, Southampton, West Ham and Spurs. He’s also found fame with a wider audience through television appearances on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here, Celebrity Wife Swap and both seasons of Harry’s Heroes, where Harry Redknapp attempted to get a squad of former England footballers fit and healthy for a match against a team of German legends.
In a video to promote the BrewDog-West Ham United campaign, the former player, better known as Razor Ruddock, wears the London club’s famous claret and blue shirt and conveys the message that the beer, like football, stays true to its roots, and opens with the message that ‘Some partnerships just make sense.’
Ben Thomas from GIANT said: “We were approached by West Ham because they wanted someone to help them promote the partnership between themselves and their official beer partner BrewDog.
“We’ve represented Neil for some time now, and he’s a former West Ham player and embodies that grassroots spirit of football, and he’s also a well-known face to a wider audience because of other high-profile things he’s been involved with, so he was the ideal person to do it. We filmed and edited the video and then released it on social media where it had four million views in the first week.
“That shows that it’s a relatively simple and effective way to get your message across, but I also suspect there’s an audience out there that has never even thought about using a well-known name as part of their PR and marketing and while it’s something that clearly gets results, they might not think it’s for them.”
Neil Ruddock has himself benefited from the right PR approach after some difficult times in his personal life, including health and financial issues, since his playing career finished. After bringing about some healthy changes to his lifestyle, he published a book last year, ‘Toxic, Tackling Razor And Finding The Real Me’, which gave him the opportunity to throw off the hard-man Razor persona that he felt defined the destructive lifestyle he led after he stopped playing football.
Neil is just one of an extensive list of personalities, celebrities, influencers, artists, musicians and sports stars in the GIANT Talent Management contacts book, and the return on investment from using a famous name to promote a campaign or host an event, can far outweigh the initial outlay.
Talent Management is just one facet of what is on offer through GIANT, a full-service marketing agency that has expertise in online marketing, branding, social media, design for print and digital, website design and SEO services. All Things Business is published alongside GIANT’s specialist services to offer a complete marketing solution for clients.
Ben Thomas added: “It became clear to me through the big names we’ve had hosting our own events, from Rob Beckett and Sir Trevor McDonald for our annual Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards, to Michael Owen and Brian O’Driscoll for sports themed occasions and discussions, or inviting guests like singer Billy Lockett and marketing expert Rory Sutherland to join us as guests on All Things Business – The Podcast, that a name people recognise and admire really does add something special.
“With a great contacts book, and a wealth of experience in using talent to full effect, we can advise clients on how to make the most of investing in a big name to boost your publicity for an event and campaign, and to add extra interest to what it is you’re trying to say, or to give an event an extra dimension.
“People may see advertising campaigns with a famous face and think that’s not for them, but the costs will vary and there’s usually a solution to be found if you’re looking for a big name to work with and help generate interest.”
Find out more at the GIANT website or call 01908 030480.
