Payments Council: The launch of Paym

Payments Council: The launch of Paym

Paym is the recently launched mobile payment service from the Payments Council that allows people to pay back friends and family using just their mobile number. To raise awareness of the new service and drive registrations, markettiers4dc worked alongside Consolidated PR to deliver the broadcast media relations as part of an integrated communications campaign. We recommended a phased broadcast strategy, to build awareness and deliver a frequency of messaging that would have greater impact than a single standalone launch.

Pre-launch
At the beginning of April it was announced that pre-registration had officially opened, as well as confirming the launch date to be 29th April. The aim of this first phase was to explain what Paym is, why we need the service and how it will help the consumer have better control of their IOUs. It was supported with an in-depth report that revealed there are £12.6 billion worth of unpaid IOUs in the UK.

Using multiple spokespeople from the Payments Council markettiers4dc secured a series of TV and radio interviews across the UK. Highlights included BBC Breakfast, Sky News, Sky News Radio, BBC World Service, BBC News and BBC Radio 5 live Wake Up To Money, as well as targeted regional BBCs to support the participating bank locations.

Registration
Phase two was the momentum phase; it was imperative to ensure that interest in the scheme remained high without an obvious news peg. This was achieved using a second story from the research report (held back under embargo) which looked at the etiquette of IOUs delivered on air by Rachel Riley (Countdown, The Gadget Show) who was recruited to act as a campaign spokesperson. This phase resulted in key message-laden coverage on 26 stations.

Launch
Finally, phase three was the launch of the service timed with the day known as ‘pay day’. Working with a number of Payments Council spokespeople, markettiers4dc set up filming opportunities of the service in action. The day started with Rory Cellan Jones paying back Stephanie McGovern on BBC Breakfast and continued with coverage on the BBC Lunchtime News and BBC 6 o’clock news, ITV, BBC Radio 5 live, BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat, BBC Scotland, Sky News Radio and Sky News Swipe, amongst others. A video feature was also produced which was placed on Mail Online, Express, Daily Star, Huffington Post, Which?, Yahoo, Digital Spy and the Scotsman.