PUBLIC RELATIONS
Monday 14th January 2019
New Year, New (Comms) Opportunity?
By Niki Wheeler, Director, Launch,
Apparently most New Year’s Resolutions are broken by mid-January. Well, it's now the 14th, how are you doing?
In the comms business, it is important for us to maximise the opportunity that New Year New You season brings now and throughout 2019.
Back after the holidays and fitness classes are packed (we’ve been highlighting the kit to snap up) and many have tuned in to Marie Kondo’s new tidying up show on Netflix (we’re on the case with sparking joy and decluttering themes). Others meanwhile are going down the Veganuary and healthy eating route (we’re promoting these for foodie clients).
Early weekend supplements of 2019 contained glossy follow-up features by my former client William Sitwell following his controversial ‘killing vegans’ email last year. Greggs' vegan sausage rolls have also flown off the shelves and the story has been much covered by the media and social feeds of the PR glitterati. Both examples show the meat-free trend is here to stay – though ironically, Chinese New Year in February will herald the Year of the Pig.
It is also clear everyone is seizing the opportunity to bag deals or get their finances in order (cue – shopping and pf opps) this month. However, this is a trend that will span far further than the long stretch between Christmas and January pay packets.
Indeed, our client BDO’s latest High Street Sales Tracker marked the worst year on record for the high street last December. With discounting failing to save the high street from a disastrous 2018 – it is clear that consumer confidence remains low. This means that the savvy shopper who seeks out genuinely awesome deals (often online) needs to be inspired, across channels as competition for share of pocket remains rife.
Just a couple of weeks in to 2019 and PR pegs like ‘Sunshine Saturday’ and ‘Divorce Monday’ have seen guests booked on to the sofas. Meanwhile reports from CES in distant Las Vegas have showcased the coolest gadgets and gizmos. All this and we haven’t even hit ‘Blue Monday’ yet.
So, in a climate of uncertainty, communicators have prime opportunity to set the tone way beyond January with brave, imaginative campaigns with commercial objectives at their heart.
Yet – while innovation is critical, integrity and authenticity are key. In the last few days, the Channel 4 drama ‘Brexit The Uncivil War’ focused on how the campaign which won the referendum didn’t get the ‘right information to the right people in the right way’.
So, with many falling off the dry January wagon already (dry martini or dry white anyone?) and with the office chocolate and biscuit ban already starting to crumble, how can we take our ‘New Year New You’ mindset forward?
It feels as though this is about taking the January diet a step further – and staying (intellectually) hungry. More than ever, we need to turn challenges into opportunities for clients who like their customers will be utterly focused on getting their money’s worth this year.
Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash
Apparently most New Year’s Resolutions are broken by mid-January. Well, it's now the 14th, how are you doing?
In the comms business, it is important for us to maximise the opportunity that New Year New You season brings now and throughout 2019.
Back after the holidays and fitness classes are packed (we’ve been highlighting the kit to snap up) and many have tuned in to Marie Kondo’s new tidying up show on Netflix (we’re on the case with sparking joy and decluttering themes). Others meanwhile are going down the Veganuary and healthy eating route (we’re promoting these for foodie clients).
Early weekend supplements of 2019 contained glossy follow-up features by my former client William Sitwell following his controversial ‘killing vegans’ email last year. Greggs' vegan sausage rolls have also flown off the shelves and the story has been much covered by the media and social feeds of the PR glitterati. Both examples show the meat-free trend is here to stay – though ironically, Chinese New Year in February will herald the Year of the Pig.
It is also clear everyone is seizing the opportunity to bag deals or get their finances in order (cue – shopping and pf opps) this month. However, this is a trend that will span far further than the long stretch between Christmas and January pay packets.
Indeed, our client BDO’s latest High Street Sales Tracker marked the worst year on record for the high street last December. With discounting failing to save the high street from a disastrous 2018 – it is clear that consumer confidence remains low. This means that the savvy shopper who seeks out genuinely awesome deals (often online) needs to be inspired, across channels as competition for share of pocket remains rife.
Just a couple of weeks in to 2019 and PR pegs like ‘Sunshine Saturday’ and ‘Divorce Monday’ have seen guests booked on to the sofas. Meanwhile reports from CES in distant Las Vegas have showcased the coolest gadgets and gizmos. All this and we haven’t even hit ‘Blue Monday’ yet.
So, in a climate of uncertainty, communicators have prime opportunity to set the tone way beyond January with brave, imaginative campaigns with commercial objectives at their heart.
Yet – while innovation is critical, integrity and authenticity are key. In the last few days, the Channel 4 drama ‘Brexit The Uncivil War’ focused on how the campaign which won the referendum didn’t get the ‘right information to the right people in the right way’.
So, with many falling off the dry January wagon already (dry martini or dry white anyone?) and with the office chocolate and biscuit ban already starting to crumble, how can we take our ‘New Year New You’ mindset forward?
It feels as though this is about taking the January diet a step further – and staying (intellectually) hungry. More than ever, we need to turn challenges into opportunities for clients who like their customers will be utterly focused on getting their money’s worth this year.
Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash