This is a Case Study for Sports Communication Australia's work on the Blue Mountains Bicentenary Flyover project. Our brief was to manage public relations and media for the event. The Businesses Supporting the Bicentenary wanted to drive tourism to the Blue Mountains via a number of events, including the Blue Mountains Bicentenary Flyover – a mass aerial crossing of the route from Emu Plains to Bathurst involving 75 civilian and military aircraft. Our mission was to engage both participating pilots, and then media, into extolling the virtues of the event and the Blue Mountains area. We were also charged with being the primary source for communicating the details of the event to the public and managing media in the lead up to, and during, the event.   We needed to overcome the challenges provided in promoting an aviation event from a visual / content and logistics perspective.

1. Case Study
Blue Mountains
Bicentenary Flyover

2. WHO: Businesses Supporting
Bicentenary
WHAT: Public Relations for the Blue
Mountains Bicentenary Flyover
WHEN: November 2012 – June 2013

3. WHO HIRED US?
The Businesses Supporting Bicentenary (BSB)
is a group of Blue Mountains based businesses
who joined together to plan, execute and
benefit from events created to celebrate the
200 year anniversary of the first European
crossing of the Blue Mountains by explorers
Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth.

4. The Team: Philip Hammon from Businesses Supporting Bicentenary, Matt Hall & Eric Sward
Director of Blue Mountains Lithgow and Oberon Tourism

5. WHAT WAS THE BRIEF?
The team at BSB wanted to drive tourism to the
Blue Mountains via a number of events,
including the Blue Mountains Bicentenary
Flyover – a mass aerial crossing of the route
from Emu Plains to Bathurst involving 75
civilian and military aircraft.

6. WHAT WAS THE BRIEF?
Our mission was to engage both participating pilots, and
then media, into extolling the virtues of the event and the
Blue Mountains area. We were also charged with being
the primary source for communicating the details of the
event to the public and managing media in the lead up to,
and during, the event.
We needed to overcome the challenges provided in
promoting an aviation event from a visual / content and
logistics perspective.

7. Aerial view of the Blue Mountains Bicentenary Flyover (Footprint Productions)

8. HOW DID WE DO IT
We used the uniqueness of the event and the
personalities of the pilot participants to tell the
story through words, imagery and video.
Prior to the event we created locally relevant
stories to engage local and regional media and
built individual opportunities for all major
metropolitan newspaper and television platforms
in Sydney.

9. HOW DID WE DO IT
On the day of the Flyover we established and
managed a media centre operation at Richmond
Air Force Base in cooperation with the RAAF,
arranged airborne media opportunities for all
major metropolitan newspaper and television
platforms and both photo and video news
releases from the event via our onsite media unit
who flew along the route in a helicopter.

10. Posters and magazine lift outs made up part of the communication strategy

11. Example of local media strategy used to promote event and recruit pilots

12. THE RESULT
The PR plan we implemented and executed
saw seven national news stories on Ch9,
Ch7, Ch10, ABC television news, a feature in
the Daily Telegraph, a review in the Sun
Herald, reports on all major radio news
services and dozens of local / regional print
and online articles.

13. THE RESULT
Our clients valued the media activity at
well over $1million.
“I have never been more proud of a tourism outcome.
The media exposure in the final 2 days was the best
we could ask for.” – Randall Walker, Chairman Blue
Mountains Lithgow and Oberon Tourism

14. THE RESULT
• http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/sweepin
g-planes-in-their-sights/story-e6frg95x-1226623785780
• http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/blue-mountainsflyover/xoz88tb
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVIqfhJLXHo
• http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/savouring-the-geewhiz-force/story-fni0cx4q-1226650215972

15. Social Media Strategy
Example of intensive Facebook and Twitter interaction during the event

16. For more information about this Case
Study or to contact Sports
Communication Australia, email
dave@sportscomm.com.au or call +61
403 777 026.