Globespotting November 2017
PR Campaigns & Stunts
Jesus crust!
What?
Greggs received a wave of publicity – and a boost in sales – this week after a branded advent calendar depicted Jesus as a sausage roll.
Who and When?
In true Greggs style, they courted controversy to mark the launch of their Christmas advent calendar.
Where?
Blanket coverage in all nationals, including The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph, as well as regionals such as the London Evening Standard and Manchester Evening News.
Why?
Despite having to roll over and apologise for causing offense, the stunt achieved its objectives – maximum brand awareness and rising sales to boot. We’re big believers in being brazen and taking risks to benefit our clients and you can’t deny the power of PR here. Banter marketing at its best…
What the cluck?
What?
Jumping on the festive bandwagon, KFC released its own range of finger- lickin’ Christmas decorations.
Who and When?
KFC New Zealand created the exclusive novelty decs, only available to win through its Facebook page for one, lucky (crazy?), chicken-mad fan!
Where?
The stunt secured them headlines across the Daily Mail, The Sun and The Metro, plus online coverage in Mashable and tonnes of chatter on social.
Why?
What’s not to love about a bucket of fried-chicken baubles?!
#MOZTHEMONSTER Spoof
What?
It’s an annual sign that Christmas is upon us when John Lewis release their Christmas advert. MyVoucherCodes teamed up with budding young creatives and created a spoof of the highly anticipated John Lewis Christmas advert.
Who and When?
Students from the School of Communications Arts, London teamed up with MyVoucherCodes and created a comical spoof of #MoztheMonster in just seven hours on a budget of £700 compared to John Lewis’s seven month, £7million extravaganza!
Where?
The spoof has seen blanket coverage in national media, including The Daily Mirror, The Times and Metro, as well as trade titles such as The Drum and Campaign.
Why?
The video was cleverly called #MonsterDiscounts to reflect the budget of production and also MyVoucherCodes discount bargains.
Move B*%ch – Get out the way!
What?
Intu Lakeside a shopping centre in Essex opened a fast lane for shoppers who want to hunt down a bargain quickly.
Who and When?
The 720ft corridor is a collaboration between Intu and Mastercard to help stop ‘slow rage’ among shoppers who get stuck behind stop-start window shoppers and leisurely strollers.
Where?
The fast lane gained national, local and online coverage including the Metro and UNILAD
Why?
Great way to hijack the noisy Christmas period by tapping into one of the nation’s biggest frustrations. Money can’t buy coverage…
Trends
Black Friday
Britain has once again been caught up in the Black Friday frenzy. Several media publications took to the streets to make fun of the ‘mass’ of shoppers scouring the streets to grab themselves a bargain, when in reality, the digital age has taken over and few of us actually left the comfort of our sofa (and laptop) to take advantage of the deals.
A right royal affair
Like them or loathe them, the Royal engagement, was without doubt the biggest globally covered story and remained the #1 trending topic on social for two days running. Cue brands lining up with tributes, stories and stunts to celebrate the new Prince and Princess in the run up to their big day.
Shame about the additional bank holiday, eh?
#METOO
It started with allegations towards Harvey Weinstein and has continued with the hashtag initiated by Allysa Milano to encourage others to come forward and help make a stand against sexual harassment and abuse. The original tweet from Allysa gained over 68,000 replies and millions have been using the hashtag.
Seeing the hashtag flood your social media feeds was probably one of the saddest, but most powerful social movements this year.
#PRFAIL
Paperchase promo with Daily Mail
What?
Paperchase gets wrapped up in the Stop Funding Hate campaign – the online activist group which targets companies advertising in the Sun, Daily Mail and Express, arguing that the media outlets promote divisive and hateful views.
Who and When?
In a bizarre response to being targeted by campaigners for running a promotion on the front page of the Mail on Sunday, Paperchase backtracked and apologised to customers, promising to ‘never do it again’.
Where?
The apology was posted on the brand’s twitter channel and was immediately picked up and criticised by media and customers alike.
Why?
Brand activism is to be applauded when done right, but if it’s a knee-jerk reaction to public shaming, that’s not going to earn you any points. Bad advice from their comms team which will no doubt have cost them customers, right in the run up its key trading period.
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