We’d like to think of ourselves as bright sparks, especially after snapping up Gold in the Consumer Relations category at the 2022 PRCA DARE Awards for our part in promoting ‘Castle of Light’ - a collaboration between Historic Environment Scotland and a consortium of creatives which illuminated Edinburgh’s skyline to brighten up the dark winter evenings.

Following the success of the inaugural event in 2019, Castle of Light was back with a bang for a second year, following a hiatus due to the pandemic, with an all-new show full of light, sound and wonder.

However, the latest iteration certainly posed some different challenges…

While we now had the benefit of a ‘proved concept’, the 3x1 team was tasked with promoting an event in a very different landscape – with ongoing restrictions and ‘stay home’ messaging present and the threat of a new variant which could halt production at any moment.

Couple this uncertainty with the stretched spending power of our target audience and it could have been the perfect storm (not to mention the impact of Scottish weather on an outdoor event!) – but at 3x1 it’s in our DNA to get creative and overcome any barriers.

So being SMART about our objectives, we positioned Castle of Light as a must-attend event in the festive calendar by reigniting excitement, securing widespread media coverage and organising a sell-out preview event and series of influencer visits which created cut through in the busy events landscape.

From teaser content and ticket announcements right through to the last trail dates, we made sure the local community was at the heart of the messaging while inviting those further afield to experience the wonderment for themselves, giving the campaign life and longevity.

“Creating emotional connections and building positive sentiment around the event meant reach extended past the media to become the talk to the town – or the chat of the capital city in this instance!”, explains account director Heather Marston, who led the 3x1 campaign team.

“With a hugely successful second year of Castle of Light under our belts, and a DARE award to share with our amazing client, we can’t wait to see what this year’s illuminated trail has in store for everyone.”

Find out more about Castle of Light and get your tickets at www.CastleofLight.scot