We help our clients make strong and lasting connections through engaging storytelling and impactful campaigns.

IAAF World Cross Country Championships

When it comes to global events, we’ve been involved in quite a few. However the IAAF World Cross Country Championships stand out as an absolute winner, generating buzz, buy-in and business in Belfast in 1999.

The Morrow team led on all aspects of communications – event promotion, marketing, media relations, press office management, and international media accreditation. Happening in the immediate aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement (1998), our core objective was to promote an image of Northern Ireland which was fresh, positive and inclusive.

From international press conferences to the delivery of a full-scale community engagement programme, the event was an outright success, attracting over 200 international media along with 100 from GB and Ireland, generating coverage in 190 countries and boosting Belfast’s reputation on the global stage. A journalist from L’Equipe wanted to start a petition advising the IAAF to stage the event in Belfast every year!

We even got the seal of approval from the notorious IAAF President Dr Primo Nebiolo who branded the event as the ‘best Championships ever!’.

Imagine what we would have achieved if social media had been a thing back then!

First Visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Northern Ireland

The Dalai Lama’s first ever visit to Northern Ireland occurred at a time when the political situation here was at a particularly sensitive stage.

Working with the World Community of Christian Meditation (WCCM) we managed media relations surrounding the visit and helped choreograph meetings with local communities, dignitaries and politicians. His busy schedule included press conferences, speaking at seminars and meeting politicians. As the Tibetan statesman and spiritual leader rises at 3am (to meditate for four hours) and retires to bed at 7pm, his hectic agenda had to be planned very carefully.

Everything was planned around the WCCM’s three-day ‘Inner peace, outer action’ seminar with up to 700 delegates attending each day. On his arrival in Belfast, the Dalai Lama met people from the Catholic and Protestant communities and crossed the tense peace line in West Belfast, planting trees on either side. He also met Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and spoke about the need for peace.

The Dalai Lama was officially welcomed by First Minister David Trimble and his deputy Seamus Mallon at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall, where he also met then NI Secretary of State Peter Mandelson.

Throughout the visit, we managed all media engagement including interviews with journalists from UTV, BBC, the Irish Times, Irish News and the London Times.

The Dalai Lama’s positive messages of reconciliation and peace were communicated successfully at a delicate time and the visit was deemed to be helpful in cementing the move towards peace in Northern Ireland.

Ireland hosts the Special Olympics World Summer Games

In 2003 the largest sporting event in the world that year came to the island of Ireland and we were at the centre of it. As official NI communications partner for the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, this was an experience never to forget.

Special Olympics – a worldwide organisation for people with a learning disability – hosts its World Games every 4 years and in 2003 this major event was held outside the United States for the first time. It saw over 7,000 athletes competing in 21 sports, 3,000 coaches and official delegates and over 28,000 families and friends arrive on the island of Ireland.

Morrows managed media relations/PR activity for the games in Northern Ireland in the run up to the Games, during the events and afterwards. Working with the event organisers and hosts, we achieved huge amounts of media coverage and helped the organisation reach its targets for Games volunteers and fundraising necessary to make the Games a success.

We also managed NI media access to the unforgettable opening ceremony in Croke Park, Dublin and supported coverage of the games themselves with a particular focus on the successes of Team Ireland. The motto of the Special Olympics is: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt”. The entire experience was both a humbling and uplifting one, especially when watching the athletes realise their potential.

ASDA opens first stores in Northern Ireland

It’s not every day a major supermarket decides to open in Northern Ireland. So, there was a lot of buzz in June 2005 when, after much speculation, ASDA announced its acquisition of NI’s 13 Safeway/Morrisons stores.

There was even more buzz for team Morrow who were initially appointed to head up ASDA’s store opening programme and subsequently became the first external comms consultancy to handle regional PR for the supermarket giant (a role we still perform today).

There was much to do before the first stores opened to the public – from clarification statements to scene-setting announcements, all devised to make NI consumers aware of the scale and scope of ASDA’s plans.

As ASDA is all about community, we called for nominations for a ‘local hero’ who had earned the right to be VIP for the day and officially open the first store to the public. We also devised the ‘Born on ASDA Day’ campaign and worked with maternity units across NI to find newborns who were born closest to the opening time of each ASDA store.

Throughout, we positioned ASDA as the consumer champion – from its petrol costing up to 8p per litre less than other providers, its support for local agri-food suppliers, or its ability to connect with the community by opening books of condolence instore to mark the death of footballing legend George Best.

