Living Starburst schoolkids 2
Case Studies / Media Relations

Living Starburst Belfast brand activation

MCE worked with Belfast City Council to create a powerful brand activation, short film and digital content to support the roll out of the new Belfast brand.

From the initial idea to project delivery, MCE delivered a range of services

Project Summary

We were tasked with creating a powerful brand activation and a suite of digital content that would bring the central city brand concept of ‘Energy Unleashed’ to life. We designed and delivered an impactful campaign that moved the conversation beyond the physical brand or ‘logo’, communicating the energy and vibrancy of the new city brand and the people that make Belfast great.

The content was used to boost the reach of the #YourBelfast digital campaign - a collaborative initiative led by Visit Belfast and Belfast City Council in the wake of the Primark fire in August 2018. At a time when the city needed to rally together, our activation aimed to communicate the vibrancy, energy, spirit and pride of Belfast and its people.

Views of Living Starburst film
1M+
Film views on culture night alone
600K
Created the Living Starburst
750+
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City stakeholders engaged
25+
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The Challenge

To make the necessary impact, we needed a big idea. So, we set out on an ambitious task to bring hundreds of people together, culminating in an epic aerial time lapse in the Titanic Quarter, where participants would form the shape of the new Belfast Brand – a ‘living starburst’. The activation would form an integral part of a short film for release on Culture Night Belfast, maximizing the opportunity of Belfast’s biggest cultural night of the year.

Our core objective was to engage a wide range of stakeholders and citizens, creating a positive and meaningful opportunity to communicate the city’s brand values and how the citizens of Belfast shape our city.

Our Solution

We collaborated with over 25 city partners, providing an opportunity for the Council to engage with stakeholders around the roll out of the new Belfast brand. MCE’s events team managed all logistics, health and safety and crowd control for the activation, while our marketing team planned and managed the film storyboarding, filming, editing and roll out of the content.

We created a fast-paced, energetic one-minute film and several shorter edits for social platforms. We seeded the content out through Belfast City Council’s YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels, sharing content with media, partners and influencers to amplify the reach of the content, coinciding with screenings throughout the city on Culture Night.

The Results

Our project brought 750+ citzens together to create a ‘Living Starburst’, with an epic aerial time lapse showing the energy and vibrancy of our city and its people.

Through collaboration with 25+ influential city partners, the film is estimated to have reached over 1million people through screenings on Culture Night and the digital release. Both mentions and positive online sentiment for the #YourBelfast campaign showed dramatic peaks tying in with the release of our Living Starburst film.