We’re more than just a PR agency. From media relations to event management, strategic consultancy to digital outreach and most points in between, Boom! is dedicated to creating innovative consumer communications campaigns.

Established in Summer 2009 in London, we are a brand new creative communications agency offering highly strategic and effective solutions to brands based in, and looking to harness the entertainment industry.

We believe in putting Public Relations at the heart of all great communications campaigns in order to derive greater ROE – return on entertainment – for our clients.

And we’re more than just a PR agency. From media relations to event management, strategic consultancy to digital outreach and most points in between, Boom! is dedicated to creating innovative consumer communications campaigns. We like to approach things differently.

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TNT Racers

Boom! has been appointed by one of Germany’s leading games publishers to lead the PR campaign for the UK launch of TNT Racers, a multi-platform video games title.

Hamburg-based dtp entertainment AG develops and publishes entertainment software for all interactive entertainment platforms. Boom! has been briefed to maximise consumer awareness and generate trial of the new racing game which will be online in August 2010 on the Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network, and will appear on PlayStation® Network for PlayStation® 3 and PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and on Nintendo Wii™.

Soren Winterfeldt, Senior Product Manager at dtp, said “We were highly impressed with Boom!’s response which demonstrated a real focus on delivering results, a high return on investment and also great creative thinking. We are excited to work with Boom! and look forward to seeing their ideas in action, launching TNT Racers in the UK.”

This appointment follows a series of new business wins for the fast growing consumer and entertainment-focused agency.

These include Supermassive Games, the UK’s largest independent brewer Wells and Young’s and specialist magazine publisher Future UK.

Justin Crosby, Boom!’s founder, said “It’s great to add dtp to our client roster as we strengthen our portfolio in the consumer and entertainment sectors. TNT Racers is a classic action-packed console racing game and we’re looking forward to bringing the title to the attention of online console gamers across the UK.”

Gamer James Richards setting a new World Record at the Golden Joystick Awards 2009

Golden Joystick Awards Case study

Campaign
Golden Joystick Awards 2009

Client
Future UK

Objectives
Achieve 1 million consumer votes for awards
Partner with Future’s in-house PR resource to increase awareness of Golden Joystick Awards among consumers and industry

Strategy & plan
The project was developed as a three-stage campaign for this audience-voted videogames awards event. The first stage was to engage the industry, then motivate videogame communities and finally alert the mainstream audience. The key challenge was to project coverage outside the games specialist media for this historically trade-facing event.

Key to the campaign’s success was the partnership of video games industry stakeholders – especially those with nominations in the awards. Boom! created an awards roadshow and visited the nominated companies to showcase the Awards , providing them with event information and a voting toolkit, designed to assist those who wished to activate their communities in the voting process.

The consumer motivation element of the campaign kicked off with a viral creative. The ‘Great Games Search’ was designed to generate interest and talkability. A complex picture containing visual clues to multiple hidden videogames images was quickly shared around gamers with a ‘Vote now’ call to action. This was supported with a competition mechanic designed to reward the consumers who could identify the most games.

To widen coverage outside the games community, the Boom! team negotiated a number of partnerships with consumer media titles including ShortList, Bliss and MSN in addition to Future’s own GamesRadar, CVG.co.uk and Edge. These partnerships delivered exclusive pre-event feature coverage and were used to drive awareness and voting.

To further strengthen the mainstream news potential of the event, Boom! and Future staged a world record attempt together with event sponsors Lucozade on the morning of the Golden Joystick Awards. The ‘Lucozade Alert Plus Super Sonic Challenge’ saw 21 year old Maidstone gamer James Richards set a new Guinness World Record for completing a level of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 22 seconds. Guinness World Record adjudicators and spokespeople were on hand to confirm the record time and Richards was presented with a Guinness World Record certificate as part of the ceremony later that day.

It was important to the campaign to leverage the massive online specialist videogames community. Boom! & Future devised and implemented a blogger outreach programme tailored to supply the needs of the UK’s most influential gaming blogs. This included a dedicated Digital Media Room at the awards event, with key bloggers invited to the show for the first time. A full media schedule for the day was developed for the bloggers which also featured a Q&A session with Future’s key games publishing executives and editors to discuss how to develop a career in games journalism. Exclusive demonstrations by the makers of new blockbuster games titles such as DJ Hero and Tekken 6 were also laid on, giving the bloggers previously unattainable access to games talent.

