Ghosts, Grand Prix & Grit: Five PR Campaigns I’m Proud Of

Having now spent over 6 years in the PR industry, across a handful of roles and a variety of industries, I feel it’s time to talk about some of the top campaigns I’ve had the pleasure of working on during this time. This isn’t a ranked list, so don’t look too much into the numbers, but I hope it paints a picture of just why I love working in this industry so much.

It’s crazy to think, not just about the breadth of brands and sectors I’ve been privileged to work across, but just how much the PR landscape has changed. When I first started in PR in late 2018, Digital PR felt more of a buzzword than an industry staple, and integrated campaigns and agencies still felt quite fresh and cutting-edge. Nowadays, Digital PR is, rightfully, incorporated into all good PR and marketing strategies and this shift is also represented more latterly in the campaigns I have worked on.

But with enough of all that, let’s get into it…..

1. Britain’s Most Haunted Bothy - Columbia Sportswear

   
   

   

   Influencer Chris Knight (@ohwhataknight) outisde Britain's 'Most Haunted' Bothy

   
   

It’s hard picking a campaign to start this list off, but this campaign always comes to mind when I think about the power of Digital PR. This campaign didn’t have a massive budget, was implemented from ideation to actualisation in less than 6 weeks, and achieved strong results in both online and social media. It also harnessed the power of SEO and digital marketing and is still a mental yardstick for me when evaluating digital PR concepts and strategies.

The campaign brief was quite simple: find a fun and effective way of promoting Columbia’s new Fall 2023 collection and, in particular, highlight their signature Omni-Heat Infinity Technology.

With this in mind, we asked influencer Chris Knight (@ohwhataknight) if he would undertake an overnight stay in Britain’s “most haunted” bothy in the run-up to Halloween. Whilst doing so, we asked him to test out and promote Columbia’s new Fall 2023 collection and highlight their signature Omni-Heat Infinity technology. I remember feeling very pleased when Chris confirmed he was up for it - he was an influencer I had originally identified as a good influencer partner for a previous campaign and I was (and still am) a big fan of his work. Once we’d negotiated a fee, we then set about getting him his kit, briefing him in fully, and making sure everything was all set for his stay.

Results

• 2+ million social views

• 20,000+ engagements

• 4 National earned media hits

• 3+ million estimated total views

Why I’m proud of it

I am proud of this campaign for a couple of reasons. Firstly, as mentioned, Chris was someone I first identified as a good partner when I was tasked with helping to find Hike Society Leaders for our Hike Society activation earlier that year. To me, he embodied Columbia’s ethos around inclusivity in the outdoors and was a true champion of nature and the Great British Countryside. Importantly, he was also consistently posting high-quality content and his engagement rates were well above industry average.

Secondly, I am proud of it because, whilst it was relatively small-scale, I think it is a great example of the success you can have when good story-telling, the right influencer partner, and SEO-driven insight, collide. With Halloween just around the corner, we knew from Google Search data that journalists wanted to be writing about stories that included words like “Spooky” or “Haunted” in their headlines and copy. We also knew that people on social media wanted, and were actively searching for, that kind of content too. So, we provided journalists and consumers with the content they wanted, whilst also providing an organic opportunity to plug Columbia’s fantastic and practical gear for exploring the UK at that time of year. It was a match made in heaven and the resulting social views and press pick up proved that.

2. AREAS Centre Unveiling - UYN

   
   

   

   A group of attendees are given a glimpse into UYN's design process on a tour of the new AREAS centre

   
   

This was the first international, multi-day, press trip I was tasked with leading on during my time at Brandnation. I won’t lie, it was a daunting task, but one that I truly relished.

The brief was to source 5 - 10 attendees (a mix of influencers and press with a weighting towards press) for the grand unveiling of UYN’s Academy for Research and Engineering in Apparel and Sport (‘AREAS’) Centre near Asola in Italy. Along with the unveiling, we were also tasked to use the event to help profile UYN’s wider brand goals – to disrupt the sports apparel industry with sustainably sourced and environmentally friendly, high-performance sports & fitness apparel and footwear.

Results

• 8 attendees from the UK (5 journalists & 3 influencers) across national consumer, business, and trade press

• Reach of over 5 million across press and social media coverage

Why I’m proud of it

The event, which welcomed over 100 attendees from across UYN’s markets, was a great success, with UK attendee content reaching an audience of over 5 million across press and social media, including coverage in key national consumer publications such as T3 magazine, as well as specialist publications such as Raconteur and Athletics Weekly.

For me, this campaign was an invaluable experience. Not only did it sharpen my tools from a practical project management point of view, but it also provided a great opportunity to further develop my skills across press and influencer management and strategy.

3. Puerto Banús GP - UIM E1 World Championship

The Brandnation team at Puerto Banús GP

Not long after the AREAS activation, we onboarded another international client at Brandnation - the UIM E1 World Championship (or ‘E1’ for short).

There was always a buzz when new business was announced at Brandnation but I recall the buzz was particularly heightened when E1 came to town.

