Brief
Alex Stobbs is a 19-year-old classical musician and Cambridge University student who suffers from cystic fibrosis. He was the subject of “A Boy Called Alex”, a BAFTA award-nominated Channel 4 TV documentary that followed his efforts to conduct a performance of Bach’s Magnificat while living with his life-threatening condition. Following the success of the documentary, Say Communications was appointed to raise the profile of a charity event where Alex would conduct Bach’s St Matthew Passion at London’s Cadogan Hall, to support fundraising and raise awareness of cystic fibrosis.
Solution
Alex’s human interest story provided an ideal opportunity to build awareness of both the event and of how cystic fibrosis impacts young people’s lives, demonstrating how a positive attitude and passion for music have helped him to cope with his condition. Say implemented a tightly focused campaign that sought to secure a number of ‘big wins’ with the media rather than more general, diffused coverage. Outreach was concentrated around the national quality papers, national radio and specialist classical music media, plus local Cambridge press. Say offered interviews with Alex, suggesting feature-length profiles that could highlight his life story and ambition to undertake yet another physically-demanding performance. Say also ensured that the event was featured in all classical music event listings.
Result
The tight focus of the campaign proved to be very successful, with The Independent on Sunday, Classical Music magazine and the Cambridge Evening News all running major features on Alex and the event. Alex was also interviewed by BBC Breakfast in the build up to the event. As well as telling Alex’s story and boosting ticket sales, all of the features highlighted the day to day struggle of living with cystic fibrosis, including details of the massive cocktail of drugs, injections and intense physiotherapy that sufferers must endure. As a result, the event was successfully funded and sold out.
Client verdict
“As Project Manager for this event I want to express my gratitude for the part Say played in helping to make The Alex Stobbs Matthew Passion Project such a tremendous success. I credit Say with helping Alex to achieve his aim, in particular by raising a better awareness of Cystic Fibrosis and ensuring the concert was a sell-out.”