Following our campaign with the Loch Ness Centre this summer, Alastair Campbell called Nessie Scotland’s ‘Golden Goose’ on his ‘The Rest is Politics’ podcast, saying it was ‘PR of the highest order’, and even gave the Centre’s General Manager, Paul Nixon, a shoutout for his fantastic yellow suit. Admittedly, it felt nice to get praise from someone like Alistair Campbell, but what exactly did we do to deserve it?

Following a £1.5 million investment in the Loch Ness Centre and Deepscan cruises from leading UK tourist attraction manager Continuum Attractions, we were tasked with delivering global coverage to bring tourists to the centre.

Loch Ness Centre were arranging ‘The Quest’ – a weekend of events at the end of August arranged in partnership with Loch Ness Exploration’s (LNE), an independent and voluntary research team, for volunteers to search the famous waters of Loch Ness and uncover its mysteries.

We knew there is always interest in Nessie, but we wanted to make sure we had something that would capture the attention of the world.

After research, we found out that we could position ‘The Quest’ as the largest search in over 50 years with new technology being used to search the waters of the Loch – this was the hook we were looking for.

Through strong media relations when we launched ‘The Quest’ we secured significant global media coverage.

One week from the event, we drafted a further press release calling for Monster Hunters across the globe to sign up and watch the live web cams of the Loch over the weekend, and search for anything unexplained.

Over ‘The Quest’ weekend, we managed media invites and the media schedule pre and during the weekend, with media on site from the Washington Post to German broadcasters ZDF and Australia’s ABC.

Finally, Following the weekend, we followed up with media once again with details of findings from the weekend, keeping the legend of Nessie well and truly alive.

Over a 4-week period, we generated over 2,300 pieces of coverage with media secured across the globe, including New York Post, Washington Post, BBC, and The Guardian and over 192 pieces of broadcast coverage including Good Morning America, BBC Radio 2, BBC Breakfast and Sky News.

During the period, over 6,000 people visited the Quest part of the Loch Ness Centre website, and over 200 people volunteered to take part in the hunt arriving from countries including the US, Canada, Poland, and Denmark, and over 300 people from across the world watched the live stream.

So what can we learn this?

It’s not every day you get a world-famous beast as part of your PR arsenal, but there are lessons to learn, we took an event and elevated it with a key hook on being the ‘biggest’, we also created several story moments to keep up momentum, and maybe most importantly we made the event open to everyone with a live stream making the event truly global.

If you want to hear how we can help elevate your PR and stories, get in touch. And if you want to hear what Alastair Campbell had to say about the campaign, you can hear it here from 10.50:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6FDw1P3LZiiDlSMLZHojre?si=EjO6kYTLSsOREiiI7uhOSg

Creative communications agency Muckle Media’s team are celebrating awards success after winning ‘Growth Business of the Year’ at the Women’s Enterprise Scotland Awards 2023.

Taking place at Glasgow’s voco Grand Central Hotel, the ceremony recognised female business leaders across ten categories and was attended by BAFTA-award winning television journalist Kirsty Wark, who delivered the keynote speech.

Sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Growth Business of the Year Award celebrates women-led businesses which have achieved considerable growth and financial performance, as well as a solid understanding of creating and sustaining commercial success within the context of the markets they operate in.

Muckle Media founder and Managing Director Nathalie Agnew said: “Women’s Enterprise Scotland is doing invaluable work in championing women-owned and women-led enterprises, and it’s an honour to be recognised alongside so many accomplished female business leaders in Scotland. We’re thrilled to be taking home the Growth Business of the Year Award and extend our congratulations to all the finalists and winners at this year’s awards for their ambitious and innovative work”.

Along with the Growth Business of the Year accolade, Muckle is shortlisted for a host of prizes this awards season, including in four categories at the CIPR PRide awards.

Written by Chloe Ainslie

I joined Muckle Media for a three-week internship. As a recent graduate from Queen Margaret University, I was nervous but keen to start building up my professional skillset now that I was no longer a student.

Although I had graduated with a degree in Film and Media, I had never directly done anything in PR, and I couldn’t really tell you what it meant if you were to ask me at the start. Regardless, I was ready to start, and didn’t expect the experience to be as fulfilling and enjoyable as it was!

I took part in a range of tasks whilst at Muckle, such as, assisting with the launch of a new restaurant, doing deep dives into the food and drink industry and its community, drafting copy and more.

The work was one of the strongest aspects, challenging my tech and communications skills whilst teaching me about a range of different topics and companies. There was a sense of being ‘behind the scenes’ which made me feel very accomplished. But undoubtedly the best part was the people. I got to work with very kind, helpful and patient colleagues who helped me feel more confident as the weeks progressed. Some days would be slower than others and I could sometimes feel a bit shy about asking for more things to do but ultimately, I was met with warmth and helpfulness.

I am very happy I was given this opportunity to intern for Muckle Media. It was a rewarding and worthwhile experience that turned out to be the ideal start for professional life after university. I now have a better definition for PR from when I first started – sheer variety and surprisingly fun!

P.S – there’s an on-site barista, beer taps in the Edinburgh office AND it’s dog friendly. Easily the best workplace I’ve been to.

As a further commitment to its employee proposition, ‘Bright Careers. Realised.’ Muckle Media has accredited with The 4 Day Week Campaign and secured gold status. The agency now operates a four-day week, with the team working either Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday, for full time pay.

Muckle Media trialled a four-day week during the summer, with the introduction of weekly team wellbeing days, and measured productivity and team happiness. Productivity, which is measured as the percentage of team time attributed to billable work, increased eight percentage points during the trial, despite the trial falling during the summer when the most annual leave is taken. Happiness, measured by employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) increased from 23 in June to 53 in October, on a scale of -100 to 100, with over 50 classed as excellent.

The agency has also introduced further benefits this year, with eight weeks of holiday and enhanced maternity package including a month’s wages pre-baby to help with buying baby equipment.

Muckle Media Founder, Nathalie Agnew, said,

“We are continuously looking for ways to ensure our team have a good work/life balance and are able to deliver exceptional results, without undue stress and pressure. As a B-Corp we are committed to finding ways to support our team wherever possible. We appreciate the environment we work in is fast moving, so we will always have appropriate support available to clients, particularly in a crisis or when a fast turnaround opportunity arises.”

You can find out more about the 4-day week campaign here: https://www.4dayweek.co.uk/

We are delighted to have been appointed by one of Edinburgh’s unique historic tourist attractions, The Real Mary King’s Close, to support with its PR on a retained basis.

Following a competitive pitch process, Muckle Media was appointed to support The Real Mary King’s Close on a number of campaign activations, events, and announcements throughout 2023 and beyond.

Muckle Media Director, Chris Batchelor, said: “As the tourism sector gets back up and running again, we’re delighted to be working alongside one of Edinburgh’s top tourist attractions and promote all the fantastic work and events they have planned throughout 2023. We have loved getting to know the team at The Real Mary King’s Close and looking forward to working with, and becoming an extension of, the team over the course of the year.”

The Real Mary King’s Close Marketing Manager, Emilie Lumineau, said: “2023 is a special year for us at The Real Mary King’s Close, as it has been 20 years since we started telling the stories of Edinburgh’s past residents in these underground streets. We were impressed with Muckle Media’s creativity and the team’s enthusiasm for our brand and the site’s history. We are excited to start working together on some exciting campaigns throughout the year.”