As one of its trusted suppliers, our journey with ASDA continues as the supermarket extends its reach and presence in the highly competitive retail landscape.

Proud 2b Pat

How many Pats can you fit into Trafalgar Square on St Patrick’s Day?

With research showing the patron saint’s name was losing popularity, in a bid to restore pride in the famous name we set about getting together as many Patricks (and Patricias) as possible. In March 2008, working with client Irwin’s Bakery and Chef Paul Rankin, we broke the world record for the largest number of people with the same name, in the same place at the same time.

Together with born and ‘bread’ Pats from right across the world, over 600 people became honorary Patricks for the day, changing their name via deed poll. With famous faces, from Mayor of London Patrick (Ken) Livingstone to snooker legend Patrick (Dennis) Taylor joining the fun, the campaign reached nearly 20m people through TV, radio and press coverage.

Not only did we break the world record with over 2,000 Pats joining the fun, the campaign raised over £10,000 of vital ‘dough’ for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Most of us involved have since changed our names back, but we’ll always be Proud2bPat!

Moy Park Sponsors the 2014 World Cup

With just six months until the 2014 FIFA World Cup™, Moy Park, Northern Ireland’s largest private sector business, was selected by parent company Marfrig as the lead brand for its sponsorship of the tournament in Brazil.

This presented a unique opportunity to catapult Moy Park onto the global stage, raise its profile among customers, consumers, and stakeholders, and engage its 12,000 employees.

We launched an international media relations campaign, issuing a steady stream of news stories in the lead-up to the tournament. A fully integrated campaign was also developed to engage consumers, staff, and key stakeholders.

As Ireland’s largest poultry brand, we shared the excitement of the World Cup with Moy Park shoppers by running a competition to send the lucky winners to Brazil, complete with full hospitality and match tickets.

We designed a ‘Business Forum’ event with parent company Marfrig for VIP customers and stakeholders to explore opportunities in Brazil – one of the world’s fastest growing economies – as well as attending a World Cup match. We planned World Cup parties in Belfast, London and Paris screening a key match, with footballing legends Sir Geoff Hurst and David Seaman providing expert punditry.

To engage staff, we designed a programme of initiatives to spread the excitement of the World Cup across Moy Park’s 16 production sites, culminating in a competition to send a team member to a World Cup match in Brazil.

The campaign gained news coverage in 11 countries and gained 25,656 entries for on-pack competitions, with 650 stakeholders attending Moy Park’s World Cup events.

‘Anne Acheson: The Art of Medicine’ documentary broadcast on BBC

We’ve all seen Plaster of Paris used to heal broken bones — but did you know we owe that innovation to a remarkable woman from Portadown?

In 2018, we proudly produced our very first television documentary, shining a spotlight on Anne Acheson, a trailblazing Ulster woman whose groundbreaking medical innovations during WWI are still saving lives in hospitals today.

Co-produced by Morrow Communications and Clean Slate TV, Groundbreakers: Anne Acheson – The Art of Medicine aired on BBC Two Northern Ireland in November 2018.

We knew Anne’s story had to be told. And when we connected with her relative, Neil Faris, we struck gold — a treasure trove of family letters and photographs that brought Anne’s world to life. BBC Northern Ireland was instantly on board, and with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund, our first local TV documentary became a reality.

Filming took us from Northern Ireland to London, and every step of the way we uncovered more about Anne’s astonishing legacy. Presenter Dr Saleyha Ahsan — a frontline doctor and former British Army medic — also felt a powerful connection to Anne’s story.

After months of research, collaboration, and hard work, we proudly shared the inspiring journey of one of Ulster’s unsung heroes: the extraordinary Anne Acheson.

Operation Shamrock

In early September 2022 we were honoured to work with the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and a wide range of partners to play a part in delivering the official events and ceremonies in Northern Ireland which followed the passing of Her Majesty The Queen.

Following years of planning for ‘Operation Shamrock’ and acting as the Northern Ireland event delivery partner our events team, supported by our comms and creative teams as well as our extensive supplier network, moved mountains in a matter of days to deliver these significant and historic occasions.

The events and ceremonies we delivered as part of the wider UK period of mourning included the first visit of His Majesty The King to Northern Ireland. Our work encompassed event and venue management, media, guest and contractor accreditations, onsite event logistics, design and print of official invites, signage and documentation and supporting media engagement.

Truly a once in a lifetime project which was a privilege to be involved with, and one that we will remember for years to come.