The reason it makes my top five is for two reasons. Firstly, the sheer scale of what E1 were aiming to do was so exciting. A truly international account, we were tasked with helping them place the PR foundations on which they would launch a five-race series across two continents, complete with A-List team owners in the form of NFL legend Tom Brady, tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, and Oscar-winning actor Will Smith.

I am particularly highlighting the Puerto Banús GP as it was the race I was most involved in and where I got to experience just how exciting the world of E1 is first-hand.

Results

• Over 980 pieces of coverage for the event across traditional, online, and social media reaching audiences of over 1bn+

Why I’m proud of it

This campaign makes the list for both its sheer size and the opportunities for personal development it brought me. I had never coordinated a press trip for an event of this scale and magnitude, with the race expected to pull in millions of eyes on broadcast as well as thousands of in-person attendees throughout the race weekend in sunny Puerto Banús. 

What entailed was an exhilarating weekend which was fast-paced, dynamic, and electrifying in all senses of the word. Most importantly, it was also a great success. Tasked with generating both social and press buzz, the campaign resulted in nearly 1000 pieces of coverage across international markets. On the ground, we also ensured a smooth and efficient on-site press office was maintained throughout race weekend and made sure the UK attendees we secured, from a range of specialist and national media publications, were always well looked after.

4. The AGH - Columbia Hike Society

A photo from an AGH hike at Bennachie, Scotland - one of the many hikes that took place during the AGH Weekender

The Annual General Hike (AGH) was the launch event for The Hike Society - an innovative and diverse community hiking initiative which was the brainchild of Brandnation Creative Director, Joe Murgatroyd.

When I joined the agency in October 2021, planning and preparation was still in its infancy, but the vision was clear: find and build a hiking community that furthered Columbia’s core mission of encouraging and empowering more people to enjoy the great outdoors whilst also increasing brand awareness amongst young, digitally native, hikers.

The first inaugural Annual General Hike would take place a year later, however, it’s the following year of the campaign in 2023 that I would like to spotlight.

Results

• 750 hikers mobilised

• 700+ pieces of coverage across press and socials

• 28,000+ Google searches

• 1000+ uses of #thehikesociety

Why I’m proud of it

I am particularly proud of the AGH in 2023. I played a bigger role in the campaign than I did in 2022, aiding in the sourcing and briefing of Hike Society Leaders (influencers) as well as coordinating the press office and working with a production team to shoot promotional social content. I was also lucky enough to attend one of the hikes myself, exploring the beautiful Peak District, and see for myself just how special the programme was.

5. Belief in Britain - Media Analytics Ltd

   
   

   

   The front cover of The Devils' Gospels: Finding God in Four Great Atheist Books by Christopher Gasson. Published by Collective Ink.

   
   

I couldn’t write this list without including my most recent campaign for Media Analytics Ltd. Whilst Media Analytics is the company, I have been employed to specifically aid the Managing Director, Christopher Gasson, with the launch of his new book - The Devils’ Gospels: Finding God in Four Great Atheist Books.

Whilst Christopher had contributed to two books previously, this was his first solo-authored publication and his first foray into the world of Christian books. Whilst his book is Christian, it’s aimed at a much broader audience of agnostics and sceptics who may not be Christian but are interested in investigating the possibility that God exists. With this in mind, Christopher knew he needed to run a campaign that tapped into those much broader and bigger questions in an appealing and engaging way. That’s when he came to me.

Feeling that data would be key to driving coverage, Christopher and I set about drafting a survey that would map out belief and spirituality in the UK. We both felt that there was a subtle shift taking place in society, with spirituality in particular increasingly resonating with Gen Z and Millennials. What we didn’t realise was just how pronounced the results would be on this point.

With a healthy budget set aside for the campaign, I identified 72Point as partners for the project due to their expertise in both running surveys, through their sister agency, OnePoll, and crafting accompanying design assets through their other sister agency, Oath Studios. Of course, access to 72Point’s SWNS newswire would also prove useful for disseminating the survey results to the press.

Results

• 120+ pieces of international coverage

• 8 million estimated views from press coverage alone - including in The Times, Daily Mail, The Independent, and BBC Radio 4

• 250,000+ impressions across podcast, social, and newsletter advertorial

• 9.4% CTR and an average CPC of just £0.06

• 25% engagement rate on Social Ads

Why I’m proud of it

I’m proud of this campaign for several reasons, but primarily because it's marked the first time I have got to handle and lead on more than just the PR side of a project. It has been a good test of my project management skills and PR & Marketing nous - which have both stood up to that test and developed as the project has gone on. It has also been my first experience being client-side, and it has been very interesting and useful to understand the PR and marketing process from that viewpoint.

Of course, I am also very proud of the results that the campaign has achieved thus far. Helping Christopher, a first-time author, reach a huge audience and get so many eyeballs on his book has felt very satisfying. As a fellow Christian, it has also felt very rewarding to be promoting a “product” that I truly see value in myself.