Chris Pharo Included In 2019's PRWeek Power Book
72Point is delighted to announce that our Managing Director Chris Pharo is featured PRWeek UK Power Book 2019, a list of the most influential and respected comms professionals in the UK today.
The inclusion marks the rapid growth that has taken place at our agency across the last year, with news generation stepping out of the shadows as a valued PR discipline, serving both clients and the media.
The revolution will continue in 2019, stay tuned.
WHY EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT NEWS GENERATION
Every brand has a story they want people to hear, and with publications increasingly eager to start national conversations a new synergy has emerged that is making news generation one of the most talked about marketing and PR strategies on the market.
News generation has conversation starters at its very core. It has long been a PR tool called upon to infiltrate the media landscape, providing comms teams with access to an armory of publications that satisfies their requirement to reach both broad and specific audiences. But with an increasingly hectic media landscape and more marketing techniques unearthing themselves every day it can be easy to forget the simple effectiveness of crafting campaigns tailored to your story in order to achieve vast media coverage.
Creative Brand Awareness
News generation is a creative way to keep your brand name in the forefront of consumer’s minds, and should be an integral part of any marketing mix. If done properly and effectively, it can provide the bare-bones to a strategy for fast-fame and fortune for brands who are craving national and regional exposure. News generation projects are not bound to any particular platform, meaning that you are able to traverse a number of key channels with one core creative idea. Research has shown adding news generation to your campaign boosts ROI by three times on average and makes other media in your campaign work harder.
At The Marketing Show North, 72Point hosted the first ever News Generation Keynote Theatre, celebrating the technique by inviting key industry-specialists from across the country to attend the talks and share why they deem it to be of importance to today’s PR market.
VIDEO
The Sun’s Deputy Northern News Editor Richard Moriarty (right) joined us in the session, discussing how he believes that journalists are on a ‘’three line whip’’ to include videos with news stories, and that it still breaks his heart that people would rather stare into their phones than pick up a copy of the Metro during their commute. The simple fact is that videos make news stories more engaging to the consumer’s eye, increasing dwell-time on particular pages, thus making the pay-off for publishers vast.
SEO Benefits
Among other topics of discussion, the SEO benefits of news generation strategies was mentioned, with publishers having more reason to embed a follow link if it links to a page featuring further content and information based on the news story. The trick to securing follow-links is to get your client to build a bespoke page on their website featuring results of, for example, a survey that forms the basis of the news story, giving readers and publishers an incentive to click through.
It also helps get you cut-through with the press. News generation is the art of approaching the media intelligently, and arming yourself with the relevant ammunition to secure widespread coverage, which is the key to keeping your clients happy (find out how we secured over 21,100 hits in 2018 alone here).
In today’s day and age, it’s impossible to forecast what marketing technique is going to step into the forefront of comms professionals’ minds, but one thing is for certain, news generation will remain central to the majority of marketing plans for 2019, providing the flesh and bones of the impact PR campaigns can have, with the key development being more visual assets getting produced to enhance the engagement of news stories.
For assistance and information on the news generation services we provide, contact us here.
Greggs and Gillette Reap the Rewards of the Morgan Multiplier
By Jack Peat
Greggs and Gillette will be basking in the spoils of successful January marketing campaigns this month after early results show an uplift in sales and brand awareness.
Gillette achieved the highest uplift in Ad Awareness of any brand in the UK thanks to their brave yet divisive campaign "The Best a Man Can Be", which challenged toxic masculinity in modern society.
YouGov BrandIndex data shows that Gillette’s Ad Awareness score (whether someone has seen an ad for the brand in the past two weeks) improved by a massive 12 per cent - up from 13 per cent to 25 per cent following the adverts launch on the 13th January.
Naturally, not all of that was positive, but it did result in a Word of Mouth Exposure score of +11.4 compared to +0.9 prior, which will doubtless come as music to the ears of execs who are battling to stay relevant in an increasingly saturated market.
As for Greggs' coveted new vegan sausage roll, which made Piers Morgan almost throw-up on Good Morning Britain so incensed was he by the herbivorous erosion of our meaty pastry treat, the bakery has seen a sales boost of 14 per cent in the first seven weeks of 2019.
