PR Campaigns - The Good, The Bad & The Viral

This month's PR campaigns include an experiential from our favourite tonic, an equality message from an ice-cream giant and the best salescreature in the Czech Republic...

Escape Fever

As an avid team of gin fans (Conker all the way obviously), we love Fever-Tree but after hearing about this experiential stunt from the premium tonic brand we think we might love them a little bit more now.

To launch its new range of dark spirit mixers, Fever-Tree hooked into the latest hipster craze of escape rooms. This refreshing PR stunt was first showcased at the Imbibe trade show earlier in the year, immersing visitors in the brand’s history as they played against the clock to ‘escape’. Having been to many trade shows, we’re very sure that Fever-Tree would have provided some much needed entertainment and respite as well as reaching out to potential buyers and stockists in a fun and engaging way.

The game is set to be launched to the public in a London location during London Cocktail Week in October. A series of smell and taste tests will be completed before a final puzzle that lets participants ‘escape’ the room. The game can be completed in pairs and the pair with the fastest time wins a mystery grand prize.

We love this experiential PR stunt; it’s on brand, of the moment, engaging, fun and effective. Seems like a good excuse to check out London Cocktail Week if you ask me…

#Say I Dough

Famous for speaking out on hot issues from the arctic to cow welfare to democracy, Ben & Jerry's is now campaigning for marriage equality in Australia.

The American ice-cream giant has banned two scoops of the same flavour in its 26 Australian stores as part of a push for marriage equality Down Under. "It is time to stand up for fair and equal rights for all by letting our leaders know that we demand Marriage Equality!"

"Imagine heading down to your local Scoop Shop to order your favourite two scoops of Cookie Dough in a waffle cone," the company wrote in a statement. 

"But you find out you are not allowed – Ben & Jerry’s has banned two scoops of the same flavour.

According to polls, around two thirds of Australians support same-sex marriage as do the majority of MPs and Aussie stars Kylie Minogue and Sia have shown support at music awards. So Ben & Jerry’s know they have the weight of the public behind them ensuring a popular campaign – ice move.

Ben & Jerry's has joined more than 1,200 companies and organisations calling for marriage equality in Australia. We love this campaign for its simplicity, strong messaging and good ethics.

Is Carl the Parrot the Best at Sales in the Czech Republic?

Most pet owners will tell you that their pet is the best in the world. Everyone thinks their pet is the smartest, cutest, or most loyal but not many can boast that their pet is the best at sales.

In a recent campaign for Ceska Pojistovna, the largest insurance company in the Czech Republic, Carl – an African Grey parrot – was trained to sell pet insurance with help from a specialist animal trainer. Carl’s trainer has a great track record having already trained animals for blockbusters like Bourne Supremacy, The Illusionist and Wanted.

Over three months, Carl was taught to say “pet insurance” and after daily practice, the clever bird was ready to show off his new talents. The insurance company took him to stores around the country, Carl’s office was a cage with a tablet so customers hearing Carl’s cry of “pet insurance” could buy their pet insurance direct from Carl’s ‘office’.

After a week Carl had outsold all of his human colleagues – what a result for the insurance company. More importantly, he insisted on being paid peanuts!

How We Improved Our Social Media

We work on social media for most of our clients and the only way we can keep ahead of the game in this ever-evolving world is to fully immerse ourselves in it and become social media gurus. We make it our business to know the ins and outs of industry favourites Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. One of the best ways for us to be the best is to make the Sunny Bird PR channels an example. As the channels change the way they do things, we need to change with them so here we have outlined the changes we’ve made to our own channels as we adapt to achieve the best results.

Instagram

What wasn’t working

The company Instagram channel was treated in the same way as Facebook and Twitter with the same content duplicated across the platforms. At times it was treated as an after-thought with content posted ‘as and when’ rather than being scheduled. We didn’t invest as much time in the platform when it was first set up as this was before Instagram became the fastest-growing social media channel.

