BCM’s Top 5 Favourite PR Campaigns
A well-planned public relations campaign is often far more effective than advertising. PR is all about getting the conversation started to improve brand reputation, increase sales and engage both customers and the media. But a memorable campaign will get recognition.
With that in mind, here are five of our all-time favourite examples of creative PR campaigns and why they worked so well…
The Jane Walker edition – Stephen Ballard, Managing Director
To promote gender equality and honour the many achievements of women throughout history, Johnnie Walker launched a female version of its whisky on International Women’s Day called Jane Walker. The limited-edition bottle featured a woman on their iconic logo, instead of a man, which connected the brand to individuals who also support their commitment to social progress.
In March 2018, Johnnie Walker released 250,000 bottles of Jane Walker, and for every bottle sold, they donated $1 to organizations that empower women. This tangible impact helped their PR campaign gain even more support and publicity.
Weetabix & Heinz Beans – Sophie Wood, Account Manager
Weetabix sent Twitter into a meltdown over its Heinz baked beans recipe tip. Of course, this wasn’t a genuine recommendation – but rather an effective low-cost method of getting a reaction – and they definitely got one.
The post had responses from companies such as: Lidl, Domino’s, Specsavers, KFC, Krispy Kreme, Nando’s, Innocent Drinks, just to name a few. The post even had a mention in the House of Commons with Jacob Rees-Mogg describing it as “utterly disgusting”.
The strange pairing landed the cereal brand a staggering 22.2k comments, 106.7k reshares and 134.4k likes on their post. Beyond social media, this provocative PR campaign also boosted performance across other metrics such as word of mouth and advertising. Data from YouGov BrandIndex UK Ad Awareness also reveals Weetabix rose from 15.7 to 20.9 between 8-14 February (peaking at 24.9 on 12 February), while Heinz Beanz’s scores almost tripled from 4.4. to 12.8 over the same period.
‘Swimming in it’ campaign – Priya Sharma, Senior Account Executive
A highly influential PR campaign ‘Swimming in it’ was organized to highlight the impact of the eight million tonnes of plastic dumped in the world’s oceans every year. Creative director, Matt Wilcock, filmed synchronised swimming duo Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe struggling to perform their routine in a pool full of plastic drinking bottles, containers, toiletries and carrier bags for The Big Bang Fair, the UK’s largest festival of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) for young people.
Almost 30 per cent of 11 to 16-year-olds polled by Census wide on behalf of The Big Bang Fair said they wanted to see the oceans being cleared of plastic pollution with the help of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). There was also a 14 per cent increase in the number of young people entering the big bang competition in 2019 who are basing their projects on efforts to help the planet.
We all are witnessing the effects of climate change across the globe. If we don’t start acting upon it now, it will be too late, and all we’ll be left with is regret. Such awareness PR campaigns act like a catalyst in encouraging people to take a step forward towards a better future tomorrow.
IKEA’s ScrapsBook – Jane Proctor, Director of Operations
IKEA Canada has recently released their IKEA ScrapsBook cookbook to help combat food waste. Not only is this very timely with Earth Day coming up on April 22nd, but it also echoes my own principles of ‘Living more with Less’.
The 214-page cookbook uses food scraps as ingredients, with professional chefs such as Adrian Forte, Craig Wong, and Trevor Bird each developing five ingenious recipes.
Alongside their ScrapsBook, IKEA is also extending their PR campaign onto social, creating #Scrapcooking Sundays, a weekly series of live cooking tutorials on Instagram Live hosted by contributing chefs this Spring.
Lacoste & Endangered Species - Sophie Fenton Hobbs, Intern PR Campaigns
In 2018, Lacoste announced that the crocodile logo would be temporarily replaced with 10 different animals which are at the brink of extinction. To illuminate the tragedy of their near extinction Lacoste only ran the number of shirts equivalent to how many of each species are left in existence. Therefore, animals such as the Vaquita only had a mere 30 shirts, whereas the Iguana had 450 shirts.
This was organised in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature which produced 1,775 shirts with Lacoste. The designer range launched at the brand’s runway show at Paris Fashion Week and was online as exclusive, limited edition stock.
The awareness PR campaign highlighted the need to address animal extinction and climate change but also cleverly creates limited-edition stock for Lacoste. By only running the number of shirts corresponding to the number of animals left in the wild it shows how precious these animals really are. Every shirt in the collection sold out within 24 hours.
If you are interested in finding out more about why we as a global society need to address climate change read our Earth Day blog here: https://bcmpublicrelations.comearth-day-what-you-need-to-know/