Being Brunel for SS Great Britain
SS Great Britain’s new museum to celebrate the life and work of Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel faced a challenge – rekindling media and public interest in a man whose creations are well known and whose history has been told.
To overcome the challenge, we revealed the character and personality of the man in the famous hat via a creative campaign and the call to action to ’Step inside the mind of Britain’s engineering genius’. This supported the museum’s marketing and the attraction’s large ‘Brunel head’ which provides visitors with views and moments from his life.
We revealed Brunel’s intriguing, dogmatic and often exasperating character - from his passion for Shakespeare, his compulsive cigar habit (he smoked almost 50 a day) to his acerbic wit. We extended reach by working with key organisations such as the Great Western Railway and the UK Government to profile this great Britain to overseas media.
The campaign broke with live reports in BBC Breakfast TV, The Today Programme and Radio 2 as well as coverage in every UK region in which Brunel has a structure. This, together with coverage across commercial stations and stories in most of the UK national papers enabled the Museum to enjoy its highest visitor numbers for a decade.
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Kallaway’s campaign secured incredible national coverage raising the profile of the Trust, Brunel’s legacy and our new museum. Brilliant work, they’re highly recommended”
Paul Chibeba
Head of Marketing
