Top Media Coverage

Rotary Bowelscan's Undie Sunday

Gray Media Services recently achieved outstanding media coverage and recognition for Rotary Queensland’s annual Bowelscan programme by developing and implementing Australia’s first ever Undie Sunday event which aimed to bring nationwide attention to the issue of bowel cancer.

Following the unprecedented success of Gray Media Services’ 2010 Rotary Bowelscan campaign, entitled ‘You’re Never Too Young’, it was agreed that something even bigger was required for 2011 and so ‘Undie Sunday’ was born.

With bowel cancer the nation’s second biggest cancer killer the aim was to spread the important message of encouraging people to test for the disease before it’s too late. So to draw attention to the cause Undie Sunday invited Queenslanders to gather at the River Stage at the Brisbane City Botanical Gardens on Sunday March 13 to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the ‘largest gathering of people wearing nothing but their underpants’.

With only two months to devise and implement the whole initiative that required 550 people at least to break the record, Gray Media Services developed a strategic public relations and marketing campaign that focused on rapidly building attendance and sponsorship from local businesses by utilising a strong social media push.

Through a dedicated Undie Sunday Facebook page that saw hundreds of Australians open up about how they had been personally affected by bowel cancer, Gray Media Services succeeded in not only quickly increasing awareness of the event but worked to bring bowel cancer to the forefront of everyone’s minds.

This social media push was also supported by an integrated public relations campaign that achieved significant national and local media coverage for the Rotary Bowelscan programme and Undie Sunday, both in the lead up to and preceding the event. Media exposure was gained across a wide variety of outlets including radio, television, online and print with highlights including; The Weekend Today Show, ABC TV News Brisbane, The Courier Mail and mX Brisbane.

This exposure and momentum achieved by GMS in the lead up to Undie Sunday was essential in gaining   sponsors for the event and was a driving factor in GMS winning the key sponsor for the event, up and coming underwear brand Sly Underwear, with several key local businesses following suit soon after.

Whilst Rotary Bowelscan just missed out on breaking the record, hundreds of Queenslanders turned up to show their support and shake their bottoms in the name of bowel cancer awareness with Rotary and the general public all deeming Gray Media Services’ Undie Sunday a huge success.

Gray Media Services is now in the midst of planning Rotary Bowelscan’s Undie Sunday 2012 which looks to be even bigger and better so watch this space!

Best media coverage achieved for the Rotary Bowelscan Undie Sunday campaign

• The Weekend Today Show [YouTube]
• ABC TV News Queensland [YouTube]
• The Courier Mail – Undie Sunday gets to the bottom of a deadly serious disease: [PDF]
• MX – Show us your knickers: [PDF]

Steve Parish Publishing

After becoming iconic Australian brand Steve Parish Publishing’s first ever public relations and marketing firm in its 25 year history, Gray Media Services has been hard at work achieving significant exposure for the well known organisation.

Most recently Gray Media Services developed and instigated a PR and marketing campaign around the company’s latest book ‘50 Years Photographing Australia’ which gained wide spread media and consumer attention for the publishing house through the ‘50 years of Steve Parish’ campaign,

The commemorative book that showcases never before seen images taken by the founder and namesake of Steve Parish Publishing, ‘50 Years Photographing Australia’ is a collector’s item that celebrates the well known photographer’s 50th year of capturing the nation’s unique flora and fauna.

In order to promote this rare book, GMS developed a strategic approach that took Steve Parish Publishing into new territory by instigating a social media marketing push that generated a more personal approach to communicating with the photographer’s fans.

Using the power of YouTube, GMS presented a different video each day in the 50 days leading up to Christmas that celebrated Steve Parish’s 50 year career. Based on the 12 days of Christmas song, the social media campaign had everyday people from varying occupations and backgrounds singing their own version of the song and proclaiming why they are a fan of Steve Parish’s photography. To view the videos please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdvirvsduNo.

Supported by a national PR campaign that focused on broadening Steve Parish Publishing’s target markets by giving the media a rare insight into ‘the man behind the camera’, this integrated approach saw Steve Parish Publishing achieve wide spread media coverage whilst also driving consumer awareness and sales of the ’50 Years Photographing Australia’ book.

Media coverage was achieved across a wide range of media platforms including print and radio as well as online and social media. The Age featured a full page article in the Melbourne Life section focusing on giving readers an intimate insight into Steve’s career with the Sunday Times also profiling the Australian icon. The book and Steve Parish also featured significantly on radio stations 612 ABC Brisbane, 774 ABC Melbourne, 4BC Brisbane and Radio Adelaide.

Adding to this success were online galleries of Steve Parish’s photography that appeared across all major metropolitan news websites including news.com.au. With several further media opportunities already in the pipeline, Gray Media Services looks forward to continuing to build on its success with Steve Parish in 2011.

Best media coverage achieved for Steve Parish 50 days of Christmas with Steve Parish campaign

• The Age – Natural Selection: [PDF]
• ABC Radio 612 Brisbane: [MP3 Streaming] 
• ABC Radio 774 Melbourne: [MP3 Streaming] 
• News.com.au – 50 Years Photographing Australia: [Web Link]