Title	CAPITAL AND COUNTIES
Brand	HEARTBEAT
Product/Service	TOURIST DESTINATION
Category	C04. Installation (Sculptural/ Spatial) & Environment
PR Agency	EDELMAN Madrid, SPAIN
Production Company	CHARLES PéTILLON Paris, FRANCE
Entrant Company	EDELMAN Madrid, SPAIN

Name	Company	Position
Charles Pétillon		Artist
Beverly Churchill	Capital Counties	Creative Director
Catherine Riccomini	Capital Counties	Head of Marketing
Sophie Kenyon	Capital Counties	Events Manager
SJ Thomson	Capital Counties	Social Media Manager
Chris Wilcocks	Edelman	Director
David Child	Edelman	Director
Jade Beaty	Edelman	Account Executive
Simrata Bhalla	Edelman	Assistant Account Executive

Brief Explanation

As London’s first ever public square, Covent Garden was designed to bring people together. But we needed to inspire more people to visit and remind people about the great culture it offers – from street theatre to the stage, and ballet to opera – while adding to the mix with its own public art projects. After all, four out of five visitors to London say culture is the main reason for their trip. We had to do something extraordinary to capture the imagination of visitors from the UK and beyond. So we made Covent Garden beat…

The Brief

What do you get when you fill a nineteenth century, Grade II listed building with 100,000 white balloons? Something that makes your heart skip a beat. Which is what Covent Garden needed to do to attract more visitors and compete in a global city which offers endless other things to do and see. Our brief was to create a new public art installation which would inspire millions to visit, remind people about the great culture Covent Garden offers, and celebrate Covent Garden’s history as the beating heart of London’s west end.

How the final design was conceived

The main challenge was making Covent Garden the story, not just the host of a new cultural installation. There had to be a strong narrative behind the work, and we had to identify fresh, original talent that could provide something genuinely new and unique to Covent Garden. Luckily, Covent Garden is steeped in culture and sits at the heart of London’s West. So we decided to return to its roots as the centrepiece of London life with an epic spectacle that became a global sensation. We invited French artist Charles Pétillon to create an original artwork - Heartbeat - that filled the ceiling of Covent Garden’s iconic Market Building with 100,000 balloons which gently pulsated with light, symbolising the area’s legacy as the beating heart of London. Stretching 54 metres in length and 12 metres in width, the installation created a visual spectacle which was fun, exciting and accessible. Something that could be experienced, photographed and shared rather than simply viewed. It launched ahead of the London Design Festival, and ensuring Covent Garden made headlines before anyone else.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

2.3 million people visited, increasing footfall by 13%. 406 pieces of coverage appeared in 21 countries with media impressions exceeding 2 billion globally – all through earned media. Highlights include: The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Metro, Evening Standard, Time Out, Huffington Post, BBC, ITV, CNN, Sky, Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. International coverage included BBC China, El Pais, Blouin Artinfo, El Commercio, Hola, The Australian and Londoniete. American actor Jared Leto tweeted about the campaign, and high profile influencers like blogger Garance Doré shared it with her followers. Barbie herself even took a selfie beside it.