Like-for-like sales in stores have increased by nearly ten per cent up until 16th February, growth which was attributed to the launch of the vegan-friendly sausage roll in the company's financial statement.
It goes to show that pissing Piers Morgan off could indeed be a bonafide marketing strategy in 2019, and as I noted here, the formula is devilishly simple: Take one virtuous message and target one of the most well-followed, straight-talking personalities on social media and you will get a backlash that will write headlines for weeks to come in return, keeping your brand in the public's eye for the foreseeable future.
There is something perversely satisfying about labelling Piers Morgan a "marketing tool". He undoubtedly qualifies as one, but he is also wistfully unaware of it. What he sees as a bid to rid Britain of PC-ravaged clowns is actually creating a Morgan Multiplier of brand equity and increased sales.
As Oscar Wilde once said “there is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about”. I would agree, but in this day and age would add, “you could do a lot worse than rub Piers Morgan up the wrong way”.
Tackling Mental Health With Channel Mum
Channel Mum is unique a social enterprise in the parenting sector combining professional advice from top UK experts, alongside crowdsourced knowledge from influencers and ordinary parents. There is a strong emphasis on help for mental health issues with free support available around the clock from trained psychologists, counsellors and health visitors. Channel Mum has a social reach of over five and a half million mums with more than half a million unique users each month. Founded just three years ago, it is now the UKs fastest-growing parenting site. The objective of this project with 72Point was to raise awareness of Channel Mum’s counselling support service and to drive engagement with the Channel Mum website.
‘You are not Alone’ is an online forum where members can submit questions, reach out to other mums or provide help and useful connections. As a social enterprise with a limited PR budget, Channel Mum relies on low-cost but effective public relations campaigns to raise awareness of their vital work, to drive traffic to their website and support the growth of their membership. To achieve these objectives, Channel Mum opted to utilise 72Point’s News Generation services. 72Point has pioneered the adaptation of the News Gen model for digital media, supporting clients to grasp the varied opportunities of the online market. News Gen has become a daily staple for newspapers (both print and digital), and a cost-effective way to secure much-needed coverage at the “front of the book” and to generate engagement across all major social media platforms.
The website targets Millennial and Gen Z parents and hosts ‘textbook v truth’ video series supported by a forum where mums and dads can discuss parenting issues and receive community support. Channel Mum hosts a series of forums where key information and discussions are shared relating to a wide range of key issues, but with a particular focus on mental health. In response to mounting concern across the UK in the last couple of years relating to growing mental health issues amongst key demographics of society, Channel Mum has launched a series of online toolkits, including ‘Mum’s Mental Health Course’, ‘The Channel Mum Anxiety Course’ as well as a number of campaigns to support discussion around mental health. Channel Mum is working to raise the profile of this service amongst its key audiences. The site receives a large volume of User Generated Content from mothers – and received this harrowing video in 2018 of a young mother who had filmed one of her panic attacks.
In the minute-long video, Sophie Mei Lan from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, can be seen struggling to breathe and hysterically breaking down while attempting to hide her anguish from her family. The mother-of-two sobs: 'I just don't want to be here – I just can't cope.' Sophie filmed her panic attack to show other parents what the frightening disorder looks like. 'I wanted to show what mental illness can be like – warts and all,' she said. 'Some people may find it strange I picked up my phone, but it shows real life at its most ugly and raw.’
Channel Mum supported Sophie’s decision to publish this content and applauded her for her bravery in raising awareness of the reality of parenting with mental health issues such as anxiety and panic attacks. Channel Mum partnered with Sophie, a digital journalist, blogger and vlogger, harnessing the power of her personal parenting audience to maximise potential reach of her video. Channel Mum then approached 72Point to ensure that this content was expertly – and sensitively - packaged up for the mainstream media and distributed to top tier media publications who could raise awareness of Channel Mum’s free online counselling services to an international audience as well as to decrease stigma around mums struggling with mental health issues.
