People power and marketing

16th December 2024 by Rachael Bruce

What makes a good Christmas campaign?

28th November 2024 by Natalie Tomlinson

If you’re anything like our team here, you will love a good Christmas advert.
A sprinkling of festive spirit, a loveable main character and a pull on the heart strings!
It’s a topic that always sparks a conversation at Active PR.
The release of the major retailers’ Christmas adverts marks the start of the festive period for many. They stir up memories and evoke the senses, from festive smells (think of a piping hot feast on the table, or some mulled wine) to a flashback of Christmas Eve panic shopping (we’ve all been there) and memories of our childhoods.
There are many Christmas adverts of the past that audiences still remember that made a lasting impression.
When asked to rifle through our ‘box of festive advert memories’ the team’s most memorable include John Lewis’ Buster the Boxer Dog (and the trampoline!), Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot’s Christmas scenarios and one for the 90s children amongst us – the Toys R Us advert – iconic theme tune and all.
So, what makes a good Christmas advert?
Producing a Christmas ad is a well-oiled machine, one with many cooks, with a lot of thought and months of planning.
Just like any good marketing campaign the advert has an aim… to capture the audience’s attention and get people talking about it.
It involves the message being shared across many channels – think TV, press release, social media, and sponsored content.
It enhances a brands reputation, trust and credibility, which is where additional PR around the theme can assist. For example, last year John Lewis backed up its Christmas campaign with a more than £1m to causes tackling loneliness through a network of charities.
Wider campaigns should communicate brand values and key messages. And that’s exactly what we do here at Active PR, we help to tell the story of your business to your target market. While your advertising can put your product front and centre, PR builds on this to let your target audience know that your values align with theirs.
The only thing we haven’t got in common with a good Christmas ad is that we are yet to come up with our own theme tune, but we’re working on it!
Wishing all our clients and contacts a very merry Christmas!

Lights, camera, action: Why video should now be central to your PR strategy

11th September 2024 by Philippa Probert

We know how important it is to always include a choice of high-resolution photos with a press release to illustrate a story but what about a video?

With the ability to captivate audiences and convey messages in seconds video is a valuable PR tool that I think we will see being used a lot more over the next few years.

We’ve started to see journalists and news desks ask for and accept videos alongside releases and, with some publications even having specialist social news desks,  it’s clear to see why video is taking over.

Video hosting platform, TikTok, is expected to hit over 2.2 billion users by 2027* and 9 out of 10** brands are already using video, with 87% of marketers reporting a direct increase in sales through video. So how and why should video be part of your PR strategy?

Videos can be used to share multiple messages; to launch a new product or collaboration, promote a businesses service, share positive testimonials or details about an upcoming event.

Viewers are likely to be more engaged watching a short video over reading a wordy news piece, especially when consuming news on their devices, hence why some brands now choose to go down this route more than the traditional methods.

And making engaging videos doesn’t have to break the bank or need specialist equipment. Mobile phones have great cameras and editing apps such as CapCut can allow us to create specialist videos that are budget friendly, adding titles, music, captions and subtitles, as well as tailoring transitions and tempo.  

To make the most of video material, brands can use stories to build anticipation such as a sneak peek of something, they can go live to give viewers a countdown to the video being shared or use to go ‘behind the scenes’. Once the video is shared, brands can do a follow up Q&A or bloopers (great for increasing engagement as it shows personality behind a brand).

Video, and especially short-form video, are here to stay and will continue to help brands get their messaging out there.  Companies who focus on creating content that stands out, as well as trying different content to see what resonates with the audience, will reap the rewards.

Some of our predictions for the future of video include:

• Soon video content will accompany written press releases just as much as still images, maybe even instead of
• Experts who provide commentary or a statement may do so via video format as well as a written comment making it perfect for news websites and social media platforms
• Short-form videos will continue to be in demand giving brands just a few seconds to capture their audience with concise messaging
• Live streaming will be used more often by brands seeking genuine, in-the-moment interaction with their customers

If you want us to help with your video strategy, drop us an email beinspired@activepr.co.uk

How to maximise the impact of a press release

30th August 2024 by Philippa Probert

Public relations and press releases go hand in hand but have you ever thought about what else us PR professionals do to maximise a press release’s impact?

Nowadays we don’t just draft a release and issue it to key journalists and media outlets, we also use digital channels to share the news with a broader audience.

We will never stop issuing press releases via traditional routes but we also leverage online platforms such as a client’s website, social media and email marketing to reach more people.

Sharing snippets of a press release on social media is probably the quickest and easiest way to share news on multiple platforms. Tailoring the message so it’s suitable for each platform is also key as some details may be relevant to a Facebook audience but not relevant to a LinkedIn audience. You can also engage with social media users by asking them to like, share and comment on the post.

Uploading news releases onto your website and then sharing the link on social media also works really well and will help increase traffic to your website.

Another way you can maximise content from a press release is via email marketing. Going straight into the inbox of your database, this is a great way to include snippets of key information from a release such as information on a new development or dates and times of an event.

As a PR agency, we’re constantly receiving requests from journalists in our inbox so if a story fits in with their brief this presents another opportunity to send over a tailored press release.

