ABOUT

Manchester Pride is a beacon of celebration and support for the LGBTQ+ community in Greater Manchester. As a charity, it champions equality and fights discrimination, creating events that aspire to reflect the pride and talent within the LGBTQ+ community. Its flagship event, the Manchester Pride Festival, draws over 650,000 attendees during the August bank holiday weekend.

The Challenge:
Manchester Pride is more than its globally recognised annual festival. As significant as the Manchester Pride Festival is, our challenge was to not only encourage ticket sales for the festival, but to also raise awareness of the charity’s broader work, expanding its reach beyond the local community and continually maintain a positive sentiment towards the charity.

Our Extraordinary Thinking:
We knew that compelling narratives to humanise Manchester Pride’s work would engage audiences emotionally and intellectually. To ensure cut-through, we balanced sobering realities with uplifting messages to inspire action. Our extraordinary thinking was rooted in three key pillars:

-Empathy-driven storytelling:
Case studies highlighting the lived experiences of individuals benefitting from Manchester Pride’s initiatives.

-Dynamic campaigns with purpose:
Tied to key dates and talking points, such as National Coming Out Day, we combined practical guidance with real-life case studies around pertinent topics positioning Manchester Pride as a thought leader.

-Vibrant festival promotion
Behind-the-scenes content, artist interviews, and striking visuals celebrated the festival’s diversity. Advocacy was seamlessly integrated, with messages of allyship and inclusion featured in event programming, digital communications, and artist interactions.


The Solution (what we did):
-Targeted media outreach across high-profile platforms.
-Key profiling and interviews with organisational figures.
-Dynamic news generation to keep the charity’s work in the public eye.
-Comprehensive event management for the Pride festival.
-A tailored paid social media campaign.
-Development of authentic video content for social advertising.
-Data-driven audience targeting on Facebook and Instagram to navigate LGBTQ+ safeguarding protocols.

Delivered:
Our unique approach was multi-faceted, designed to celebrate the spirit of Manchester Pride while driving meaningful engagement:

- We engaged in intensive media outreach to enhance sentiment and spotlight the charity’s extensive efforts.
- Interviews and profiling efforts provided a personal glimpse into the organisation’s heart, fostering public connection.
- By tying Manchester Pride’s activities to wider social trends, we ensured their presence in relevant cultural conversations.
- Through case studies, we showcased the charity’s profound impact on lives, revealing the depth of its work.
- Our timely press office activity was strategically deployed to elevate festival promotion and spark widespread interest.

Key Coverage:
BBC
ITV
Metro
MSN
Daily Star
Manchester Evening News
Gay Times
Pink News