The campaign achieved both extensive online and broadcast coverage and was a ‘watershed moment’ allowing mums around the UK and abroad to open up and share their experiences without fear of judgement. The coverage saw a 670% spike in users visiting the site and the forum, with hundreds stating they had seen the coverage and come directly. Following the coverage, Channel Mum’s user numbers are rising over ten per cent each and every month. The site now has more users on YouTube and Instagram than legacy parenting sites such as Netmums and Mumsnet which have existed for 18 years. The project was an astounding success, securing 50 pieces of coverage in top tier news publications in the UK, United States, Australia, Indonesia and Singapore. Top UK news coverage appearing in The Daily Mail and MailOnline, The Mirror, The Independent, Metro, Daily Record, as well as top global news sites including MSN and Yahoo! as well as parenting news sites including Little Things.com, Zena.com and The Bump.com. The project secured on online readership over over 1.79 billion and encouraged over 3,000 social shares, with positive engagement from Channel Mum’s key target audience of millennial and Gen Z parents and families with young children, especially mothers and professional. The project caused Channel Mum’s media exposure to peak in Q4 (see report attached). As well as national media, the article appearing on “The Bump.com”, with 1.4M reach, drove positive sentiment in this quarter, increasing Channel Mum’s net tonality by 93 points.
Most significantly, Sophie’s bravery and the sensitive handling of the story by Channel Mum and 72Point, resulted in the story being picked up by ITV’s Good Morning, where Sophie was invited to talk on the programme about her struggles with panic attacks and anxiety. Sophie appeared alongside Emma Kenny, one of Channel Mum’s top psychologists and mental health experts. Together they were able to draw on key elements of the news generation project, and reach out directly to parents about Sophie’s experience. The broadcast coverage yielded great feedback from mothers, relieved to see someone with similar issues to their own being given a positive platform in the British media. Positive comments flooded in via social media as a result of the story, including one reader named ‘The Life of Laith Abu Naim’ who tweeted:
‘I just found your channel through the daily mail newspaper. Thank you so much for sharing you are amazing. I will for sure be following you on here and Instagram keep up the incredible work’ :heart:
The project achieved further media coverage when Good Morning presenter Eamon Holmes, inspired by Sophie’s bravery, chose to share his own personal experiences with panic attacks live on air, revealing personal details, alongside his wife, of his struggles with anxiety stemming from feelings of guilt around the sudden death of his father, Leonard. Video clips of Holmes’ personal story generated further coverage in the Daily Mail and the Metro as well as on further lifestyle, consumer and business websites. With 72Point’s support, the overall result of the project was a viral story with 620 pieces of worldwide coverage – a cost of just £8 per piece. Further positive impact from this project include the growth of Channel Mum’s membership, which has increased by 10% since the project was released.
Siobhan Freegard, founder of Channel Mum.com said: "We didn't see this a PR story, we saw it as a way to get parents the help that so many need but are afraid to acknowledge or ask for. Throughout the whole process. 72Point were exemplary, handling the material with care, sensitivity and understanding - and the coverage vastly exceeded our expectations. Two months on we are still seeing daily traffic driven by the campaign."
Managing Director of 72Point, Chris Pharo, said: "It's a great feeling to have been able to create such an important moment in the media, emboldening mothers to share their personal experiences without fear of stigma or negative reaction. I am very proud of our team for handling this project with professionalism and compassion - they deserve to win this award.
For more info on the case study. visit this page: https://www.72point.com/pr-case-studies/raising-awareness-of-maternal-mental-health/
How 72Point Dominated Veganuary Coverage
Fans of plant-based diets will be pleased to know that 72Point dominated veganuary with coverage for clients such as Sainsburies, Vitabiotics, Linda McCartney and Social Enterprise UK.
PROMOTING DEBATE AROUND STEM PROJECTS AT SCHOOL
72Point is delighted to announce that our Bitz and Bob project has been shortlisted for the Best Use of Digital Marketing Category at the CIM’s Marketing Excellence Awards, which recognises and rewards brilliance in the field of marketing by celebrating the finest minds within the profession.
