Formed part of my work while working full time at a Midlands-based agency.

A client in the telecommunications space approached us and wanted to roll out national PR campaigns to raise their brand awareness. They are a European communications company, recently entering the UK market and were keen to start establishing themselves through national newspaper and media coverage.

The client wanted to pursue a creative route to market, outlining what made their services necessary to businesses (primarily targeted SMEs) without being dry and factual. Our KPI was 2 pieces of national media coverage per campaign.

December 2021 Campaign

For the first campaign, we focused on the upcoming ISDN switch-off. This is the switch off of traditional copper phone lines, which is coming in 2024, and not many businesses are aware and preparing for it. The client can offer modern cloud phone systems (amongst a range of other communication services) and wanted to highlight the importance of switching early and being prepared.

We devised the idea of looking at outdated office practices and retro technology that really should have been done away with in the office. Working with a third-party research partner, we commissioned a survey looking at what technology or working practices people felt reflected an outdated way of working, and also what modern benefits they would want to see. The release was fun, tongue-in-cheek, and got people talking about funny habits some offices still cling to, like fax machines, printing emails, and paper pay slips.

The survey, national press release and trade press release combined to deliver exceptional media coverage:

National press pieces: 6 (including The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Scottish Sun, The Daily Star)

Trade and regional media pieces: 150

March 2022 Campaign

With the success of one campaign under the belt, the client was keen to get things moving again in Q1 2022. Again, the brief was brand awareness in the market through national media coverage, although our KPI was increased to 3 pieces of national coverage.

This time there was no specific product or awareness piece as with ISDN, and instead the client simply wanted us to look at ways of making the brand stand out in the market. As a communications company, their technology helps people connect and collaborate easily for better partnerships and enhanced productivity.

Our idea focused on jargon and business phrases. These often unhelpful turns of phrase such as ‘think outside the box’ and ‘blue sky thinking’ have a tendency to further confuse readers. working once again with our third-party research partner, we commissioned a survey into the most annoying business jargon, and what people thought of those who used jargon excessively. We linked it back to the client by showing that their services could help people communicate clearly and easily without the need for excessive business speak.

We were delighted that this campaign once again went above the KPI and while it achieved less regional and trade coverage, the national media coverage was exceptional.

National press pieces: 8 (including The Sun, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Metro, The Daily Express)

National broadcast pieces: Mention on This Morning (ITV) and national radio interview

Trade and regional pieces: 42

The client was delighted with the success of both campaigns, and they received recognition from their European head office for the success of the campaigns.