How we made it work

As Instagram grew in popularity, we invested more time in our content and improved the quality of the images. There are now a plethora of photography apps that give photos a professional edge, create collages, videos and animations which we are constantly experimenting with. We update our Instagram a minimum of once a day and try to ensure that it’s a mix of team activity, work achievements and PR advice. The company recently underwent a rebrand so our brand colours have now become an integral part of our instagram colour scheme and we often use post as a way of leading followers to our website.

Facebook

What wasn’t working

Facebook is a necessary platform for people to use as a way to suss out a new business before deciding to make contact. It’s easy for a business to think ‘social media = free advertising for my business’ but it isn’t all about that. It’s about starting a narrative and creating an online personality for your business that is relatable. 

What we discovered through our monthly analytics was that it was mainly all our friends that engaged with us on the Sunny Bird PR Facebook page rather than potential clients. We have existing clients, previous clients, other companies that we work with and our friends as our main audience.

How we made it work

Having learned this we changed our core messaging, we took away any ‘new business winning’ style posts and focussed instead on team news, business wins and local pieces. This has made our Facebook page friendly, likeable and has reduced the amount of people un-following us due to repetitive salesy posts not suitable for them. Increasing engagement and developing our brand’s personality has resulted in a page that welcomes new visitors and will give them the confidence to get in touch with us.

An example of the top performing posts from one month; the first was a video which always acheives high engagement thanks to Facebook's algorithm so we post at least one video a week. The second post performed well as it was a ‘feel good’ team shot and the third performed well as it was shouting out about the success of one of our clients so our followers and hers liked the post.

Twitter

What wasn’t working

Twitter is more conversational than Facebook and Instagram. The Sunny Bird PR Twitter channel had been posting similar content to the Facebook channel. Posting the same imagery and video content was not proving to be popular and we weren’t utilising Twitter’s conversational functions as well as we could have been.

 How we made it work

Recognising that Twitter’s strength is in conversation, we changed our approach and focussed more on starting, joining, commenting on conversations with a mixture of journalists, social media influencers, industry experts and clients.

We found that images and videos weren’t as popular as our PR tips, blog posts or client news so we adapted our posts to reflect this. We post content every day and follow key journalists to make conversation, congratulate them on a promotion or wish them a happy holiday. It keeps us front of mind when speaking to press. Retweeting relevant news and posting work achievements ensures we have a diverse range of content which is appealing to our audience, resulting in an increase in likes, retweets and followers.

If you would like support with your social media, get in touch with the team on

01202 293095 or hello@sunnybirdpr.com

Bye Bye Berliner

Although news in the old fashioned paper format has seen a huge decline over recent years, the demand is very much still there and that's the stance The Guardian took this week when defending its decision to ditch the Berliner (taller than a tabloid, narrower than a broadsheet) sized paper.

The Guardian was the only UK paper to take on the European favoured, mid-size format which appealed to many as it was more manageable while still feeling like an 'occasion' paper to enjoy at leisure. The Guardian will save millions by closing its specialist Berliner presses and will now print in a tabloid format through Trinity Mirror. 

The team (as always) have their own opinions on matter of the news in the news. Here's a  video from Lizzie and Rian sharing theirs...

How We Got National Coverage for a Regional Client

We don't just achieve outstanding national coverage for big name brands, we also work with regional businesses like Dorset Cruises based in Poole. We reached out to key national titles about the Gin Cruise and secured over 30 pieces of coverage including reviews of the gin cruise by top name journalists. Our activity resulted in Dorset Cruises reaching over 40 million people!

To find out more about how the Sunny Bird PR team could achieve the same amazing results for your business email us on hello@sunnybirdpr.com or call us on 01202 293095.

How to...Work With Bloggers

Bloggers are often more trusted than celebrities, journalists, brands and politicians. Recent research has shown that over 80% of all consumers will make a purchase after reading about the product on a blog. Find out how your brand can best work with bloggers here...

 

PR Campaigns - The Good, The Bad and The Viral

This month we present a beer brand bringing people together despite their differences, a charity asking for people to walk, run or cycle an outline of a ‘ballsy’ shape to raise money and awareness, and a well-known craft beer company sets up a crowd funding page for a spectacular opening...or so it says...read the full review here.

