Lucky North Loves: the best lockdown PR campaigns.
In the height of lockdown, PR campaigns were a welcome break from the noise of Covid news. The relentless headlines were tough to break up with press content (though we love a challenge and got some awesome results for our clients!), but a few campaigns caught our eye for being especially inventive. We thought we’d share our favourites…
20 second soap
Remember back in March when we were encouraged to sing Happy Birthday twice while scrubbing our hands? Thank goodness that message swiftly got replaced, and we’re thrilled that Verve took the 20 second message and ran with it, creating news of a soap designed to last exactly 20 seconds.
Why we love it: It’s fun, it’s catchy, and it put a smile on people’s faces amongst a serious message that was strongly communicated.
Music for hope
Moving from soap to hope, our next favourite campaign was one of the most touching acts of PR we can think of. London based production and streaming agency, Groovy Gecko was commissioned to safely deliver a classical performance by Andrea Bocelli.
At a time when Europe was at the peak of lockdown and spirits were running low, this campaign delivered the most watched classical music concert on YouTube, with a staggering 28 million views in the first 24 hours.
The performance was delivered via livestream from an eerily empty Duomo cathedral in the heart of Milan – a sight normally unavailable due to the hoards of tourists that would gather daily. The mayor of Milan called it “a strong, special hug capable of warming the heart of Milan, Italy, and the world”.
Why we love it: It picked us up right at the moment the world needed it, and reminded us of the power of music and great PR to bring people together, even in lockdown.
Lockdown love: Bumble partnered with Uber Eats to promote virtual dinner dates
Nobody felt the full force of lockdown like single people did. People looking for dates up and down the country could swipe all they liked, but with nowhere to go, what was the point? Dating app giant, Bumble read the room and quickly paired with Uber Eats to promote virtual dinner dates, saving dating, and possibly saving lockdown for many too.
Bumble users in cities served by Uber Eats were encouraged to take advantage of the 25% off food orders incentive in a bid to keep dating alive, and provide people with the chance to ‘meet’ someone for a dinner date before an in-person commitment post-lockdown.
Why we love it: It was perfect for lockdown and great to see brands collaborating for mutual benefit and positivity.
Future of care
When our research for Vida Healthcare found that trust in care homes was concerningly low, we knew we had an opportunity to bring out the good in the industry. Over the course of a media-packed 7 days, the rhetoric around trust in care homes shifted from a national concern to singing the praises of Vida Healthcare, with carefully thought out messages surrounding quality of care and COVID-19 precautions.
Generating just under 200 media items over 188 outlets in a week told us we’d got the story right, and our clients saw the rewards with a surge of web traffic and new customer enquiries.
Why we love it: Selling a story to the media is one thing, but changing the dynamics of an existing conversation is another altogether! We’re really proud of what we achieved for Vida Healthcare, and we can’t wait to unveil what’s next.
If PR success is something you would love to achieve, or you’re curious about what it could mean for your business, get in touch today. We’d love to talk you through our ideas.
