Case Study - London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

Client: The Royal Automobile Club

Event: London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

Client Overview: The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is a prestigious and historical event that takes place annually, celebrating the world’s longest-running motoring event. The 60-mile route from Hyde Park Corner to Madeira Drive attracts a vast crowd of motoring enthusiasts, families, and collectors, all eager to witness an array of historic vehicles that date back to the early days of motoring. The run commemorates the Emancipation Run of 1896, which marked the increased freedom for motorists after the passing of the Locomotives on the Highway Act, which raised speed limits and abolished the requirement for a man on foot with a flag to precede automobiles.

The Challenge: Eventageous PR was tasked with managing the PR for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run in 2012. The challenge was to generate media coverage and ensure high public visibility for the event, as well as handle the logistics of press accreditation for the multitude of journalists covering the event. This was to be achieved through human interest stories, effective media outreach, and managing celebrity participation and special interest vehicles.

Media Outreach: Eventageous used their celebrity contacts to increase media interest and worked with entrants to create compelling human-interest stories that would resonate with both the general public and specific motoring audiences.

Pre-Event PR: Over 20 press releases were created in the lead-up to the event, focusing on the unique vehicles and notable participants. By creating a buzz before the event, the goal was to ensure significant media coverage on the day itself.

Celebrity Involvement: Eventageous PR was instrumental in securing well-known celebrity participants and worked to ensure that their experience was covered in the media, generating further attention for the event.

Comprehensive Event Management: The PR team also managed press accreditation for over 180 journalists and photographers stationed at multiple locations along the route to ensure full media coverage.

PR Execution:

🔹 Pre-Event Coverage: Eventageous PR secured national and international press attention by highlighting the stories behind the rare vehicles, the human-interest stories of participants, and notable personalities attending. The press outreach included targeted media pitching to motoring, lifestyle, and general news outlets.

🔹 Broadcast Coverage: Despite challenging weather conditions, the event received extensive broadcast coverage, including features on BBC Countryfile, BBC News, BBC Radio 5, and international broadcasters like Russia, China, Canada, and Australia. This helped showcase the event on a global scale. Eventageous PR’s efforts to engage celebrities and their media relationships led to increased press interest, including a major feature on Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show and coverage on BBC The One Show.

🔹 Printed Media: The PR campaign garnered extensive print coverage with over 300 media placements ensuring long-term visibility for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. UK printed articles in major publications such as: The Telegraph, The Guardian, Metro, The Daily Express, Daily Star, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Times plus a huge array of regional and motoring glossy publications both pre and post event.

🔹 Managing Press Accreditation: Eventageous PR handled all press accreditation for the event, ensuring smooth logistics for over 180 journalists and photographers. They facilitated access at key locations and ensured that all requests for images and interviews were managed efficiently.

The Royal Automobile Club benefited from enhanced visibility, and the Veteran Car Run further solidifying its position as a world-renowned motoring event.

Client Testimonial:

Peter Foubister, Motoring Secretary at the time for The Royal Automobile Club, commented:

“Thank you for the enormous amount of work, not just over the weekend, but in the months before. Ultimately, we presented a world-class event, and your determination and professionalism ensured that the maximum number of people were aware of the three very different motoring events that took part over the weekend. I particularly want to mention the creative work put in to find celebrities and the time taken to make sure that they had a good time. I know there were things you were doing above and beyond the call of duty.”.”

Eventageous PR’s pre-event planning, celebrity engagement, and strategic media outreach led to a highly successful 2012 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Through their hard work and dedication, they secured unprecedented media coverage, ensuring the event received the recognition it deserved and that the Royal Automobile Club enjoyed an enhanced public profile.

For further information regarding the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, please visit: www.veterancarrun.com.