The Hatch Sport team had another busy 12 months after the hysteria of 2012: it was all about legacy in 2013.
We kicked off the post-Olympic year by helping Triathlon England maximise their national championship events, driving increased participation in the sport after the success of home grown heroes Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee in 2012.
Our triathlon-experts then activated Tata Steel’s series of events, the Tata Kids of Steel, which is a non-competitive free event, aimed at 8-13 years in 12 locations across the UK. The team travelled the length of the UK, from Falkirk to Swansea, and was inspired to see almost 10,000 children taking part (swimming, cycling and running the same length as the Olympic Torch in the process).
Our next sporty challenge involved working with PhD, one of the UK’s leading sports nutrition companies. Our quest was to inspire gym goers to take it to the Next Level with an Altitude Challenge and helped them launch a new brand for Woman. And then Pompey came calling…
Portsmouth Football Club faced administration for the second time. The team were tasked with executing a strong media relations campaign to save the club by the Pompey Supporters’ Trust.
Sitting in the Royal High Courts of Justice, surrounded by media and Portsmouth FC fans, we celebrated the news that their historic club was to be placed back into the hands of its loyal fans. Seven months later celebrating had a replay, with the Hatch team and fellow PR peers at the CIPR Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Pride Awards, when the team scooped Best Use of Media Relations for our PR campaign to save the famous club for the fans. The judges were impressed with how Hatch understood the target audience and the resulting wide-ranging media strategy.
We ended the year on a high with the prestigious World Cup draw, Hatch having been appointed by Thomson Sport to raise the awareness of their England packages for this year’s World Cup. The team helped organise an event with 100 England fans, Graeme La Saux, Chris Kamara, Ray Wilkins, Peter Shilton, Mark Chamberlain and our favourite sports presenter Johnny Phillips at a bar in Mayfair to watch all the reaction to the draw unfold.
Overall, a busy year for Hatch as usual. Did a certain football manager retire this summer? Didn’t even notice!
