Great PR by Andrex today. They took a great sweep of the UK national papers with a very cheap, effective photo story. Using the iconic Andrex Puppy advertising creative, Andrex ‘held’ open auditions for the new face of their advertising campaign. A story that would have cost the company next to nothing has taken off in a big way (see these pieces in The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Daily Mirror). The secret? Cute puppies of course - how could the papers not print this picture?! Note to self: include puppies / kittens in next campaign tactic… View high resolution

Great PR by Andrex today. They took a great sweep of the UK national papers with a very cheap, effective photo story.

Using the iconic Andrex Puppy advertising creative, Andrex ‘held’ open auditions for the new face of their advertising campaign. A story that would have cost the company next to nothing has taken off in a big way (see these pieces in The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Daily Mirror). The secret? Cute puppies of course - how could the papers not print this picture?!

Note to self: include puppies / kittens in next campaign tactic…

A brilliant piece of PR by Pizza Express that I’ve been meaning to highlight for a while. Pizza Express hires actor Karl James to teach flirting and ‘chit chat’ skills to it’s waiting skills. Obviously this is a spoof story and the training is merely being ‘trialed’, but I think it’s genius. So simple but makes for such a great headline, as demonstrated in these write-ups by the Telegraph, Metro, Mirror and Mail View high resolution

A brilliant piece of PR by Pizza Express that I’ve been meaning to highlight for a while. Pizza Express hires actor Karl James to teach flirting and ‘chit chat’ skills to it’s waiting skills.

Obviously this is a spoof story and the training is merely being ‘trialed’, but I think it’s genius. So simple but makes for such a great headline, as demonstrated in these write-ups by the Telegraph, Metro, Mirror and Mail

Something that’s a little less traditional PR that I wanted to note is some of Disney’s latest advertising / social media activity.

For the new Parks ad creative, the company has asked the public to upload videos / pictures of their Disneyland memories on various social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube and its website DisneyParks.com. As well as being displayed online, the content then has a chance of being selecting in the official advertising.

I think this is a fantastic approach, not only does it combine advertising and social media marketing tools brilliantly, it also engages the audience by allowing them to actively be involved with the new creative, builds on and reinforces the emotional connection people feel with Disney and communicates to potential new customers that a Disney Park visit makes for a dream family holiday.

Great way of utilising user generated content too - bet those ads were cheap to make!

You can read more on Mashable, enjoy!

I wanted to post about the very clever social media activity that Tipp Ex has been up to.

The brand has recently launched the Tipp-Experience Channel on YouTube, and has uploaded a great interactive video called “A hunter shoots a bear”.

In a nutshell, a hunter is about to shoot at a bear, when he decides that the viewer instead can decide the outcome of the story. This is done by Tipp-Exing out the word “shoots” and replacing it with the viewers choice of word, which they type in the blank box left by the Tipp-Ex. Once the word has been typed, a new video loads and plays the desired outcome – it’s rare that a word is not met with a new story ending!

I think this is a great use of social media. Tipp-Ex has created something fun, surprising and experiential for consumers, while clearly linking the activity to the product benefits – something that can be quite difficult to do.

At the point of post, the video already has over 9 million views, which is quite a feat. In my opinion, what really makes this work is that there’s an outcome for almost every word you can enter (they surely must have used fairly extensive consumer research to decipher the top terms that would be used…). This is what gets people talking, spreading the link virally and engaging with the content.

Nice work, Tipp-Ex!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but I wanted to talk about Royal Mail’s Christmas stamp scheme.

Royal Mail publishes Christmas themed stamps every year, alternating between religious and secular subject matters. This year it’s the turn of the secular and notorious Christmas characters Wallace and Gromit are the stars.

I think this is a really great PR approach for them - as well as getting some really nice coverage, it also means that at a time when we are rapidly falling out of love with the postal system, Royal Mail can capitalise on, and reinforce the positive associations of nostalgia, festivity and patriotism that this tradition envokes.

Not just that, but don’t the stamps look great?!

(pictures: PA/Royal Mail)

Loving the work of illustrator Rob Ryan. Some of his work is showing at Somerset House at the moment, but you can also check out his work here. Want! View high resolution

Loving the work of illustrator Rob Ryan. Some of his work is showing at Somerset House at the moment, but you can also check out his work here. Want!

So, after years of wanting one, I’ve finally got myself a DSLR. I’m SO excited and now am hell bent on becoming the next David Bailey! As these photos from my first attempts show, I’ve got a long way to go…but here are some of my faves, and hopefully after my upcoming course, I’ll have something better to share!

Awesome picture of the festival of colours in Barsana (via Daily Telegraph) View high resolution

Awesome picture of the festival of colours in Barsana (via Daily Telegraph)

PR stunt by Tiger Beer to celebrate Chinese New Year who lit up Brighton’s West Pier by lasers. Looks AMAZING, though unfortunately I didn’t see much coverage on the back of it. (via Creative Review)

PR by Debenhams

There was some really fun PR today by clothing retailer, Debenhams - a nice, quick story that got heaps of coverage. To summarise, the brand revealed research results, which showed that the height of a man’s waistline is directly linked to his age and where he is in his life - a nice, quick story that got heaps of coverage including pieces in The Telegraph, The Metro, and The Guardian.