Obtaining widespread media coverage is the goal of any broadcast PR campaign. That said, some stories tend to land better than others. Three national TV placements, three pieces of regional TV and over 20 radio interviews is pretty spectacular though, for a self-published book about a knitting craze!
That’s what we secured when we recently worked with Belinda Goldsmith. She’s a journalist, the incoming Head of Global Media at Save the Children and the author of Lockdown Letterboxes . The book looks back at lockdowns in Britain and the craze for knitting letterbox toppers which developed during that time. Little did we know just how big the trend had become. From beach toppers in Devon, VE Day tributes in Buckinghamshire, and even knitted speed cameras in Essex, it’s true to say that people had embraced it in a big way. Belinda created the book to show how people coped with the pandemic and to help raise money for the charity YoungMinds.
But why was the campaign so popular with broadcasters?
Producers love quirky broadcast PR stories
The radio studio tour for Lockdown Letterboxes was a delight to work on for one simple reason; it was perfect for radio and TV media relations. National and regional broadcasters are always looking for a broadcast PR story that offers something a little bit different. Let’s face it, the news agenda over the past 18 months hasn’t exactly been positive, so anything fun that offers that talkability factor makes a story more attractive to broadcasters. After months of lockdown restrictions, audiences are currently suffering from lockdown news fatigue. This broadcast PR story offered producers the chance to provide some much-needed light and shade, a different angle on the pandemic.
Talkability is important
Broadcasters love media relations campaigns that spark conversations between on-air teams and audiences. As a nation, we enjoy nothing more than highlighting our Britishness and what could be more British than knitting hats for letterboxes? Throw in some cucumber sandwiches with a cup of earl grey, and the stiff upper lip would have a field day. Plus, in a digital world where audiences now consume online content almost as much as traditional methods, broadcasters are focused on utilising social media platforms to drive audience engagement. The bold and colourful pictures that accompanied this broadcast PR story made it very easy for them to achieve this and allowed for successful TV media relations opportunities with Channel 5 and ITV animating them on screen.
Regional Interest
Lockdown Letterboxes features creative designs from individuals across the country, so we made sure to offer out regional case studies to radio & TV stations. In an era where there is so much competition from rival broadcasters and platforms, regional broadcast teams need to utilise their local USP as much as possible. By offering the case studies and making local spokespeople readily available, we made this broadcast PR campaign appeal to a broad range of broadcasters, whilst taking the hard work out of sourcing guests. With great local content available so easily, how could they resist?
A great spokesperson is the broadcaster’s dream
Our leading spokesperson for the campaign was Belinda Goldsmith, the author of Lockdown Letterboxes. Belinda is just the kind of spokesperson that broadcasters love. She’s a great communicator with a clear and articulate voice. She was also able to explain the who, what, where and why of the story succinctly, whilst delivering the key messages in a personable and relatable way. This helps broadcasters create great content rather than a perception of sales messaging.
Radio and television coverage
Most stories can be tailored to become broadcast PR friendly; however, Lockdown Letterboxes had all the right components to excite broadcasters from the very start. There is little wonder we secured national coverage on Channel 5 News, BBC Breakfast TV, and 5 Live, along with a broad selection of regional radio stations including BBC Radio London, BBC Radio Solent, and BBC Radio Sheffield.
If you are interested in finding out more about broadcast media relations, contact us today and allow us to help you create the next perfect broadcast PR story.
The book is available to buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B095TW6M2Z/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
