Olivier Award-winning York Theatre Royal is celebrating more success after receiving the Marketing Campaign of the Year prize at the Visit York Tourism Awards.

At last Thursday’s ceremony at York Racecourse, the theatre collected the award for its innovative campaign for last summer’s production of The Wind In The Willows.

The dynamic marketing involved the communications team devoting most of the summer months to being dressed as Kenneth Grahame’s characters, Mole, Badger, Ratty and Mr Toad, making guest appearances at such events as the Dragon Boat Race in York and the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate.

Team members tweeted and updated their own blog accounts in character, and the campaign also launched a purpose-built website, beyondthewildwood.com, created by the team for the July and August show.

Abbigail (CORRECT) Wright, head of communications, says: “We’re delighted to have won this award and to have been part of a fabulous evening, hosted by Visit York.

“Doing the marketing for theatre productions is a very creative process and we all enjoyed working with partners in the city and in the region to raise the profile of The Wind In The Willows last summer. We executed a really fun campaign, expanding our use of online and social media marketing, as well as taking to the streets dressed up as woodland animals!”

For The Wind In The Willows, the main house auditorium was transformed into the round for the first time with the stage built over the stalls seating in Catherine Chapman and Lydia Denno’s design.

The drama continued off stage, the foyer and outdoor area being transformed into Toad Hall, adding to the audience experience at the Damian Cruden and Katie Posner co-production, seen by more than 16,000 people.

The Theatre Royal hopes to repeat this success with the return of the design layout for the In The Round Ensemble Season from May to November, when the summer centrepiece will be Mike Kenny’s new adaptation of Peter Pan.

For tickets, phone 01904 623568 or book online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk