Maternity and baby charity Tommy’s hands PR brief to Bottle
Tommy’s, a charity which funds research into pregnancy problems, has appointed Oxford-based brand comms agency Bottle on a project-basis to build brand awareness and income for its Splashathon fundraising event.
The biennial Splashathon has raised more than £2 million for Tommy’s since it launched in 2006.
Splashathon is a joint-initiative with the UK’s largest baby swimming school, Water Babies, which is Tommy’s largest corporate supporter.
The biennial fund-raising campaign has run since 2006, with families who regularly attend Water Babies classes so far raising more than £2 million for Tommy’s.
Babies and toddlers join their parents at sponsored pool events, staged by their teachers, across the entire Water Babies UK franchise network.
This year, Tommy’s and Water Babies are aiming to beat all previous records and raise £1 million through Splashathon events across more than 50 Water Babies franchises across the UK this summer.
In previous years, the partners have handled the PR and digital campaign in-house, but given the increase in ambition, they decided to enlist support from agencies and ran a five-way pitch process at the beginning of February.
Bottle won the brief, which includes building a microsite, integrated recruitment, fundraising and “thank you campaigns” across social media, PR and customer comms.
Money raised will fund research into the causes and prevention of pregnancy complications that can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth.
The brief will be led by Bottle’s MD, Natasha Hill, and editor, Liz Beswick.
Siobhan Gray, senior marketing manager at Tommy’s, said: “Bottle’s recommended strategy and understanding of the brief and its challenges were really strong. In addition to this, the team’s energy and passion combined with their experience with Dallaglio Foundation, CRUK and Teenage Cancer Trust meant they were the right agency for the brief.”
Hill added: “Charity briefs are some of the most fought after in our sector so being given this opportunity is hugely motivating for us. Our creative strategy could help 60,000 families have the baby they long for; this represents a really motivating goal for Bottle to work towards and we’re delighted to be the chosen partner for both Tommy’s and Water Babies.”