‘Boat Rocker Rights’ were seeking a ‘wow’ moment to help promote the launch of their pioneering new pre-school show on CBeebies, Bitz and Bob. The series is the first of its kind to promote STEM subjects, especially engineering, to a pre-school audience using a strong female lead.
Our project delivered mass coverage whilst carrying these important key messages, serving as a widespread conversation starter.
To help this campaign travel far and wide, our Broadcast Team created an engaging video to capture organic reactions of children who learn that careers in STEM are for both boys AND girls.
This strategy was conceived after it was found 64% of engineering employers say a shortage of engineers is a threat to their business and women make up just 8% of engineers in the UK, the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe.
We brought in five people from different walks of life (a female engineer, a male ballet dancer, a female bus driver, a female computer technician and a male nanny) and asked the children to guess which person fits into which profession, highlighting how young children begin to form stereotypes on which genders specifically fit certain job roles.
We also reached out to our extensive network of news sites including The Sun, The Mirror, Metro, Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Independent and regional syndications such as Johnston Press to ensure that coverage of this video was widespread.
Our Digital Outreach team delivered the content to a range of online publications, and our social media division ensured that the content was seeded out to our client’s target audience of parents, especially women. To achieve this we focused primarily on Facebook, which is used by 74% of parents – of which 81% are women, with a view of engaging them to watch the show and be actively involved in supporting children especially girls in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Some of the key results of the campaign were as follows:
- 148 pieces of regional coverage
- Coverage views of over 1.43 million
- Video viewed more than 500,825 times on Facebook alone
- 428,299 views on the CBeebies Facebook
This project was one of our Breakthrough packages, which features social media outreach, distribution services and targets the appropriate audience on each network. For more info on our breakthrough packages click here:
The awards ceremony will be taking place on 11 April 2019 – where we will find out whether our STEM campaign will be rewarded with The Best Use of Digital Marketing award. Stay tuned for further updates.
Facebook Reveal Plan To Merge Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger
By Social Media Manager Ben Gelblum
Facebook execs today unveiled plans to integrate the messaging element of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram in a move set to bolster the group’s dominance of social media.
This will mean that Facebook users for example, will be able to message a WhatsApp user making the ecosystem the social media giant is creating even more seamless.
Merging communication between the apps is set to occur by the end of this year or early 2020 and will pit the reach of the combined messaging services against rivals from Snapchat to Apple’s iMessage to SMS to various Google messaging apps.
Facebook acquired the photo-sharing platform Instagram for approximately $1 billion (£761 million) in 2012, followed by the messaging service WhatsApp in 2014 for an estimated $19.3 billion (£14.7bn).
Instagram Stories
Instagram first and now Facebook have integrated Stories systems of disseminating posts, using one of the defining characteristics of Snapchat.
All this cements the Facebook group’s dominance of global social media users and social media marketing spend.
This new move will further extend the monetisation of Instagram and WhatsApp, which bring in a fraction of the advertising and marketing revenue of Facebook, despite Instagram’s 1 billion monthly active users and WhatsApp’s 1.5 billion.
With 91% of social media users using mobile devices to access their accounts, the move cements the Facebook group’s dominance of social media ad spend.
Over 88% of brands are now marketing on social media, the vast majority still on Facebook – one of the fastest growing ad networks. In fact, the number of advertisers using Facebook has more than doubled in the last 18 months.
96% of Social media marketers consider Facebook the most effective social media advertising platform based on proven ROI.
Instagram, the world’s second biggest social media now has over 25 million business profiles. Female internet users are more likely to use Instagram than men and 78% of teens between the ages of 15 and 17 use Instagram, as well as 63% of 13 to 14-year-olds.
Click here to find out more about how 72Point can help you navigate the increasingly vital world of social media, with strategy, social media campaigns, assets and top content to drive traffic and build conversations around your brand.
REQUEST A RATECARD HERE:
Error: Contact form not found.
Why News Generation is Integral to a Successful Marketing Mix
By Jack Peat
One of the biggest comms challenges facing brands today is the need to stay relevant in a media environment that is constantly evolving and increasingly saturated.
