A Cumbrian PR agency has been shortlisted for a respected industry award.
Platinum Live has been announced as a finalist for the Not-for-Profit Campaign of the Year category at the 2023 Prolific North Champions Awards.
The awards, which celebrate top talent across the North’s thriving creative, digital, tech, media, and marketing sectors, will be held on May 18.
The firm, based in Whitehaven, supported Gary McKee pro-bono during his 12-month marathon-a-day challenge.
They secured coverage for Gary across the world. Managing director Oliver Hodgson said: “This is an incredible achievement for not only our team but the close-knit 365 challenge team.”
“Gary’s 365 challenge was the talking point of New Year’s Eve last year, and rightly so, but leading up to that was hours of hard work, planning and expertise.
“Throughout those 12 months Gary showed up every day and ran 26.2 miles, inspired millions and raised an incredible amount and to say we played a small part in that will stay with me forever. I’m incredibly proud.”
In total Platinum Live leveraged over 480 pieces of editorial coverage, 72 pieces of TV coverage, and 53 regional and national radio hits were secured across the whole campaign, including CNN, ABC News, Sky News and BBC World. Google searches for Gary and his challenge shot up by 130 per cent on his final day resulting in £1.3 million being raised for Macmillan Cancer Support and Hospice At Home West Cumbria.
Platinum Live also commissioned and sponsored the production of 365, a short film to share Gary’s story which has been viewed more than 450,000 times, shared by celebrities including Ryan Thomas, Carol Vorderman, Helen Skelton and Jake Quickenden.
Gary said: “From the moment I met Oliver at Platinum Live I knew the PR side of the challenge was in the best hands possible. It was always going to be an important part, I set a target of £1 million, and we needed to reach beyond Cumbria, we needed to get the message out there and Platinum Live did just that working alongside our existing team.
“The Platinum Live team built a platform from the beginning and raised the bar continuously culminating in achieving all our objectives. I’m proud and excited to say Platinum Live will be looking after all my future challenges.”
