1. PRIA GOLDEN TARGET AWARDS 2013
Category 10: Health Organisations
Entrant: Louise Richardson, Soapbox PR
Campaign: ‘The Great Bike Hike’
THE ISSUE
The client:
Fairholme Disability Support Group (FDSG)
The goal:
To support local communities to become welcoming and affirming places for
people with disability, mental illness, their families and carers, promoting the
Western Australian State Government’s message of ‘Count Me In – Disability
Future Directions’
The project:
The Great Bike Hike (TGBH) – group of 10 disabled and able-
bodied cyclists riding with a support crew 2,500km from
Perth to Broome, stopping at 11 regional communities to
give talks to schools and community groups, and host
community events in partnership with local groups from the
disability/mental health sectors
The challenges:
Working with a committee of volunteers with different skills sets
Budget constraints.
Ensuring effective communication of a range of messages
Diverse range of audiences
Meeting the varying requirements of partners, sponsors and funding bodies
Remote coordination of PR activities
Rapid turnaround during the ride to ensure the website and social media were
updated daily
Conforming with accessibility requirements for people with disabilities
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2. THE STRATEGY
PR objectives:
Secure coverage of the project in Perth-based and regional media
Engage the public via social media, including Facebook and Twitter
Attract financial donations to the project
Promote inclusion
Generate attendance at community events
Target audiences:
11 regional communities between Perth and Broome
People with a disability or mental health issues and their families and carers
Funding sources and sponsors (local businesses in each regional community,
LotteryWest, Disability Services Commission)
Potential donors
Community organisations
FDSG Management Committee and Members
State Government of WA
Local Authorities between Perth and Broome
Schools in each of the communities
Disability Services Commission (DSC) Local Coordinators
Key messages:
The Great Bike Hike is a ride from Perth to Broome to celebrate and raise
awareness of projects and organisations championing the inclusive principles of
the WA State Government’s ‘Count Me In’ strategy.
The ‘Count Me In’ vision is to create welcoming and affirming communities
for people with disability, mental illness, their families and carers.
The range of audiences, their location and the varying levels of possible engagement
with TGBH meant that the PR Strategy needed to offer a range of opportunities to get
involved.
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3. EXECUTION
Project conceptualisation:
Soapbox PR prepared a feasibility study, brand identity, PR
strategy, and grant and sponsorship applications in late 2011
for The Great Bike Hike.
Website development:
Soapbox managed the production of a highly functional
website in collaboration with Zetatech
(greatbikehike.org.au).
The website was a hub for all news, information, maps,
social media, community and stakeholder engagement,
donations and images/video.
Promotional items:
Brochures, wristbands, temporary tattoos, pens, flags,
banners, postcards, storyboards, balloons and posters.
A 56 page, full colour A4 book and accompanying
DVD was produced documenting The Great Bike Hike.
3Community Booklet 1
Celebrating the Count Me In
message in Regional WA
THE GREAT BIKE HIKE
In the spirit of Count Me In
Perth to Broome
19th August to 15th September 2012
FairholmeDISABILITY SUPPORT GROUP INC.
ENRICHING LIVES
AN INITIATIVE OF
MIDLAND
MOORA THREE SPRINGS
GERALDTON
CARNARVON
PORT HEDLAND
NEW NORCIA COOROW
DONGARA
NORTHAMPTON
KARRATHA
BROOMEPERTH
HEDLAND
BRO
O
M
E
BASSENDEAN

4. Publicity:
Media releases, regular blogposts and e-newsletters, and social media including
Facebook, Twitter, a YouTube channel and a Flickr photostream were all used in the PR
campaign.
Soapbox also assisted with the conceptualisation
and production of WIN TV ads and 6PR radio ads.
Account management:
During the hike Soapbox communicated closely with the riders, photographer and
videographer, communities being visited and media so that we could deliver daily
blogposts detailing exactly what the team was experiencing on the ride.
Budget:
$57,000 over 13 months.
55% of total (est) invested in media relations (traditional and online)
Account management largely pro bono
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5. INNOVATION:
On line and social media provided a way to enable people who were not directly
involved with The Great Bike Hike to feel part of the adventure.
This was achieved by:
An online tracking device that enabled
people to track the riders’ progress on an
interactive map embedded into the website.