 

Journalist of the Month

Laura Hampson is a 23-year-old travel and lifestyle journalist for the Daily Star Online. She took a moment away from her busy schedule to answer our Journalist of the Month questions and gave us all a tough question in return. Read all our answers here.

Journalist of the Month

Laura Hampson is a 23-year-old travel and lifestyle journalist for the Daily Star Online. She kindly took a moment away from her busy schedule to answer our Journalist of the Month questions and gave us a thought-provoking question in return …

1. What are the 5 words that best describe you?

It's always so weird to describe yourself but here I go: Happy, loving, kind, enthusiastic, homebody.

2. What magazine do you love reading and why?

Frankie – an Australian magazine that contains the most beautiful pieces of writing.

3. What is your favourite book?

It will always be ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen.

4. Which song makes you dance?

Fade - Kanye West, Dreams - Fleetwood Mac and Sorry - Justin Bieber. Not a fan of Biebs but I like to pretend I can do the dance from the music video. Emphasis on 'pretend'. 

5. What has been your best career moment?

Besides landing my dream job the day after I graduated university in Australia, there have been a lot of pieces I've written that I'm really proud of. Also leaving everything, moving to London and landing a job with a great team. Getting to travel the world as part of my job is a bonus too! 

6. What advice would you give your 20 year old self?

Keep working hard and keep being kind to people – kindness is key. Also, save more money because life in London is much more expensive than you think. 

7. Where are you happiest?

When I'm visiting a new country, talking to family and friends, visiting Ireland (where my boyfriend lives), going for a walk/hike in the sun, swimming in the ocean or when I'm snuggled up in bed watching a Netflix series I'm obsessed with. 

8. Who would be your number one dinner guest be and why? (they can be past or present)

I am all about young females making a name for themselves in journalism, so at the moment my answer to this would be Leandra Medine who founded the blog-come-pop-culture-website Man Repeller when she was 20/21. I would love to pick her brain. 

9. If you could have any superpower, what power would it be and why?

Teleportation. Hands down. Then I would be able to visit my family in New Zealand, my boyfriend in Ireland and my friends in Australia and around the world whenever I liked. Plus it would make travel much less time-consuming.

10. If you had to ask us one question what would it be?

If you had to pack up and move to a new country for a year, where would it be and why?

Rian: Barcelona – because she wants to indulge herself in unlimited tapas and sangria.

Lizzie: Costa Roca – because it’s known to be one of the greenest countries and it’s a tropical paradise.

Sunny: Ibiza – because of the beautiful beaches and the holistic nature of the island.

Lucy: California – because of the guaranteed beautiful weather and she’s been dying to see the Yosemite National Park and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

PR Campaigns - The Good, The Bad and The Viral

It’s that time of the month again where the team talk about their favourite PR campaigns. Each week the Sunny Bird PR team research PR campaigns that have made their way into the media and choose one to share that demonstrates effectiveness, reach, simplicity, message and in some cases the opposite – how not to execute a PR campaign. Every month the team chooses their personal favourites we deliver them here – The Good, The Bad and The Viral from the PR Campaign world.

This month we present a beer brand bringing people together despite their differences, a charity asking for people to walk, run or cycle an outline of a ‘ballsy’ shape to raise money and awareness, and a well-known craft beer company sets up a crowd funding page for a spectacular opening in Columbus Ohio – or so it says...

Heineken’s #OpenYourWorld Campaign Encourages Consumers to Have a Debate Over a Beer

With global unrest and elections tearing people in different directions, Heineken has taken a new PR approach that aims to highlight people’s similarities and the common ground that can exist between two strangers with differing opinions.

A video has been created that shows two strangers meeting in a warehouse. Neither party knows the reason behind the experiment, however short clips of each person are shown to the viewer. It becomes clear that the two strangers have been partnered together as they have strong conflicting opinions on a particular subject (climate change, feminism, transgender equality etc.). At the end of the experiment the strangers are shown the video clips which highlight their conflicting beliefs and they are then asked to make a decision on whether they wish to leave the building or discuss over a beer. The #OpenYourWorld video sees the beer giant try to convince people that although their fundamental beliefs might mean, on the face of it, they can’t enjoy a drink and a chat together, it doesn’t have to be the case.

