Umpf Diary – UK’s first alternative Xmas experience, four ice rink launches and a turkey on ice skates
- Creative
- PR
- Social Media
The year might be drawing to a close, but things certainly aren’t winding down here at Umpf HQ – check out what the team has been up to in the months leading up to Christmas…
Westgate Oxford launches UK’s first alternative Christmas experience, ‘Wasteless Wonderland’, and pop-up second-hand store, Charity Super.Mkt
This November, the Umpfers were busy launching Westgate Oxford’s a brand-new alternative Christmas experience, WasteLess Wonderland, as well as the ‘department store for second-hand style’, Charity Super.Mkt.
The team coordinated media interviews to accompany the launch of both projects and secured interviews with titles including BBC South Today, BBC Radio Oxford and Greatest Hits Radio.
In total, WasteLess Wonderland and Charity Super.Mkt secured a whopping 56 pieces of coverage with a reach of 27.6 million.
A Night of Literary Feats at the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Awards
The end of November concluded a 9-month long campaign for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Awards 2023, with their eagerly awaited awards ceremony.
The Umpf team travelled down to BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, in London, along with over 120 attendees including the shortlisted authors (two of which flew over from the USA), sports enthusiasts, journalists along with their friends and families, to see who will be crowned the best sports book of 2023.
Lauren Fleshman with her book Good For a Girl clinched the world’s most prestigious sports-writing prize – marking the first woman’s memoir to receive the award in the competition’s 35-year history.
Behind the scenes, the Umpf team helped orchestrate a seamless event, from supporting with the logistics of the night, to setting up media interviews and overseeing the social channels. The event was a huge success for the team, securing over 80 pieces of coverage surrounding the awards ceremony including Sky News, The Times, Metro and The Daily Mirror.
Needless to say, they earned every sip of their celebratory drinks on the train back home.
As the doors finally close on another year celebrating the best sports books in 2023, here’s a look back at all the action from today 🎬
Congratulations once again to our #WHSBOTY23 winner @laurenfleshman with her book, 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 🌟🏆 pic.twitter.com/UIyeR7NcGD
— William Hill Sports Book Of The Year (@BookiePrize) November 30, 2023
An Absolutely Fabulous Christmas…
This November, the Umpf team shared the news that the Landsec shopping centres’ ‘Fabulous… Every Time’ Christmas ad was voiced by Dame Joanna Lumley herself.
The festive campaign showcases the different gifts & leisure activities available at each of the centres this Christmas, using the straplines ‘Fabulous Gifts Every Time’ and ‘Fabulous Moments Every Time’.
We issued press releases for 4 shopping centres and secured 19 pieces of coverage in total with a reach of 21.3 million.
Skate into Christmas at Landsec Shopping Centres & Outlets
Team Umpf helped manage and coordinate ice rink openings at four Landsec Shopping Centres and Outlets in the run-up to Christmas this year.
Braintree Village Shopping Outlet in Essex opened its first-ever ice rink to guests in November, and the team arranged and hosted an exclusive VIP ice skating event, including entertainment from professional skaters, a DJ set, and have-a-go sessions for journalists and influencers.
Following successful debuts back in 2022, shopping destinations Clarks Village and White Rose announced the opening of their festive ice rinks for a second year, meanwhile Bluewater’s ice rink also returned by popular demand.
To mark the reopening at Clarks Village and to demonstrate the rink’s inclusivity, the Umpf team invited more than 80 guests from various disability groups across the South West for the season’s very first skating session.
Families attended from Children’s Hospice South West, Langport charity bibic, Nova Sports and Coaching, and Bath Romans Wheelchair Basketball Club, and the team arranged a visit from ITV News where they filmed a news broadcast from the rink, interviewing guests and highlighting the ice rink’s accessibility.
Overall, we secured some stellar results for our clients, including 126 pieces of coverage, and a combined reach of 78.1 million.
International Brewing & Cider Festival tickets go on sale
This month, tickets to the debut International Brewing & Cider Festival, happening in March 2024, were officially released to the general public.
We achieved some fantastic coverage off the back of our media outreach, with a total of 14 clippings across key consumer and trade titles, generating a total reach of over 9 million.
Yasper Agency
Last month we announced our partnership with Yasper. We’re backing Jules Pearce with his start-up comms agency. Yasper’s services will include media relations, digital PR, stakeholder engagement and marketing. Yasper will be based in our Leeds office and we’re delighted to welcome Jules to the team. We’re already working together on one client with more in the pipeline – watch this space.
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Steph’s Packed Lunch team shops till they drop
Black Friday was a very busy time for our client Trinity Leeds – in more ways than one. We welcomed Steph’s Packed Lunch to the shopping centre, with their roving bargain hunter Mr Carrington finding the best Black Friday deals in the run-up to Christmas.
Trinity Leeds got several mentions on the national primetime show, with 5 separate pieces broadcast from the centre, including several live hits.
The team was great to work with, and we’ll be sad when the show comes to an end later this month, but hope to see Channel 4 continue to invest in Leeds with another locally-filmed primetime show.
Some well-deserved Christmas celebrations
On Friday the team headed over to Harrogate for our much anticipated Christmas do – look out for our next blog to find out what festive fun we got up to!