Threepipe is an award-winning PR and social media agency that has grown to 25 employees since launching in 2004. They develop integrated campaigns for consumer, sports, lifestyle and corporate clients. Their tactics include creative competitions, partnerships with celebrities and charities, and leveraging events for media coverage. They summarize a bullying prevention campaign for Vodafone that engaged teenagers through a Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat design competition and raised over £25,000.

1. PR Campaign Tactics by ThreepipeJim Hawker, Co FounderLaura Allen, Account Executive

2. Who We AreThreepipe is a creative, effective, independent and award-winning agency that developsintegrated PR and social media campaigns designed to reach, engage and influence audiences.We exist to help our clients become more successful.Since launching in 2004, we’ve grown from just two people into a team of twenty five, with expertise in consumer, sport, lifestyle, CSR and corporate campaigns with a raft of industry awards endorsing the effectiveness of our work.

3. The threepipe philosophyWe avoid the obvious or easy solution.First, we carefully analyse the situation and think things through.Then, we apply creative inspiration and plenty of hard work to come up with the right results.(This rarely, if ever, involves us smoking pipes, but you get the picture).“It is quite a three-pipe problem”

4. AwardsWe’ve helped our clients to pick up plenty of gongs...Best Use of Digital, 2011 Sport Industry Awards Shortlist (The Football League)

5. Best Use of Digital, 2010 Sport Industry Awards (England & Wales Cricket Board)

6. Best Use of Digital Communications, 2010 CorpComms Awards (England & Wales Cricket Board )

7. Best New Media & Digital Campaign, 2009 PRCA Awards (England & Wales Cricket Board )

8. Best CSR Campaign, 2009 PRCA Awards (Vodafone)

9. Campaign of the Year, 2008 PRCA Awards (Vodafone)

10. Best CSR Campaign, 2008 PRCA Awards (Vodafone)

11. Best B2B Campaign, 2008 PRCA Awards (Siemens)

12. Best New Media Campaign, 2008 CorpComms Awards (Vodafone)

13. Best CSR Campaign, 2008 Euro Excellence Awards (Vodafone)...and won a few of our own in the process:Best Small Agency, 2009 PRCA Awards

14. Outstanding PR Consultancy, 2009 CIPR Awards (shortlisted)

15. New Consultancy of the Year, 2006 PR Week Awards

16. Best Employee Programme, 2010 SABRE AwardsThree D is our digital, social media and conversation division. Our specialist team is on hand to help develop campaigns that help brands to listen, engage, create and influence in the digital and social space.

17. Threepipe SPORT is our specialist sports division. With decades of experience behind us, we work with sports brands, sponsors and governing bodies, delivering creative, engaging and effective communications campaigns.

18. Sport and style have never been more closely connected. Threestyle is our division dedicated to working with sports-inspired brands looking to deliver integrated messages around performance, style and fashion.Working closely with the Threepipe Sport team, we are uniquely placed to help brands bridge the gap between sport and fashion.

19. Who We Work WithA diverse client base, covering FMCG, food & drink, fashion, consumer products, retail, toys, parenting, online, sports, leisure and business brands.

20. PR Campaign Tactics

21. Vodafone Corporate ResponsibilityWe work with Vodafone UK marketing and Corporate Responsibility teams to create campaigns which:Raise awareness of the positive initiatives Vodafone is undertaking to be a responsible businessEncourage customers and public to use phones responsiblyWide diversity of issues including: handset recycling, responsible driving, content standards and teenage bullying...

22. Teenage BullyingEstimated 450,000 UK young people are victims each yearEstimated 16 teenage suicides each yearOver half of all primary and secondary school children feel that bullying is a problemCyber bullying becoming an increasing problem with 42% children receiving ‘mean or threatening messages’ last yearResearch shows that girls (10-16 years) are far greater users of phones for bullying than boys

23. Campaign ObjectivesEncourage teenage girls to think about the negative impacts of mobile phone bullyingProvide support to those being bulliedHelp teachers and parents to better spot incidents of bullying and provide support toolsDemonstrate Vodafone’s commitment to Anti Bullying Week (November) and creatively stand out