A nice feel-good message that is very relevant and relatable to a UK audience. The video has been viewed over 13 million times and achieved coverage in multiple titles including The Guardian and The Huffington Post.

New Zealand Charity Gets Ballsy

With so many charities clamouring to be heard in a crowded market to secure much needed funds and awareness, the team liked this ballsy approach by Testicular Cancer New Zealand. The charity teamed up with a New Zealand advertising agency to kick off a social campaign called #GoBallsOut for Testicular Cancer Awareness Month.

The campaign asked men to walk, run, cycle, skip, kayak the outline of a “Cock & Balls” by using fitness Apps such as Strava, MapMyWalk, Runtastic etc. So not only did this campaign get people thinking about one of the most common forms of cancer in men, but it also got people moving, double win – and it was funny!

The campaign gained coverage online and on social media, which sent traffic to www.goballsout.org.nz  where men could view a gallery of user generated Cock & Balls, find a route near them and view an engaging, step by step instructional video on how to check their testicles.

Within 24 hours of launching, the campaign was trending on Mashable and the BBC, it secured over 400 editorial mentions internationally, 86% of men 15-39 in NZ were reached across the campaign period, 71% increase in awareness that exercise helps prevent testicular cancer, and the video got viewed over four million times. Hundreds of Cock & Balls were created and shared.

This PR campaign was simple, very effective and most importantly took a campaign and truly made it creative, fun and engaging. No cock-ups here… well quite a few actually.

BrewDog Announces World First Craft Beer Hotel!

Ever imagined a hotel that has beer-filled hot tubs? Well, it’s time to stop dreaming because it could soon be a reality.

Due to open in 2018, Brewdog has announced that it will be building the world’s first craft beer hotel in Columbus Ohio. Guests can look forward to fully-stocked mini bars, beer on tap in rooms, beer-themed toiletries and spa treatments and brewing tank hot tubs, which can of course be filled with beer.

The project has already passed its funding target, thanks to crowd funding and will be built alongside its brand new state of the art, 100,000 square foot brewery, which founders James Watt and Martin Dickie say will help them explore amazing new flavours and brewing techniques.

This campaign may have been to help raise money and awareness of the hotel but something tells us that the money raised will be put into the state of the art brewery. Brewdog created a video and photoshopped imagery to show people what the hotel will look like, but this may never exist. The hotel may or may not get built, but it’s a good visual ploy to grab people’s attention and raise funds. Ellen Scott, a journalist from Metro, also doesn’t believe the hotel will become a reality.

This particular campaign has already been covered in national online titles such as The Mail Online, The Independent, The Telegraph, Metro and high traffic website – The Lad Bible.

Top Instagram Updates You Need to Know About

Instagram has continued to roll out a plethora of updates since February. Read on to find out what they are and the pros and cons of each feature.

Shoppable Instagram

Shoppable Instagram features were announced last October and in the last month it is finally filtering out into the mainstream. Most businesses still don’t have access to the function; however the number increases as each week passes. It has been rolled out to a number of beauty, fashion and jewellery brands, as well as influential bloggers.

Pros – This function is one that many Instagram users will welcome with open arms. Being able to shop directly from imagery is a logical step and we can’t wait for it roll out to the masses.

Cons – We can’t see any cons. It’s a great way for businesses to directly reach out to their consumer and encourage them to purchase.

Streamlined Disappearing Messages

Instagram has upped its game and created a similar feature to the popular social media app Snapchat. You are now able to send disappearing images/messages to your contacts via the direct message function.

Pros – Will this make Snapchat defunct? Is Instagram taking over the world? We think this may be the case. It is a great way for a business to drive a sense of urgency, for example, you could send information/discount codes to a select number of customers in the hope of encouraging a knee-jerk reaction to purchase quickly.

Cons – Snapchat has a loyal audience and it may take a lot of convincing for them to use Instagram in this way when they are happy with the Snapchat function. They will only be able to replay the message/visual once so they will have to action a discount code or offer relatively quickly.

Multiple Image Posts

Multiple image posts (also called “carousel posts”) let you create a single Instagram post with a slideshow of up to 10 images and/or videos. Users can scroll them. You can tag users on individual slides within the post. Many businesses and users have already utilised this function.

