Trey Songz is an up and coming R&B music artist with a huge profile in the US. Earlier this year, the UM Diversity Unit was approached by the artist's management to come up with a PR strategy to increase his profile in the UK. Our challenge? To generate a media profile beyond music. We had to give the artist Trey Songz the ability to dictate his own agenda - focusing media attention on his Pro Social work in the community.

How do we balance the priorities of the record label (Atlantic Records) and that of the artist and management team? How do we help the artist sell more units in the UK/Europe region? How can we create a durable artist media profile beyond music?

We partnered Trey Songz with UK charity Damilola Taylor Trust and set up an exclusive event hosted and attended by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The event was a platform for the artist to talk to fans and members of the local community about his life story and charitable work. With the UK's media in attendance, and leveraging BET International channels, our objective was to make a 'loud media noise' from London - generating a breaking news story about Trey Songz partnership with the Damilola Taylor Trust. We then developed an integrated PR strategy to spread the word.

A new music role model for the UK. Through online, television and local & global media, the event's key messages and pictures reached an estimated audience of 150 million. By syndicating pictures from the event we were able to position Trey Songz, the Mayor of London and the Damilola Taylor Trust in online versions of next day major newspapers. We helped raise the International profile of the Damilola Taylor Trust, and raise additional funds for the charity through the BET International news brief.

Trey Songz' US profile is largely driven by his charitable work, which embodies key messages of 'aspiration and empowerment'. The event was picked up by South African and Nigerian media which provided an important International profile and story of Nigerian born Damilola Taylor, his untimely death and lasting legacy. The artist, management team and record label were delighted by the execution and media buzz around the event - which surpassed all of our expectations.