Formed part of my work at a leading Midlands creative agency in 2022.

Christmas is an important time of year for many clients, but for those who operate in retail, particularly retail orientated towards families and children, the festive season is when things step up a gear.

This national retail client caters to families and children with a low-cost approach to fun and entertainment. With both physical stores and a busy online shop, the client approached us wanting to maximise their media exposure through targeted PR to consumer and national titles.

With the contract agreed in September, it was essential we acted fast in order to deliver the results in the run-up to Christmas.

PR Plan of Attack

Jumping into action, we quickly identified the key pieces of content that needed to be drafted and issued to the media. This included a plan of:

  • Gift guides – multiple guides produced including board games, books, Christmas crafts, toys, and more.
  • Seasonal content – tapping into ideas such as elf on the shelf, secret Santa, Christmas eve boxes, and DIY advent calendars.
  • Reactive content – monitoring media trends and producing pieces that corresponded such as top trending toys and the best BookTok finds

With the content planned and drafting underway, we tackled the media contact lists and focused on building those all-important journalist relationships that make PR successful.

By using a mixture of targeted media outreach and personalised follow ups, we were able to bring the client’s content to the front of mind for national newspapers and top tier consumer titles. Media pitches were always tailored to the individual content pieces and backed by media trends data such as Google trends or SEMRush.

PR Results

After a busy four months chatting about everything Christmas with the media, pulling together the report was the moment of truth.

Total pieces of coverage achieved: 278 (online and print)

National titles included: The Sun, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Evening Standard, The Independent, Metro (with many placing multiple pieces)

Consumer titles included: Prima, Good Housekeeping, Mother & Baby, House Beautiful, Ideal Home, woman&home, Hello!, Pick Me Up, Chat, Bella, Red, Yours.

In addition to the extensive press coverage, we also achieved over 100 backlinks to the client’s website, strengthening their Google rankings and site authority.

The client was extremely pleased with the results given the Christmas PR space is so competitive, and went on to commission an Easter & Coronation 2023 campaign with us as a result of the work.