Pros – These posts are engaging and dynamic. They enable the account holder to ‘tell a story’. It is also a lot more effective than a collage and less time consuming to create.

Cons – For the account holder or business it means more content creation. If you use multiple images in one single post it means more time is needed to ensure you have enough content for each day.

If you'd like to know more about how to get the best out of your Instagram account, get in touch with us via hello@sunnybirdpr.com or 01202 293095.

How to...Work With Bloggers

Did you know that bloggers can often be viewed as more trusted than celebrities, journalists, brands and politicians? In the digital world, bloggers are becoming more and more influential. While this is nothing new, recent research has shown that over 80% of all consumers will make a purchase after reading about the product on a blog. It has been known that 18-34 year olds ranked bloggers as their most valued and important sources of information.

Bloggers build a solid following by producing interesting content, quality images or articles on a regular basis. People trust these sources; they can relate to them and respect their opinions – as opposed to an advert.  Many brands now turn to influential bloggers to reach new audiences or to engage with consumers in a different way. These brands are collaborating with bloggers so that their messages are being told by a source that people recognise, respect and trust.

At Sunny Bird PR we have cultivated working relationships with prominent bloggers. Below are three examples of successful blogger campaigns that we have supported and driven sales for our clients:

Bliss Sanctuary for Women

Based in beautiful Bali, Bliss Sanctuary for Women is a stunning women’s only retreat designed to cater especially for women travelling unaccompanied or with a few friends. Bliss Sanctuary for Women is all about the freedom of finding your bliss, your way, whilst offering a variety of different packages to suit your needs.

Sunny Bird PR recommended key, online influencers be targetted and invited to visit and review Bliss on their blogs and social media platforms. We researched target Instagrammers and bloggers who fit the client’s demographic, negotiated their stay in terms of coverage and organised their visit.

These visits from Instagrammers and bloggers will result in social media posts across their various platforms and blog impressions in which followers will be educated about the sanctuary.

Regrowz

Regrowz, the UK’s first natural hair restoration product was looking for a way in which to educate potential consumers on its brand new product.

As Regrowz was a brand new product to the market, it needed to build consumer trust to get those all-important reviews. So, how do you get those initial reviews before the product is available to the consumer?

Sunny Bird PR targeted bloggers who were suffering with hair loss or thinning hair and asked if they wanted to take part in a six month trial of Regrowz. In return, bloggers gave us valuable assets such as headshots, feedback, Trustpilot reviews and video reviews to use on the Regrowz website, social media channels and within press.

As well as creating these assets, bloggers also wrote posts for their own blogs revealing the results to their followers.

The best blogger reviews were used as case studies in press, achieving even more coverage for the new Regrowz product with over 66 million people reading about the success of Regrowz from first-hand case studies in The Daily Mail Online and The Express Online.

The Good Night Anti-Snoring Ring

Our client, The Good Night Anti-Snoring Ring, is a natural, non-invasive product to help reduce or stop snoring. We recommended that we target blogger and organise authentic product reviews to increase sales.

The most important event of the year for The Good Night Anti-Snoring Ring is National Stop Snoring Week (24th – 28th April). The Sunny Bird PR team reached out to suitable bloggers asking them to review the ring in time for National Stop Snoring Week. To allow bloggers enough time to trial the product, trouble-shoot any problems and write a review, the Sunny Bird PR team contacted bloggers in March.

At the end of April, we had a host of blogger reviews with most posting their blog reviews during National Stop Snoring Week. A simple, yet effective way of achieving extra exposure and coverage for our client during the most important time of the year for the brand.

Our client said, "Following the brilliant coverage achieved by Sunny Bird PR our online sales and traffic doubled! We couldn't be happier!"

In summary, working with bloggers is invaluable when it comes to building consumer trust. As a final word of advice, remember to always be respectful of the bloggers you work with as this form of promotion can evolve into a long term relationship over time.

If you require support with an existing blogger campaign or wish to speak to us regarding a future blogger campaign, drop us a line at hello@sunnybirdpr.com or give us a call on 01202 293095.