Sophie Willan – Edinburgh Fringe

Task

To launch a then unknown, Sophie Willan (comedian and actress) into the media for her second ever Edinburgh Fringe one-woman stand-up show. For her first hour she had no PR coverage at all, so it was an even bigger challenge to secure PR since the show we were working on was not her debut.

What we did

Before beginning the PR process we sat down with Sophie to discover her unique selling points  and she had an undeniable one.  In her show she was going to be talking about being a sex worker.  Though this was very sensitive subject, to be handled with extreme care, she was willing to talk about this to the right publications.  

Media Relations 

We sat down with two cherry-picked journalists face to face and offered them exclusives with Sophie for their different areas. The journalists were chosen not only for the publications they write for but also for the way they handle themselves with the people they interview. They were trusted by the Impressive team, having had long standing relationships with them.

Results  

We secured huge features in the Times and The Scotsman – they both went for it even though she was an unknown – as they loved her story!  

Her media coverage snowballed from there and we continued to build her over that year and the following one.  She received so much attention her sitcom was commissioned for a live pilot for BBC Two, and then her full series for which she has won two Bafta for plus numerous other awards and nominations. Helping Sophie has been one of the teams personal highlights as what we did impacted in a massively positive way on her career path.