The Sky Bet and British Heart Foundation (BHF) partnership is a powerful demonstration of PR at its most impactful, using emotional story-telling, societal relevance, and cultural moments to spark national conversations and drive real world action. This past year, the partnership has leveraged Sky Bet’s audience, the brand’s sponsorship of the English Football League (EFL) and marketing expertise to amplify BHF’s vital work, fostering a powerful connection between football fans and the lifesaving skill of CPR.
The ‘Every Minute Matters’ campaign was not just a brand collaboration it was also a PR-first campaign. The campaign used earned media as its heartbeat, generating compelling stories that earned national attention, dominated the sports and news agenda, and inspired over 300,000 football fans to learn CPR.
With fewer than 1 in 10 people surviving an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and each minute without CPR reducing survival chances by 10%, the urgency was clear. Sky Bet and BHF turned that urgency into a nationwide rallying cry, using football as the platform and PR as the playmaker.
PR wasn’t an afterthought; it was the strategy. From leveraging real-life heroes, to orchestrating headline grabbing stunts, the campaign was meticulously designed to earn attention, change behaviour, and build emotional connections. Sky Bet’s access to football culture and BHF’s life-saving mission came together to create a series of PR moments that transcended sport and made CPR a national talking point.
This campaign is a gold standard for how PR can collectively deliver brand impact, behaviour change, and societal value.
