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High Five in association withThe Immortal Awards
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High Five: PR-Driven Campaigns That Were Perfectly Timed

17/08/2022
Marketing & PR
London, UK
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Nigel Brown, founder of Dirt & Glory Media, delves into a bunch of PR work that, through perfect timing and a brilliantly simple idea, successfully appealed to its audience

Creating a PR campaign that cuts through the noise of the digital age is incredibly difficult. You don’t just need to understand your target audience, you need an idea that works across multiple channels - a message that resonates and a keen eye for timing. Finding that balance is key. Get it right and a well-executed simple idea can make you look like a genius. These are five of my favourites…



Arsenal x Emile Smith Rowe x JNF Haircutters - 'Arsenal Supporting Supporters'


Arsenal’s success on the pitch may have earned them legions of fans across the globe but its roots remain in the local community. As the Islington area emerged from lockdown, the club used its social media muscle to shed a light on neighbouring businesses that’d had a tough time during the pandemic. Cue a series of short, fun films featuring high-profile players visiting nearby barbers, mechanics, locksmiths, pubs, chippies and more. Like the club’s long-standing motto, the message was ‘victory through harmony’. The result? Going viral on Twitter and long queues to get pre-match chips on the Holloway Road. 



Spotify - 'Spotify Wrapped'


Having started in 2016, 'Spotify Wrapped' has quickly become an annual institution. Bringing data to the disco, it’s the ultimate coming together of machine learning, personalisation and branding. On the one hand, via the app and marketing emails, you find out what you’ve listened to throughout the year - all presented in a fun and dynamic way, so that you’re not creeped out by the realisation you’ve listened to Harry Styles on repeat for 600 hours. On the other, there’s an ATL brand campaign that we all have a vested interest in because it’s shaped by our very own listening habits. It provides a moment of pure ‘talkability’ for the brand and for the user, something to look forward to. 



Greggs - 'Vegan Sausage Roll'



The vegan sausage roll was not a thing until Greggs. Fact. What I particularly love about this campaign is that it started on the hustle side of PR as a response to a PETA petition demanding the creation of a non-meat version of their popular sausage roll. Creating the product was one thing - and very delicious it is too - but the genius was creating a campaign dripping in humour. Presented to the public like a new iPhone, they targeted influencers and celebrities with freebies before hitting the jackpot when Piers Morgan flew into an ‘anti-PC’ rage on Twitter. The broadcaster only piqued people’s interest in the new product and it flew off the shelves becoming Greggs’ fastest-selling new product in the last five years.



Open Space Agency - 'Ballantine’s Space Glass'

Agency: Havas USA
Production: Partizan
Director: Thomas Hilland

If whisky has conquered earth, where does it go next? You take it into space of course. But to do that, you’re going to need a special glass. What started as an advertising idea quickly evolved into something real with the creation of a space-ready vestibule tested in zero gravity. The appeal of the campaign was broad as there was something for everyone; design, adventure, news…and whisky! Add astronauts, sci-fi writers and influencers, and people could step into an authentic and very real version of the future. For Ballantine’s it helped open up their whisky to a whole new audience. 




Relate - 'The Joy of Later Life Sex'

Photographer: Rankin


This was beautiful, touching and impactful and most importantly, made people think differently about later life sex. Relationships charity Relate teamed up with British photographer Rankin to shoot five older couples and one woman in their most intimate moments. For me, it changed how people view what sex and intimacy is in later life, and how important it is to cast off the notion that older people shouldn’t, couldn’t and wouldn’t want to have sex and be intimate. 

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