Victoria and Albert Museum

We partnered with the Victoria and Albert Museum’s in-house communications team to support its Africa Fashion exhibition campaign.  The focus for Shiloh PR was reaching Black and African communities in the UK with a PR campaign that would complement the work of the V&A’s in-house PR team.

As part of this collaboration, we aimed to start a conversation about Africa’s fashion scene, its influence on Western fashion, the historic significance to the continent and celebrate the rich culture in a positive way.

The project involved focusing specifically on grassroots media outreach and consultation on influencers, invite lists and partnership/collaboration opportunities.

The project comprised of three main phases:

  • Morning press preview and VIP evening event in June 2022
  • Post-June launch event
  • October events Fashion in Motion and Wash Day

What we did

PRESS PREVIEW AND VIP EVENT ON 28 JUNE 2022

  • Compile list of specialist media outlets and Black journalists to be included in V&A’s invitation to press preview morning of 28 June.
  • Compile list of VIPs to be invited by V&A to the Africa Fashion evening launch event
  • Liaise with selected media outlets and journalists re invitation as well as circulating invitation directly from Shiloh PR to selected journalists.
  • Coordinate RSVPs for Shiloh PR direct contacts
  • Shiloh PR Directors attendance at events

POST JUNE LAUNCH EVENT

  • Compile list of potential influencers both formal and informal for V&A in-house Comms team for future invitations
  • Contact selected influencers to ascertain their interest in attending/visiting the exhibition
  • Issue press release for relevant specialist media
  • Liaise with select media outlets re coverage of the exhibition
  • Create social media posts and share/interact with social media posts related to the exhibition
  • Promote public opening of the exhibition across personal and business contacts

FASHION IN MOTION AND WASH DAY EVENTS

  • Issued media releases for Thebe Magugu’s first international fashion show as part of Fashion in Motion
  • Issued media alert to Black media to publicise the ‘Wash Day’ day-long event celebrating Afro hair.
  • Suggest relevant influential individuals and journalists to be invited to the fashion show

Results

Using Shiloh PR’s specialist media outlets data and insights into the communities, we were able to provide content and hooks for the media to write about the Africa Fashion exhibition, the V&A and those behind the exhibition.

Editorial, social and broadcast coverage was achieved via relevant grassroots and specialist/niche platforms, shows and accounts. From BBC’s regional programming aimed at Black audiences, through to social media posts from Influencers recommended by Shiloh PR.

Landed key messages and positive sentiment whilst broadening the audience for the V&A and projecting a positive and inclusive image.

Significant proportion of those recommended for guest lists or invites attended V&A Africa Fashion events.

Africa Fashion exhibition news clippings generated by Shiloh PR's work.
Screenshots of some of the social media coverage for the Africa Fashion exhibition

Carol Glenn being interviewed on Sky News

Carol Glenn

As the first black woman to become a race official in the UK, our client Carol Glenn, has unfortunately endured over 30 years of frustration and discrimination in the sport she loves.

Determined to help address the sport’s lack of diversity, Glenn spoke to us at Shiloh PR about her vision of working and training young Black people who wanted to become racing drivers.

We were appointed to undertake a short campaign, pitching Carol’s story and experiences in motorsport to the media, raising her profile.

What we did?

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, F1’s only Black driver, Lewis Hamilton came out publicly to call out racism in the motorsport sector. Immediately he made his first statement, founder of F1 Bernie Ecclestone issued a controversial statement on American TV, CNN.

We therefore decided on a two-phased approach for this project.

Phase One: Media outreach to pitch Carol as an expert with personal experience of racism in the motorsport sector, as well as commenting on the steps being taken by Formula 1 and in particular its most celebrated driver.

Our approach was to secure impactful coverage that would generate further interest in Glenn’s dream of setting up a racing academy.

Phase Two: Build on the initial publicity phase to launch her academy ‘Next Racing Generation (NRG)’

Results included: 

Interviews on several national and regional BBC radio and TV networks, including BBC One News, BBC 5Live and Glenn’s local BBC 3 Counties Radio among others.

We also secured pieces in national newspapers The Guardian and The Voice, plus features across Sky News, Sky Sports and Huff Post.

A photo of Carol Glenn on The Guardian website
Dr Floyd Millen

Dr Millen

Following the viral circulation of a video which captured the death of African American man, George Floyd, at the hands of a white police officer, Shiloh PR was contacted by author, Dr Floyd Millen, who had written a book which he felt was completely fitting with the current news agenda. In particular around the Black Lives Matter movement and the relationship between policing and the Black community.

The book ‘Police Reform and Policing Accountability’, though not yet published was available for pre-order on Amazon.

Dr Millen appointed Shiloh PR to undertake a short two-week campaign, pitching him to the media as an expert voice to discuss the history of policing of the Black community both in the UK and the US.  

As a former adviser to the Metropolitan Police Authority and a criminologist, his detailed research in this area gave him an insight into an issue which was uppermost in the media as part of the Black Lives Matter campaign.

What we did?

Extensive media outreach to pitch Dr Millen as an expert contributor to discuss the situation, it’s historical context, and why an issue which took place in the US resonated so much in the UK. 

Our approach was to find the most suitable outlets likely to have the most significant impact, within the contracted campaign time. The aim for this was that our client would then be able to leverage opportunities generated directly by us, effectively.

Results included: 

Within days we were able to secure interviews on seven BBC regional radio stations, with some carrying out multiple interviews on mainstream news programmes as well as their specialist programmes.

We also secured an opinion piece and a longer-term columnist role for Dr Millen in The Voice Newspaper, inclusion in content in The Telegraph and also Huffington Post among others.

With Dr Millen’s profile being raised significantly as a result of the campaign, he has also featured on CNN