Regular tweets from cyclists
Daily updates and blog posts posted by the
Soapbox team
A photographer accompanied
the cyclists and support crew,
and every day new images and
video were uploaded via Flickr
and TGBH’s YouTube channel.
It was also important that The Great Bike Hike returned a benefit to the communities
visited. To achieve this, donations to TGBH could be allocated via the website to the
project itself, or to specific community group projects that had nominated to come
under The Great Bike Hike banner.
The cyclists also carried a Baton-Parchment throughout the trip, with the name of each
community added during the ride. The Baton-Parchment was presented to the Minister
for Disability Services and Mental Health on the cyclists’ return to Perth.
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6. RESULTS AND EVALUATION
2,435,000 reach (estimated, based on viewer, listener and readership figures)
Average cost per opportunity to view: $0.013
Specific outcomes:
$135,265 funding from LotteryWest
$50,000 funding from DSC
$78,000 in donations
20+ print media articles pre-hike (including The West, Sunday Times, Scoop,
Community News, regional newspapers, online, and stakeholder newsletters)
18+ radio interviews (metropolitan and regional) before and during the hike
20+ print media articles during the hike
GWN TV news
Website visits spiked and liker base doubled on Facebook and Twitter
10,000 pamphlets, 5,000 postcards and hundreds of posters distributed in each
town
10,000 wristbands, 5,000 temporary tattoos and 5,000 pens handed out at
events
Broadcasts by Police and Main Roads of daily ride movements and constant two-
way contact with truck drivers, tourists and drivers
16 school visits
Community radio announcements
Direct involvement of WALGA, Department of Sport and Recreation, BikeWest,
Disability Services Commission, and City and Shire Councils
27 major sponsors secured
Exhibitions, civic receptions, community events and school visits resulted in tens
of thousands of people being exposed to The Great Bike Hike message
56 page, A4 full colour book and DVD produced to commemorate the event
presented to each community, sponsors, major donors, and the Minister for
Disability Services and Mental Health, (also available as a download from
website)
The success of The Great Bike Hike has enabled Fairholme Disability Support Group to
secure funding for additional projects. It has also reinvigorated community projects in
regional Western Australia, with a minimum of 25 significant projects participating in
The Great Bike Hike community events in support of Count Me In.
[1,020 words]
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7. APPENDICES
1. Reach during the event
Medium Subscrip-ons
or
coverage Engagement
or
bounce
rate
Es-mated
Reach
Website
over
the
month
of
the
hike 1,489
unique
pageviews 39%
(a
li?le
below
average)
3,461
visits;
12,310
pageviews
E-­‐news 375
subscribers 40%
open
rate
(average
not-­‐for-­‐
profit
industry
is
20.43%)
N/K
Facebook 123
likers Weekly
total
reach:
1,037
Flickr Total
views
23,898
Twi?er
(182
tweets) 127
followers
Stakeholder
newsle?ers:
sponsor
and
stakeholder
newsle?er
pieces
in
Act
Belong
Commit
news;
DisAbility
Update,
Connect
Groups,
Rotary,
etc.
N/K
State
Print
media
coverage
(The
West
and
Sunday
Times)
8
ar]cles
in
2
state
publica]ons
1,700,000
Community
newspaper
coverage
(metro) 6
ar]cles
in
6
free
community
newspapers
300,000
Regional
newspaper
coverage 22
ar]cles
in
9
regional
papers
in
over
100
WA
towns
85,000
Magazines
(Scoop) 1
ar]cle 300,000
Online
coverage
(known)
(search
term:
“Great
Bike
Hike”)
25
items
across
10
pages
on
Google
N/K
TV
campaign
(WIN)
Paid
series
of
30
second
and
15
second
ads
257
airings,
plus
268
bonus/filler
spots
(525
total)
290,952
Radio
adver]sing
on
6PR
–
30-­‐second
ads 22
spots
over
4
days 20,000
per
airing
Radio
interviews
and
news
announcements Approx.
17
across
6
radio
sta]ons
N/K
GWN
news
coverage 1
news
story
29/8/12 50,000
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8. 2: Facebook engagement summary
3: Flickr user engagement report
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9. 4. Website traffic summary
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