What should a press release include?

• Strong headline
• Introduction that includes who, what, when, where, and how
• A clear news angle
• Relevance to current events or trends
• A quote
• High quality images or videos
• A call to action
• Details of how to find out more
• Notes to editors (a boiler plate)
• Contact details for your marketing or PR team

Want us to do the work for you? Email beinspired@activepr.co.uk to speak to our team about how we can manage your PR strategy.

A lesson in supersonic PR from Oasis

29th August 2024 by Kate Logan

The news that Oasis are reforming for a series of gigs in 2025 went viral at supersonic speed last week.

The same 11 second video clip showing a date and time was posted by both previously estranged Gallagher brothers and via the official Oasis X account, in the style of the band’s logo.

There was little doubt as to what was coming and WhatsApp groups across the nation began pinging in anticipation.

Sure enough, there was morning glory at 8am on Tuesday as the reunion tour was confirmed and fans instantly crashed the official website looking for news on how to secure tickets.

A teenager of the 90s, I grew up at the height of the Brit Pop era, my loyalties lying with Oasis over their rivals Blur. I was lucky enough to go and see one of the last gigs they performed in Liverpool before their explosive split 15 years ago.

However, it’s not just the Oasis fans of old like me clamouring to get tickets, some might say the band’s popularity has endured throughout their years apart and fans perhaps too young to watch them live before their split are keen to seize their chance to be here now.

15 years is a long time in PR – but Noel and Liam are just as adept at gaining publicity in the digital era as they were at securing tabloid column inches in the 90s and early 2000s.

Their coordinated teaser campaign, giving just a date and time, was a masterstroke and a lesson in how less is often more in digital PR. All part of the masterplan of course and designed to maximise shares on social media.

Flawless in its execution, the same message flashed up on a screen behind the stage after Liam’s performance at Reading Festival, flickered then disappearing like a 90s analogue TV signal.

Despite the tumultuous nature of the band, its branding has never wavered, nor has it needed to. The black and white Oasis logo looks as fresh today as ever, testament to the effectiveness of simplicity and consistency in design. Using that instantly recognisable style of the logo for the teaser message, with the white stylishly updated to gold, will live forever in fans’ memories.

Since then, the announcements have kept coming – pre-sale ballots, new gig dates added in response to demand, all pre-planned and brilliantly coordinated. We’ll watch with interest as the publicity reaches fever pitch ahead of the opening night next year.

Wish us luck getting tickets!

Why social media strategy is like training a puppy

19th August 2024 by Rachael Bruce

It’s no secret that we’re dog lovers at Active PR and ICYMI we’ve recently welcomed a new four-legged team member Lucie. Helping her settle in made me think about the parallels between puppy training and social media strategy. Read on to discover why you should think like a dog trainer when it comes to the social media strategy for your business.

1. Planning and preparation –  just as you’d make time to teach your pup the basics, you should set aside time on a regular basis to manage your social media. This includes:
   • Content creation – shooting or sourcing images and video, writing the captions so that you have a bank of posts.
   • Scheduling posts for broadcast across various social media channels in advance will save time in the long run as you won’t be wondering when to post.
   • Monitoring and responding to comments on your posts and DMs. Have a bank of approved stock replies to speed up processes. These can be tweaked to circumstances as appropriate.
2. Fun and engaging – learning should be fun for your pup and the same applies to your social media content, your followers should want to see your posts and be encouraged to interact with them.
3. Consistent tone –  your puppy will need to know the difference not just in what you’re saying but the way you say it to help them understand what’s expected of them. Establishing a brand voice is equally important, although the tone may vary across different platforms – it’s unlikely you’d use the same content on LinkedIn and TikTok even if the message you want to convey is the same.
4. Little and often – puppies have short attention spans, just like people on social media. Don’t expect people to read long posts or watch long videos. Keep it short and snappy with a link to the full article or longer video on your website or YouTube channel.
5. Acknowledge positives and negatives – just like puppies, there may be occasions where things get a little messy. On social media people will be quick to criticise and slow to praise. Acknowledging feedback, both good and bad, is important. Instead of simply hiding a negative comment, invite the poster to DM or email to take the conversation off line.
6. Rewarding – if your pup follows the instructions and training is going well, you’ll want to reward them, perhaps with a treat, affection or a toy. Treating your followers could be simply giving them practical tips or providing them with infotainment or it could be running a competition where all they need to do is like a post, follow your page, share the content and tag a friend for a chance to win.
7. Track performance – knowing what works and what doesn’t will enable you to adjust and tailor your puppy training and your social media strategy. If your pup hasn’t learned to sit, it’s unlikely they’ll master stay. If your videos aren’t being watched but people are swiping to look through multiple images, then your content mix should include more multi-image posts.

While we don’t claim to be experts in dog training, we’re a pack of seasoned PR pros who’ll happily take the lead in helping develop a social media strategy for your business. Just like our canine companions, we’re loyal to our clients and have worked with some of them for decades. We also bring the enthusiasm of a puppy to everything we do. Want to know more? Email beinspired@activepr.co.uk.