The climax of the campaign was the Golden Joystick Awards ceremony itself. Media management at the event focused on a backstage media run where mainstream media were provided with opportunities to interview key winners and industry figures. Media attendees included Radio One, Radio Five Live, ITN, XFM, The Guardian and The Sun.

The awards event also featured the presentation of the second Guinness World Record of the day – this time to the Golden Joystick Awards itself, which was recognised as the ‘Worlds Most Popular Video games Awards’ in front of the audience of over 800 industry executives.

Measurement & evaluation

The campaign exceeded the target of 1 million votes by finally reaching 1,223,646 – the biggest haul of votes in the event’s 27 year history.

The campaign generated over 30 pieces of mainstream lifestyle and news print and online coverage, over 50 pieces of specialist & trade media coverage and over 100 specialist games blogs.

Key pieces included The Times, Radio 5Live, BBC Radio One, ITN and CBBC Newsround.

Results

47% increase in voting, beating previous highest voting total by 367,384 votes, highlighting a huge leap in industry engagement and consumer participation.

Significant increase in both pre- and post-event coverage over previous years.

Event recognised as world’s leading video games awards ceremony.

Client quote

“Working with Boom! took the Golden Joystick Awards to a new level. The company’s tenacity and professionalism enabled us to easily reach our target of 1 million votes from the general public, securing our place as the world’s premier public-facing videogames event. Boom! took time to understand the obstacles faced by the awards and provided swift, tailored solutions. I’m looking forward to a long association with Justin Crosby and his team, and already planning our joint campaign for next year’s event.” Emma Parkinson, Publisher Future UK

Bloggers in the Golden Joystick Awards Digital Media Room

Danny Wallace on the media run

James Richards receiving his Guinness World Record from Gaz Deaves, editor of Guinness World Records; Gamers Edition

TV interviews in the media run

Justin created the global PR strategy for Philips in their role as Global Lighting Partner for the event and co ordinated activity around the world with local affiliates. He also created a partnership with Pussycat Dolls, one of the stars of the London show – one of the first shows to take place at the reopened Wembley stadium. The partnership resulted in broadcast and print PR coverage, ensuring Philips sponsorship delivering return on investment through editorial coverage.

We’ve been briefed to support the brand’s new advertising campaign that aims to build awareness for its iconic ‘Take Courage’ slogan.
Boom! will provide social media strategic consultancy and traditional media outreach to build awareness for the campaign which aims to celebrate Courage’s rich heritage and role at the heart of pub conversations.

Joanna Dring, PR Manager for Wells and Young’s and one of PR Week’s current ‘29 under 29′ said “Boom! showed a strong understanding of the market and the consumer, and came up with a robust strategic approach and an insightful creative platform. We’re excited to see the results of this campaign and look forward to working closely with the agency in this exciting phase of the Courage brand’s development”.

“We’re delighted to have been appointed by the UK’s largest independent brewer to work with an iconic British beer. Utilising social media and traditional channels, we’ll be reconnecting Courage with its loyal and passionate following.” said Justin Crosby, Boom!’s founder.
The Courage brand has over 200 years of brewing pedigree across it’s ever popular Courage Best Bitter brand and premium cask ale Courage Directors.

Our appointment coincides with our first birthday and our move to new offices in Clerkenwell.

Following a critical mauling of 2004’s Tomb Raider videogame release ‘Angel of Darkness’ it looked like the Lara Croft brand was tired and the whole franchise has run out of steam. UK game publisher and owner of the Lara Croft IP Eidos, needed the much improved game ‘Legend’ to be a success, not just to save the brand but it was crucial to the future of Eidos’s new owners SCI Entertainment.

Justin Crosby developed a 3 stage UK campaign focusing on the new face of Lara, 20 year old unknown model Karima Adebibe and the brands significant cultural heritage.

The strategic approach to the model reveal was one similar to the unveiling of a supermodel as the new face of an underwear/cosmetics brand. The agency focussed on Karima’s ‘rags to riches story’ having previous been employed as a check out assistant at fashion retailers Top Shop.
The second stage of the campaign focussed on feature generation which focussed on Karima’s transition to the world’s favourite cyber heroine. The campaign worked with the British Army to create an SAS style training day on which journalists included the Sunday Telegraph joined Karima in training for the role. Finally in order to focus on the game itself on launch the campaign campaigned for, and was awarded a Guinness World Record for the Lara Croft character as ‘most successful computer games heroine’. Crosby timed the announcement to run on launch and news stories included Daily Star, Daily Express, a half hour slot on Simon Mayo’s Radio Five Live show and four MTV/ VH1 shows. Launch broadcast coverage culminated in a live appearance on Sky News, BBC’s Holly & Stephen’s Saturday Showdown, London Tonight and . Other notable features included double page spreads in The Sun, Daily Star and 6 page features in FHM and Nuts amongst other.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider; Legend reached Number 1 on release in the UK and was both the fastest selling video game of 2006 and one of the most successful in the Tomb Raider franchise. The campaign won the Best Consumer Campaign at the CIPR Awards 2007.

