The Boost Bingo campaign by PLMR and The Bingo Association, which secured a reduction in bingo duty from 20% to 10% in this year’s Budget, was last night announced as the winner in the Best Public Affairs Campaign category at the 2014 CorpComms Awards. The trophy was presented to the campaign team at an awards dinner at The Troxy, London.
The Bingo Association appointed PLMR to run a campaign aimed at reducing bingo duty from 20% to 15%, to enable the bingo industry to invest and grow. The Boost Bingo campaign was launched in January 2014, with nearly 50 MPs visiting their local bingo club to show their support, with some even trying their hand at calling numbers. Over three months, the campaign gathered more than 340,000 petition signatures from bingo players across Britain and MPs were engaged into becoming supporters of the campaign and of bingo.
The campaign reached a climax when the petition was delivered to the Chancellor’s residence at Number 11 Downing Street, when nearly two hundred bingo players joined MPs for a celebratory procession past the Houses of Parliament. A series of meetings with MPs and senior Treasury officials were also held to continue to push the message.
Less than four weeks later, the Chancellor George Osborne announced his decision in the 2014 Budget – the duty on bingo clubs would be reduced from 20% to 10%. It meant bingo clubs across the UK could invest in new premises, modernisation and jobs, and the industry received an extra boost.
In recognition for this success, The Bingo Association and PR and public affairs partner agency PLMR received the prestigious CorpComms Award for Best Public Affairs Campaign.
The Corp Comms Awards judges said:
“This was a very professional campaign,” said the judges. “It was a clever strategy to attach MPs to their constituencies.”
One added: “This was a widely respected campaign within the public affairs industry. It as seen as outstanding.”
PLMR Account Director, Danny Wilding, said:
“We were all delighted that the success of the Boost Bingo campaign was recognised at this year’s CorpComms Awards.
It was a great pleasure and privilege to work with the great team at The Bingo Association and in Bingo Clubs up and down the length of the country. Bingo brought a key voter demographic into play at just the right time politically to secure a change in the Budget. They are a great group to work with and we are chuffed to bits to have been recognised again by our industry peers.”
Related links
CorpComms Awards 2014: The roll call of winners
CASE STUDY:Boost Bingo integrated lobbying and PR campaign case study
BLOG: How did Bingo make it into the budget?
VIDEO: Boost Bingo Campaign Explained
