Employee Relations Institute

Challenge

Muckle Media was asked to launch a new employee relations establishment, the Employee Relations Institute (ERI) and a post-graduate course being delivered through Bradford University School of Management which would attract interest from the HR and employee engagement industries culminating in an event to be held at the House of Commons.

Strategy

We established relationships with key industry titles, i.e. HR Magazine, HR Zone and Customer Engagement Network, as well as national broadcast journalists to secure coverage of the launch and the aims of the institute and course. Interviews with board members were offered to a wide range of media outlets and we developed a range of news hooks and pitch angles, including the issue of bullying in the workplace.

Results

Over the pre-launch and post launch period, we achieved over 23 pieces of stand-out coverage in industry titles and national broadcast. We arranged for Jan Parkinson, Chief Executive of the ERI to go on ITV Daybreak to speak with Lorraine Kelly and Aled Jones about workplace bullying in the UK. We also secured an interview for Jan Parkinson on BBC Scotland. The launch itself saw the institute immediately meet its objectives of founder member and member applications, and Bradford University reported a peak in enquiries regarding the post-graduate course.