Wow, 2015! Brad Pitt, Great White Sharks and Killer Cereal

Since we are coming to the end of another amazing year for Alfred, we thought we’d take a little look back at some of our 2015 highlights.We kicked-off the year with a spring in our step, fresh from being named the New Consultancy of the Year at the 2014 PRCA Awards. This was just the beginning, as the awards nominations kept rolling in throughout 2015, we were shortlisted for the prestigious PR Week’s Best New Consultancy award and were Highly Commended at the UK Agency Awards 2015, for Best Small Agency Brand. Our hard work received a nod too, with two nominations at the Social Buzz Awards for our Sharkando 3 Oh Hell No! campaign.Our ‘Jepic’ stunt, to launch the latest in the Syfy film franchise, saw us create UK’s first ‘Sharknado’, in the middle of London. We commissioned a gang of bloodthirsty sharks to chase a very excitable Jedward down the river at high speed. This stunt saw us secure three national print stories in The Sun, Daily Star and Metro, and over 50 pieces of online and broadcast coverage including BBC Radio 1, London Live and Heatworld. Plus, #Jednado was trending in 4 countries thanks to a super-fun live social campaign which integrated into the Thames takeover. It was certainly an experience Team Alfred will never forget (and yes, we still have an 8ft Great White in the office, any takers?).Jedward were not the only famous faces we worked with this year, Alfred also had the honour of working with the one and only Brad Pitt, for the global theatrical launch of his MotoGP documentary Hitting The Apex. We partnered with iconic racing track, Silverstone, to host the world premier, which took place over British MotoGP weekend. Brad attended the Grand Prix race alongside his son Knox, whilst we managed the global media to make sure his visit was worldwide news. The partnership event was underpinned with a huge press office campaign which included an international trailer break exclusive with Yahoo Sports, a double page spread Brad Pitt interview in Shortlist and over 250 pieces of global coverage. We are still slightly giddy from meeting Mr Pitt himself, definitely a highlight of the year.Hitting the Apex was not the only theatrical film we launched this year, we also worked on the critically acclaimed indie film Eden for Metrodome and family film Ghosthunters for Altitude. As well as running a tight press office for both, we created exciting media and blogger events to bring the films to life. For Ghosthunters, we created an exclusive Halloween Trail at the National Trust’s Ham House, which challenged families to locate ghosts lurking in the infamously haunted, 17th-century manor house, very spooky indeed!From ghosts to strippers, 2015 also saw us work with Warner Bros. for the first time on a variety of home entertainment releases, including the extra special experience that was Magic Mike XXL! From attending the premiere with some of the UK’s top vloggers and creating hilarious video content, to securing blanket Christmas Gift Guide coverage, we had a blast. We also took on some of the more family friendly titles for Warner Bros., including Lego DC and Scooby Doo! and Kiss: Rock And Roll Mystery, for which we hosted a special spooky blogger and kid’s press screening event. Throughout the year, we’ve continued working hard to raise the profile of StyleHaul (the world’s largest fashion, beauty and lifestyle Youtuber network) in key trade titles and at speaker events. Highlights include features in The Guardian, Drapers and Brand Republic. We also hosted a special Gorkana Breakfast Briefing with Fleur De Force, to talk about the best practise when working with vloggers.StyleHaul vloggers were not the only YouTubers who have worked with this year; we also took on the launch of the YouTube channel for Alan and Gary Keery, infamous owners of the Cereal Killer Cafe. The Keery Twins may have made headlines this year when their shop was vandalised, but we’ve helped them hit headlines with some of the amazing content we’ve been creating with them for their YouTube channel, including a video of them eating 20 year old cereal which was placed exclusively with Mail Online. This video is not to be missed…. unless you have a sensitive stomach.From cereal to suits, and another one of our new clients, innovative tailors Edit Suits Co. We introduced the brand to top-tier London press, securing two in-depth full-page features in Time Out and City AM.We have also worked on the launch of two big Apps, music-making app Ninja Jamm and TV steaming app TVPlayer. We delivered some stand-out launch coverage for both platforms in such publications as the Guardian, Vice, Daily Star, Daily Express, Metro, CNET, Engagdet, Pocket Lint and Gizmodo.Alfred rounded off the year with a bang, running the DVD campaigns of some of the UK’s top stand-up comedians including Alan Carr, Kevin Bridges, Michael McIntyre, Noel Fielding, Russell Kane and the one and only Roy Chubby Brown. From running jam-packed press junkets, to DVD signings, and creating social content to securing exclusive clip placement, our campaigns made sure a stand-up DVD was added to lots of Christmas wish lists across the country. One stand-out experience was working with ‘Chubby’ to create an outrageous spoof music video, parodying pop stars from Miley Cyrus to Madonna. It’s a must-watch, but we must warn you… you cannot ‘un-see’ this!So that it was our 2015 highlights in a nutshell and what a year it’s been. We can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store, so watch this space…