With entertainment and mass media increasingly dominated by celebrity and reality TV, how can you reignite a nations’ passion for Egyptian artefacts and persuade over one million people to pay up to £20 to visit an exhibition in a building then known as the failed Millennium Dome? The Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition was approached as “infotainment” taking creative licence with the Tutankhamun brand to create maximum excitement and buzz.Through a well planned and executed media relations campaign which incorporated events, CSR activity and creative stunts, the PR team created a national fever for King Tutankhamun not seen since 1972.The campaign achieved high public awareness via constant news flow from the announcement of the tour to the exhibition opening, right through to its close. Total audience reach achieved through media coverage is approximately 2.4 billion.

High consumer awareness resulted in record advance and final ticket sales, in total 1.1 million tickets were sold, exceeding the client’s target. According to a poll of 2,000 adults by YouGov, two thirds of British adults saw or heard positive media coverage about the King Tutankhamun exhibition and nearly three times more than saw traditional advertising for the event.

Pre-opening picture stories: A 25ft model of Anubis was floated along the Thames.

Tickets on sale: Actors dressed as ancient Egyptians delivered a package to radio breakfast shows including tickets, The Bangles hit “Walk like an Egyptian” and Tutankhamun headdresses. Local children were given free tickets by the Mayor of London and a photo call was held at The O2.CSR and education: A 45ft pyramid was commissioned and US pop artist Romero Britto collaborated with 1,500 children to paint it before it was unveiled in Hyde Park.Opening week: 322 journalists attended a press conference and preview. Interviews were set up with every main UK broadcaster. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were greeted by 100 children for a private tour. A ‘gold tie’ preview event was held in association with The Princes Trust. During the opening week, four London landmarks were turned gold.

• The audience reached through media coverage was 2.4 billion• According to a poll of 2,000 adults by YouGov, two thirds of British adults saw or heard positive media coverage about the King Tutankhamun exhibition.• The Anubis stunt alone generated 70 pieces of coverage Worldwide• With no budget outside the UK. The team also achieved over 200 pieces of international coverage.• In the opening week, more than five hours of UK news coverage was generated.• Over 90% of the coverage was positive and encouraged readers to visit the exhibition.• Five satirical cartoons ran in British newspapers featuring Gordon Brown, Prince Charles and Tutankhamun. King Tut was also featured on Blue Peter, The One Show, Strictly Come Dancing and Have I Got News For You.• In total 1.1 million tickets were sold, exceeding the tour organiser’s ultimate target.