As featured in ‘Business Time in Essex’
Do you need PR? If you’re looking to bring your brand to life, raise awareness or create behaviour change, there’s nothing stronger than the power of PR. By Hilary Collins, MD, Big Wave PR.
Creativity sets you apart!
Clients come to us for many different reasons, whether it’s a product launch, outsourcing of press office services, celebrating an anniversary or an award win. But their aim is the same, to gain maximum exposure and an excellent return on investment; that’s where PR really delivers.
All businesses need good PR. It’s your reputation, it’s how you engage with your customers, employees and stakeholders. It starts with a plan; know or develop your company’s mission and values. Ensure you live and breathe these values in your communications. Get the basics right, develop a great website, write engaging blogs, keep your social channels up-to-date and maintain excellent communication channels, such as newsletters and direct mailings, to your target audiences.
At Big Wave PR we manage the full range of marcomms activity, but we also use strong storytelling tactics and creativity to help our clients get their message heard.
Hitting the headlines
Much of our work is focused on media relations. We act as journalists within an organisation, uncovering stories that often businesses don’t realise are newsworthy. We liaise with the media every day, so we know what makes a great news story. We don’t just write press releases, we create events, make films and gain celebrity endorsement to shine a light on what our clients are doing to hit the headlines.
Recently, we set up a press trip through the county’s vineyards to showcase the award-winning wines in Essex. We offered tastings, gained facts and stats and provided stunning photography. The tour resulted in live TV coverage plus features in the national press, wine blogs and trade magazine titles.
Use film to tell your story
Another tactic to give you an edge is to make a film – showcase what you offer, or challenge stereotypes. It also creates excellent content for social channels and B-roll for TV outlets. Recently we made a film to launch staycations for Visit Essex. We decided to look at the county’s hidden history, uncover its gems and retell the story of its cities and towns for visitors to attract tourists to historical attractions and nearby hotels, bars and restaurants. With a bit of clever planning, the story went live before the bank holiday weekend, securing coverage on ITV Anglia, plus all local newspaper outlets. The return on investment was vast; not a single pound was spent on advertising, yet the reach to target customers was enormous.
Consider celebrity endorsement
Celebrity endorsement can also catapult your offer into the limelight, but make sure the celeb is closely aligned to your organisation’s ethos and goals. To launch the Essex Year of Reading. We brought TV presenter and children’s author, Dermot O’Leary, back to Essex. By setting up a book reading with local schoolchildren, we were able to bring excitement to the campaign, whilst also amplifying promotion via TV and radio, creating mass awareness.
Creativity sets you apart
Creativity is key to bringing your brand to life. Stunts can be a good tactic to make a splash. We created the world’s largest ‘woolly’ pizza for Papa John’s to celebrate their support of Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day. The woolly pizza toured the nation with food sampling and all local outlets experienced a significant uptick in trade. But you don’t have to be a big organisation to get creative. Reach out to your communities, support a charity, work with a local school. Think about what you can offer. From corporate fundraisers to world record stunts, there’s always a story to tell.
Contact Big Wave PR
If you need help with your PR and marketing campaigns, visit www.wearebigwavepr.co.uk or call the team on 01206 231807.
Categories: PR news PR services