Justin Crosby played a key role in developing a new music experience called The Mill for Miller Genuine Draft, whose brief was to drive their core audience to reappraise and re-engage with the brand in Scotland.

Created to provide a genuinely different platform for emerging music talent, The Mill provides audiences and artists alike with a memorable night of live music in both Glasgow and Edinburgh, where Miller Genuine Draft is a leading lager brand.

The Mill has been developed to enable both audiences and emerging artists to benefit from the rapidly changing landscape of the music industry. The manifesto is simple: support those bands that are pushing the boundaries, both in their music and their approach, creating a platform where they can play to their maximum potential. It’s about removing the barriers between artist and audience – and enhancing that interaction both in an electrifying live environment and unique online experience. The Mill brings these audiences and bands together in a direct and uncomplicated way that is real, honest and genuinely different.

The live performances are laid down as live tracks, captured on film and photographed. By making this material available on-line for free download at www.themill-live.com artists are able to take their audio visual content to a wider audience, directly growing their fan base. Artists will be given the tools to build on this, as they are given dedicated live recordings for their own promotional use.

Over 80,000 live tracks recorded at the shows have been distributed by Bluetooth technology through some of Glasgow and Edinburgh’s best bars, a Bluetooth enabled vehicle and themill-live.com.

Working closely with marketing agency Arc, Justin helped develop The Mill’s creative panel – collaborating with local music industry experts including lawyers, radio DJ’s, magazine editors, managers, consultants and others to realise the benefits and opportunities that Miller Genuine Draft could bring to artists and live music audiences in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Justin has developed the PR strategy for The Mill, working hand in hand with local agency partners Genuine PR. Now in it’s second year, The Mill goes from strength to strength. Go check it out at the link above!

Justin Crosby created the concept of Carling celebrating the London music scene across the rock n roll capital of the world in one day. A ‘non-stop’ showcase of live music across Carling’s London venues.

Whilst at Cake and together with ClearChannel Music, Justin created CarlingLive 24 which was the most ambitious new music property created and featured 11 artists including Franz Ferdinand, Feeder, Starsailor and Scissor Sisters across 5 shows all in 24 hours. Sales promotion activity maximised the value of the property whilst Xfm broadcast updates of the event throughout the day. Over 12,000 people attended the shows, Nearly 12,000 pints of Carling sampled and media value of the coverage exceeded all expectations. Timing of the event was perfect as the event came before the summer festival season had begun and on the week of the shows both Scissor Sisters and Franz Ferdinand had Top 10 hits.

In addition to the brand’s nationwide venue pouring and naming rights deal with the Academy Group and Mean Fiddler for the Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds Festivals and working with key partners in the music industry. During his time with Cake Justin Crosby was responsible for creating new music properties and co ordinating marketing activity that delivered a compelling point of difference for the brand and raised the bar in British music sponsorship.

Coors Brewers wanted to create experiential brand activity that encouraged consumers to taste the quality of Grolsch and captured a ‘continental drinking experience’. The brief was to create an experience that built on the shared values of brand and audience of premium, effortlessly cool and ‘never rushed’ – targeting consumers of savvy 25-27 year old urban professionals.

Whilst at Cake Justin Crosby directed the team who created the strategy for the Grolsch Summer Set, staged at one of London’s historic landmark buildings, Somerset House along with a series of shows at Bristol’s Canon’s Marsh Amphitheatre. The shows were developed with the aim of creating a positive brand association with sophisticated, laid back and cutting edge music creating an optimum showcase environment for the brand.

Tasteful branding and staging were developed to complement the sensitivity of the venue whilst communicating the brand’s personality. Artists such as Snow Patrol, Massive Attack, Air and Groove Armada created the perfect soundtrack for the shows.

The Summer Set shows were a huge success, creating a unique urban occasion on a memorable summer’s evening. Enjoyed with a perfectly poured Grolsch. Excellent media coverage was delivered across both locations