The Multiple Sclerosis Ireland Readathon is an annual fundraising initiative aimed at inspiring readers of all ages to immerse themselves in books while raising vital funds for people living with Multiple Sclerosis. 

For the 2024 campaign, MS Ireland needed a strategic partner to elevate the Readathon’s reach, drive awareness and encourage sign-ups through effective PR and digital advertising. 

The objective of the entire campaign was to increase brand awareness and the recognition of the MS Readathon, while communicating the importance of reading. The challenge seeks to engage a diverse audience to participate by signing up, sharing their journey, and contributing to a meaningful cause. 

ROLE

Meath senior footballer Cillian O’Sullivan, who is living with MS, pictured with MS Ireland CE Ava Battles and students from Rathdown School at the launch of MS Ireland Readathon 2025. Picture: Andres Poveda.

Fuzion worked with MS Ireland to revitalise the MS Ireland Readathon, a long-standing fundraising event that had experienced declining participation and donations in recent years. The campaign aimed to drive fundraising, increase brand awareness, and re-engage communities and schools.

Fuzion collaborated closely with MS Ireland to design and execute a comprehensive PR and digital advertising strategy. 

To enhance the campaign’s effectiveness, Fuzion implemented several creative and strategic initiatives across PR and Digital:

DIGITAL

Content Creation Day: Fuzion organised a dedicated content creation day, capturing all video footage used in the campaign. Seven engaging videos and four static graphics, designed by Fuzion’s in-house design team, were tailored for each channel’s specifications.

Campaigns Executed:

• Social Media Awareness Campaign: Focused on engaging audiences to build interest in the Readathon.
• Website Traffic Campaign: Designed to direct audiences to the landing page for more information.
• Conversions Campaign: Targeted those likely to register, leveraging advanced event tracking through Meta Event Manager.

PR

Pre-launch: Fuzion commissioned a survey with Opinions.ie on children’s reading habits to generate media interest and highlight the benefits of reading for children. The survey findings were used to develop a pre-launch press release, which resulted in 16 pieces of coverage across print, digital, and broadcast media.

Launch: Fuzion organised a launch photocall featuring large book props and quotes from ambassadors Rick O’Shea and Eoin Colfer. A press release was issued with creative photos from the launch, resulting in 26 pieces of coverage. 

Ambassador Pitching: Fuzion pitched interviews with ambassador Orla to national print, digital, and broadcast outlets. This resulted in national interviews in titles such as Ireland AM, The Irish Independent, RSVP, and Newstalk.

COMPARABILITY 

The MS Ireland Readathon campaign was a comprehensive effort that integrated PR and digital marketing strategies to achieve its objectives. Fuzion carefully considered all key audiences and messages to ensure maximum impact.

OUTCOMES 

Fuzion’s strategic approach delivered significant results across all campaign objectives:

The digital advertising campaign ran from September 25th to November 4th, 2024 with a total budget of €20,000. The campaign utilised Google Display, YouTube, and Meta ads, and generated 512 leads, 10,587 clicks, and 4,835 landing page views. The digital campaign was so successful that MS Ireland has been onboarded as a client for 2025 Readathon campaign as well. Learn more and sign up here.

The total PR value achieved was €393,654 across print, online, and broadcast media. The print media coverage reached a readership of 1,402,852, the online media coverage reached 5,819,830 unique users per month, and the broadcast media coverage had a listenership of 973,600

Take a look at Fuzion’s full suite of Digital Marketing services here. Contact us at info@fuzion.ie to explore brand solutions.