24. Campaign StrategyDevelop a creative platform to engage teenage girls and parents and to deliver key campaign messagesCreate a formal education programme to aid teacher participation and classroom engagementWork with a bullying charity to develop campaign assets and raise funds

25. Creative EngagementAt the heart of the campaign we needed a creative idea that would engage and entertain without being preachyThat would inspire participation amongst all target groups by offering something unique and exclusiveTap into the desire for self expression and creativityOnline was key to:Connecting with the target audienceDelivering an intrinsic capacity for interaction – comment, rating, sharingOffering a way of overcoming tight project delivery timelinesProviding measurability and data capture

26. Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour DreamcoatWe approached The Really Useful CompanyCreated by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber when 16 years oldStill one of the most popular school productions over the last 30 yearsFeatures a bullying storyline between Joseph and his brothers who are jealous of his new coatLee Mead, discovered by the BBC show, popular amongst teenage girls (and mums!) and on record as having been bullied at school

27. Creative MechanicVodafone ‘Cut it Out’ competition to redesign seven new Dreamcoats to be worn on stage during Anti Bullying WeekCoats to feature symbols, slogans and materials to reflect how teenagers felt about bullyingBlank Dreamcoat template to be downloaded from a campaign microsite and completed with a short 50 word description before being uploadedWinning designs to be created by students from the London College of Fashion

29. Campaign LaunchCampaign launched in September to coincide with Back to SchoolLee talked openly for the first time about being bullied in a series of radio and media interviewsEmail newsletter sent to 3,000 schools with link to a downloadable schools pack to allow competition entry as part of classroom activity (art & citizenship)Show ticket competitions placed across national family, health, celebrity and online teen mediaSocial media outreach to Lee’s fansites

30. Campaign LaunchThreepipe worked with BeatBullying to provide exclusive case studies to The Mirror and ITN:Teenagers being bulliedParents who had lost children to suicideCampaign website developed at cutoutbullying.com: Teaching materialsBullying adviceCase studiesTicket competitionsNews updatesJustgiving donation pageLinks from Vodafone; BeatBullying and official Joseph sites

33. Entry Response2,000 entries to the competition from school children in three weeksReceived over 50 letters from school teachersSeven regional winners shortlisted by a judging panel consisting of:Lee MeadBeatBullyingVodafoneReally Useful GroupLondon College of Fashion

38. Online VotingPartnered exclusively with Bliss Online for a vote to find the overall winnerBliss was offered an interview with Lee, show tickets and the valuable ‘call to action’ mechanicThe vote was promoted via:Bliss magazine, Bliss Online, Bliss NewslettersBliss Bebo & Bliss MySpaceVodafone Live! & Vodafone.co.ukLocal PR with regional winnersOver 40,000 teenagers registered and voted for their favourite coat designs in ten days

39. Anti Bullying WeekLee appeared on the GMTV sofa to unveil the winning dreamcoatThree double page spreads in The Mirror during the week featuring case study materialFurther coverage on ITN, London Tonight and four regional ITV stations covering footage from the theatre showsPushing consumers to website which featured a link to an eBay auction for the coats

40. Competition WinnersAll winning schoolchildren invited to see their coat designs worn on stage during the weekMeet and greet sessions took place with Lee Mead each nightPhotos of the winners with the star of the show sold into local media to generate further coverage

41. The Theatre ExperienceVodafone VIP reception on opening night inviting Government & key mediaCharity bucket collections after every performanceCampaign branding within the theatre entranceEvery seat for every performance carried information about the Vodafone backed campaignLee Mead talked about the campaign on stage at the end of each performance Over 91,000 theatre goers saw the performance throughout Anti Bullying week

43. CampaignResultsDelivered over £400,000 AVE coverage and a campaign ROI of 8:1All coverage connected Vodafone with Anti Bullying Week150,000 unique visits to campaign site40,000 emails for BeatBullying databaseOver £25,000 raised throughout the campaign to fund school bullying workshops in 2010

44. Key LearningsPartnerships are key to adding value and exclusive opportunities:Really Useful GroupBeatBullyingLondon College of FashionMultiple touch points drive media opportunitiesAppealing to creativity encourages participation and media interest