Cupid’s arrow can provide serious media cut through
Diary dates from Earth Day to Coffee Week are a tried and tested route which, with the right PR push, can add more relevance and timeliness to your brand in the media, resulting in strong coverage. Take this a step further and gifting occasions become a bit like diary dates on steroids. While it’s significantly more competitive to land gift guide coverage, it can obviously be incredibly valuable to generate a peak in brand visibility at a time when shoppers are actively looking for something new, different and with a bit of wow-factor, to fill that gift-shaped void on their ‘to do’ list. And with 14th February taking place under lockdown this year, it was predicted that Brits would collectively spend more than £1.45 billion sending tokens of their affection to loved ones.
While we all know the classic gift cliches when it comes to cupid’s day… red roses, boxes of strawberry crème filled chocolates or even jewellery (for the lucky ones among us!), these simply won’t cut the mustard if you want to generate strong media coverage. As ever, journalists are looking to hear about products and services that are distinct, unique and new.
This year we ran Valentine’s Day campaigns for a number of our clients utilising clever story angles brilliant products to grab the attention of time poor journalists. Coming in hot, was Godminster’s award-winning aphrodisiac-boosting, heart-shaped cheddar cheeses, relaunching for 2021 having sent shoppers wild when they first went on sale. The cheese maker set pulses racing with the return of its in Vintage Organic Cheddar and Black Truffle Vintage Organic Cheddar. And what better ingredient for the big day than black truffle, one of the world’s more luxurious and beloved culinary ingredients and a ‘love drug’ to boot! The team targeted writers compiling gift guides, food news, product placement slots and features around Valentine’s Day, generating coverage in the Evening Standard Online, Mirror Online, MSN, Yahoo and more, with a total reach of 4 billion.
Meanwhile, New Covent Garden’s famous Flower Market is a hive of activity around Valentine’s Day each year but with sales of flowers for hotels, restaurants, offices, parties, weddings and events dramatically reduced since March 2020, we used the opportunity to call on the public to support independent florists. With many in the UK’s floristry industry struggling, we put out a rallying cry (in press release form) urging shoppers to provide vital support for local, independent, high street florists, who make up a huge part of the Flower Market traders’ customer base. Coverage was generated via a stunning picture story of the market full to the rafters with flowers for Valentine’s Day, helping to secure coverage in the Daily Telegraph. Meanwhile a top tier broadcast lead was secured with ITV London who visited the Flower Market to interview traders broadcasting a feature the day before Valentine’s to help make sure the capital’s Romeo’s bought from local florists. Resulting coverage delivered a reach of almost 5 million.
Even for products that on first look, you might not consider the most natural fit for Valentine’s Day, there are all manner of smart, creative campaigns and inventive timely limited-edition NPDs that can elevate a brand beyond the everyday and catapult into the valuable gifting market. And with long lead media starting to compile their February 2022 issues from September this year, you’ve got four months to bring that killer idea to fruition…
