Each year, what the media world calls ‘Christmas in July’ is a sounding gong to PR professionals as they get to work pitching gifting related products and services as well as seasonal food and drink to long lead media. This is all because from July onwards these titles, including most monthly magazines, start compiling their Christmas issues. And if you’re wanting to maximise festive sales for your brand, it’s imperative to start speaking to media early doors.
In years gone by, Christmas in July was marked by many a media event and real-life press briefing, with big brands pulling out all the stops to ensure theirs was attractive enough to attract top journalists. Obviously, this was out of the question in 2020 and anything large scale will be for 2021 too, but whether it’s the kick-off point for a hard-working festive press office or the timing for a virtual media event, the 1st of July is a date worth noting.
Identifying a campaign’s key media targets and their corresponding inclusion deadlines is the backbone of any sound media relations campaign. Christmas in July only relates to monthly magazines and means the likes of Good Housekeeping, BBC Good Food, Red, Glamour, Vogue, Ideal Home, Great British Food and more, will be whirring into action. The bigger the issue, as inevitably is the case with the Christmas editions, the longer the deadlines to get it all in place. Then from September mid-lead media – which is made up of weekly magazines and newspaper supplements – will start compiling their gift guides and Christmas content.
The media landscape has changed immeasurably in the last 18 months with a huge shift towards digital platforms, whether that’s e-zines, websites, Instagram influencers, TikTokkers or third-party social channels, and corresponding lead times can be anything from 3 months to as little as a one-day turnaround. However, print media still absolutely has its place, especially at this time of year with Christmas issues tending to be some of the bestsellers and even the most die-hard digital consumers likely to pick up a copy of their favourite glossy magazine to flick through gift guides, festive fashion round-ups, table dressing inspo, recipes, what to buy for her/him, stocking fillers, and what’s best to buy for the all-important Christmas dinner. Beyond this, monthly magazines are increasingly transcending the physical page with the rise of apps like Readly making 1000s of print magazines available via phone and tablet – and while accessed digitally these same titles are still complied in line with print deadlines.
If you have a product or service that’s perfect for the festive season and want to understand what opportunities to tap into PR-wise, then get in touch at hello@stormcom.co.uk. We’d love to have a chat and help you maximise your PR approach to create a strong pipeline of coverage ahead of St Nicolas’ big day.
