The weather might be telling a different story, but children breaking up from school and some of us here at Skout jetting off on holiday can only mean one thing: summer has arrived! Being at the peak of seasons gives PR pros an opportune time to strike with an apt seasonal campaign. Take our ‘regifting’ campaign that we carried out for our client Wax Digital one Christmas. We saw the festivities as a chance to link their procurement expertise to how frivolously people can shop at that time of year, and we had some great press coverage as a result. So with summer 2016 underway, who is responding with an effective PR campaign?
Persil has teamed up with The Wild Network to launch an app called ‘Wild Explorers’ that gives families outdoor activities to do during the holidays. This is all part of its ‘Dirt Is Good’ campaign, encouraging children to spend more time outdoors. And if an app wasn’t enough, Persil has created a 7ft tall by 10ft wide, three tonne mud volcano that erupts with ‘molten-lava’, giving children an excuse to run around and get dirty- take a look here. You have to admit, not only is it a strong PR campaign, it’s a good way of increasing the need for its product!
Of course, throwing a bit of CSR into the mix doesn’t hurt either, and Persil has helped a worthwhile cause by encouraging children to get outdoors.
The key to using seasons as the basis for a PR campaign is to find a clever link between what your company offers and how it can especially help people at that time of year. But don’t forget that it requires some forward planning if you want to hit the press at the right time with a well-thought out seasonal campaign. It’s never too early to begin preparations for a Christmas 2016 campaign…
Alex Brown enjoys being one of the Skout blog’s most regular contributors.
