Brighton & Hove Civil Partnerships Campaign

Client: Brighton & Hove City Council
Project: Brighton & Hove Civil Partnerships Campaign

Objective
 
Brighton & Hove City Council recruited Priory to promote its Register Office.  Priory developed a media campaign focussed on the Civil Partnership Act – legislation allowing civil partnership registrations – which gives same-sex couples the legal recognition that married couples have.  The overall aim of the campaign was to promote Brighton & Hove’s Register Office as the place for same-sex couples to register a civil partnership. 

The objectives were to:

Same Sex Civil Partnership

  • Encourage same-sex couples nationwide to register a civil partnership in Brighton & Hove, thereby increasing ceremony bookings
  • Present the Register Office and the Council as forward thinking in its support for the Civil Partnership Act
  • Promote the city as the UK’s ‘gay wedding capital’


Implementation

The campaign was divided into four phases:

Phase one (conducted before eligible period in March 2005) – Priory created a news story “Race for UK’s first ‘gay wedding’ hots up” where Brighton & Hove laid down the gauntlet and created a race to be the first city to hold a civil partnership ceremony in the UK. This provided the campaign’s foundation and evoked initial media attention. Priory advised Register Office to hold three simultaneous ceremonies to set it apart from other cities. It also worked with the Register Office to select three media-friendly couples. Two of the three couples to be wed first in a simultaneous ceremony on 21 December by Brighton & Hove Register Office were also announced.

Rev Debbie Gaston and her partnerPhase two (June) – Priory created a follow-up story “Lesbian vicar to have first ‘gay wedding’ in UK” announcing the Rev Debbie Gaston and her partner as the third couple to be part of the simultaneous ceremony.  Priory commissioned striking photography of the couple and set up 23 media interviews with all three couples and the registrars.


Phase three (September – December) – To build on the media momentum already generated by the campaign and to encourage more couples to book a civil partnership ceremony in the city, Priory:

  • Raised the profile of the three registrars responsible for conducting the first three ceremonies in key media, including securing an interview and photo with The Guardian
  • Established partnerships with The Brighton Hilton Metropole Hotel and The Royal Pavilion to promote the Register Office’s additional wedding venue links in the city.  The hotel agreed to supply the post-ceremony venue and refreshments for three wedding breakfasts on 21 December.  Priory worked with the Pavilion to publicise its first civil partnership ceremony as the only royal palace in the country where ceremonies can be held.
  • Secured the support of Meg Munn MP, minister for women and equality, to attend on 21 December and to provide central Government endorsement for Brighton & Hove Council’s commitment to the Civil Partnership Act
  • Proactively arranged over 50 media interviews for councillors, registrars and the couples including local, regional and national press, radio and television
  • Created and secured unique deals with Channel Four, Meridian and the BBC One national news team for documentary footage of all three couples in the lead-up to and on 21 December

First Civil PartnershipPhase four (December) – Priory created a news story “History made in England’s gay capital” to cover the ‘first’ civil partnership ceremony event on 21 December.  Priory managed 17 media teams at the event.




Results

The campaign generated 299 pieces of coverage in international (26%), national (36%), regional (18%) and local (20%) media including broadcast, broadsheet, tabloid, hotel trade and gay media. Examples include:

  • This Morning (10 June) – Debbie Gaston and partner interviewed live. Richard & Judy (21 December) credited Brighton & Hove’s Register Office and the couples
  • The Guardian (26 May) – double page feature on Debbie and partner ‘Here come the brides’. Shropshire Star (19 August) ‘Brighton tops gay wedding hot spot’. Daily Mirror (19 August) ‘Brighton is the best city for gay weddings’
  • BBC One Breakfast news – (5 December) live broadcast from Town Hall of all three couples registering their intent to wed. (21 December) exclusive ‘live’ footage of first ceremonies broadcasted on breakfast news all morning and repeated all day on BBC One news bulletins and BBC News 24
  • Channel Four (30 January) – documentary ‘Gay Vicars’ featuring the Rev Debbie Gaston.  Meridian Focus (29 December) – documentary ‘Three Weddings and a Milestone’ following all three couples in the lead-up to 21 December
  • Press in attendance on 21 December included Sky News, The Press Association, Radio Five Live, and The Pink Paper. BBC Southern Counties Radio even broadcasted all day live from the broom cupboard in Brighton Town Hall
  • Brighton & Hove Register Office registered more civil partnerships in England and Wales in the first month after the legislation came into operation than any other region, according to statistics released by the General Registrars Office (December 2005 and January 2006)
  • By 21 December the media were crediting Brighton & Hove with more civil partnership bookings than any other council ‘The biggest number of registrations…was recorded in Brighton’ International Herald Tribune (6 December).  By March 2006 Brighton & Hove Registar Office had taken over 1,000 bookings and in the first two months had registered 163 civil partnerships (20% of which came from outside of the city)
  • As a result of the media momentum created by Priory, Gaydar, the leading ‘gay’ radio station, published a survey (19 August) naming Brighton as the UK’s gay wedding capital – generating additional coverage midway through the campaign for the Register Office
  • The campaign culminated in Brighton & Hove Register Office and registrar Trevor Love being mentioned on Have I Got News For You  (10 December)
  • This campaign was shortlisted for a Local Government Award for Community Involvement

Creativity

The creative elements that made this campaign work include:

  • The creation of an exciting race to be the first, combined with a visual, history-making event featuring three simultaneous weddings
  • A drip-feed communication strategy to create a steady build-up of brand recognition for Brighton & Hove Council’s Register Office and civil partnerships
  • Identifying media-friendly yet controversial couples to be the first to wed
  • Working intelligently with partners to build on Brighton & Hove’s appeal as a city
  • Briefing photographers to capture striking campaign photography