Case studies > Getting peak oil onto the public policy and media agenda
The Brief
The UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security is a consortium of British businesses including Arup, Foster + Partners, Scottish and Southern Energy, Solarcentury, Stagecoach Group and Virgin. Their second report, titled The Oil Crunch, warned that the peak oil era could hit the UK within the next five years. The report’s aim was to target industry executives, policy-makers and other key influencers as well as the press to encourage wider awareness of the Taskforce and issues surrounding peak oil.
To meet this brief, Epoch developed and implemented an integrated communications programme consisting of three elements: a launch event at the Royal Society, a media outreach programme and an online buzz campaign.
The Result
To build a sense of anticipation about the report we secured an exclusive in the Sunday Times the weekend before launch. This helped to drive interest from key newswires, such as the Press Association, and online outlets as well drive attendance to the launch event at the Royal Society. This strategy also ensured heightened interest in the story amongst the broadcasters CNN, Sky, Channel 4 and national media for the launch and a critical mass of interest developed. Following the pre-event media coverage of the report, a representative from the Department of Energy and Climate Change made an eleventh hour request to provide an official response to the report at the launch itself.
By also seeding the story online with key industry blogs such as The Oil Drum, the story also began to have a life of its own and extended interest significantly beyond launch day. The total potential online audience totaled 1,229,153 sites through links alone, while traditional media coverage included BBC science programme Bang Goes the Theory, Radio 4, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, plus numerous trade and business publications. Analysis of the coverage revealed that nearly half the pieces analysed, rather than just reported the story.