Shout it out loud!
Loud Shirt Day aims to raise awareness and funds for deaf and hearing impaired children Australia wide by encouraging schools and workplaces to wear their “loudest” shirts and accessories for the day in return for a donation.
Palin Communications worked alongside The Shepherd Centre to co-ordinate a media relations project to help promote Loud Shirt Day in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. The campaign focused partly around former Father of the Year and Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos who offered his support as Loud Shirt Day ambassador for 2009.
With the help of the Sydney Swans a media filming and photo opportunity was set up at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday 13th May where Paul Roos and several of the Swans players trained in “Loud” shirts to show their support for the day and raise awareness about the campaign. Channel 7, Fox Sports, ABC radio and The Sydney Morning Herald all reported on the event.
An interview with Paul Roos and 9am with David & Kim was arranged on the day and the presenters wore their brightest coloured shirts to demonstrate their support for Loud Shirt Day.
The other component of the campaign focused on leveraging preview stories in regional media across NSW and the ACT. Overall The Shepherd Centre received 54 preview and post event articles in regional and Sydney metro press as well as 17 national and regional syndicated television appearances, 14 interviews and stories on regional and metro radio, 2 articles in a magazine and over 5 online articles.
In a new record for The Shepherd Centre, there were over 800 fundraising registrations for Loud Shirt Day in 2009.
Palin Communications continues to work closely with The Shepherd Centre and is currently working on a PR project for Australian Father of the Year in late August.