Markettiers worked with The Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA) to raise awareness of how the current drought in Ethiopia is creating a critical situation for livestock and subsequently the people of the Afar region.
Ethiopia is experiencing its worst drought in over a generation, which is threatening the not just the livelihoods but the lives of millions of people unless urgent action is taken to protect livestock. International animal charity, SPANA, wanted to raise awareness of both their emergency feeding programme in the country’s Afar region and their urgent call for support from the public and the UK government.
Following BBC East Africa Correspondent Alastair Leithead’s package on the BBC 10 O’Clock news, our recommendation was to commence extensive national outreach immediately to capitalise on this media interest. This resulted in two interviews secured with BBC World Service for SPANA’s CEO Jeremy Hulme as well as an interview with Reuters TV, who distributed their content globally.
SPANA supporter Ann Widdecombe was also made available for broadcast interview from her home in Devon. We set up her up for interviews with nine regional BBC and commercial stations, including BBC Devon, BBC Oxford and BBC Berkshire.
SPANA had also created a cut package stressing the worsening situation in Ethiopia. We managed the online media relations, which resulted in 17 websites running the piece with a potential reach of over 10 million people. We also edited B-Roll from the rushes, which was shared with broadcasters and used extensively in the Reuters TV package.
Overall a minimum of 61 items of broadcast coverage were secured for the campaign.