What do all award-winning PR campaigns have in common?
21st March 2017
Blog by Nicola Pledger
So, this week the UK Power Book by PRWeek has listed what they deem to be best PR campaigns of 2016.
At Kinetic we do agree that there are some corkers on the list!
The much-praised ‘Missing Type’ campaign won top spot as the best campaign of 2016. The campaign for NHS Blood and Transplant, involved more than 600 organisations and companies – from government, brands and media – dropping the As, Bs and Os from their branding to publicise the need for new NHS blood donors.
We loved the Downing Street picture for the campaign.
Two extraordinary political campaigns were tied in second place, with the push for Brexit and Donald Trump’s election campaign securing second place. Many voted for these campaigns grudgingly respecting their impact rather than the aims or methods.
Fourth on the list was ‘The Swedish Number’ campaign for the Swedish Tourist Association, for which the world’s first ‘phone number for a country’ was created. People who called it were put through to an ‘ambassador’, who would talk honestly and freely about whatever topic came up.
Channel 4’s ‘Superhuman’ campaign for its Rio Paralympics coverage received 5th place.
So, what made these campaigns great? What do they all have in common?
The answer is five simple things:
- They’re audience-focused – understanding what is important to your audience is essential if you want to attract attention and engage with them in a meaningful way. Target audience research and building personas must be the first step in campaign planning.
- They’re well-timed – timing can make or break a campaign. There are a few key things that play into the timing: seasonality, psychology, responsiveness, the news agenda and your business/brand cycle. Everything about timing must be considered.
- They’re simple – no overcomplicated tactics. Don’t try to be too clever. Simple and clear messages always work best.
- They humanise brands or concepts – since people trust other people more than they do brands or businesses, all you should do is make your brand seem a little bit more like a person—in this digital world, you need to humanise your brand.
- They’re entertaining – it’s not a surprise that most of the campaigns on the list involve humour. Entertaining content is compulsively shareable.
Stick to these five simple ingredients and watch the awards roll in!