Today, new product launches, major announcements and business developments have an uphill battle to obtain precious column inches and widespread coverage online. Up against a busy news schedule and fierce competition many face the very real threat of brand equity dissipating, and in an age where earned media coverage has multi-disciplinary applications that has far-reaching consequences.
News Generation
News generation is a creative way to keep your brand name on the news agenda and in the public eye. It is a growing element of the PR market that has become a daily staple for newspapers and online publications, and it should be considered an essential part of a successful marketing mix.
Its value to brands is two-dimensional. On the one hand news gen projects can be rolled out at regular intervals as a way of ensuring that your brand remains relevant and is being consistently talked about. Campaigns can be designed to fit the seasons, tie with events or simply jump on the back of the news agenda, making it a versatile and expedient tool.
It also works seamlessly across platforms. Using news generation you can craft your ideas into multi-platform news stories in the form of news content, video and visuals as well as radio and broadcast campaigns that are highly relevant and shareable on social media. Done well it can be a one-stop-shop for page-lead headlines, engaging multimedia and viral content.
But if you need convincing beyond that, consider this. Research has shown adding news generation to your campaign boosts ROI by three times on average and makes other media in your campaign work harder. It is one of the most evergreen pieces of collateral in the marketer’s toolkit, and it will always be at your behest.
So how do you incorporate news gen into your strategy?
Well, the first thing is to do is to make provisions for it. Unlike launches or key sales periods it can be difficult to plan for auxiliary PR and marketing activity, but given what we know about the crucial down-periods it is essential that it gets factored into budgets from the start, then when dry spells invariably do show up you are prepared to tackle it head-on.
News generations also requires a much more extensive ideation process. You are essentially dreaming up news stories, so you should factor in the time it takes to work up fresh angles that both accentuate your key brand messages and support a strong news hook. It can be a good idea to get in specialists at this point to help develop your brief and bring it to life. At 72Point we brainstorm for free in order to help our clients come up with strong campaign ideas that will gain widespread media coverage.
Which leads us to the final consideration – Distribution. It is likely that news gen projects will appeal to journalists outside of your core sector and so you should consider the time it takes to research and draw up a strong media list. If the campaign has a strong news hook then working alongside a press agency could be worth pricing in, as they will offer a direct inroad into the media market.
So rather than drop from consumer conscience this year, consider news generation in your marketing mix. To find out more, visit our Keynote Theatre address at The Marketing Show North 2019
2018: Year of Achievements
Public Relations (abbreviation PR): the business of giving the public information about a particular organization or person in order to create a good impression.
This is how the Oxford English defines PR. Another way of putting it is securing a vast quantity of coverage with ideas of great quality – and at 72Point we deliver these twin objectives everyday for our clients.
News Generation
News generation is looked down upon by some PR professionals but we believe it is the future of PR. Any creative that appeals simply to its creator – or the client paying for it – has intrinsically failed, for it must also appeal to the publishers who we rely upon to convey its messaging to the world.
Great PR exists in the space between creativity and pragmatism. At 72Point we are proud to have journalistic talent and experience at our core – but we also understand that great creative thinking is the central pillar of our business.
In 2018 we finally stepped out of the shadows to claim our place in the PRWeek Top 150 – ranking in the top 20 consumer PR agencies in the country.
We use many methods to create content and to grab the attention of news, picture and video editors across the whole spectrum of the media. And they work – for in 2018 alone we have delivered more than 20,000 pieces of print and digital coverage and broadcast audiences running into the many millions for clients like British Airways, Sky, Volkswagen and Just Eat.
We use OnePoll – our sister company – to provide the insight to allow us to start national, and indeed international conversations on occasions tapping the opinions of the very consumers brands are trying to reach to create headlines and land mass coverage.
Find out how we can work with you
Error: Contact form not found.
Stand-Out Projects
One of our projects for our client ChannelMum made a huge splash on an international scale, landing in major lifestyle publications Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, OK!, Stylist and Grazia. Driving public conversation around the issue of soon-to-be-extinct baby names, with an online readership of 1.37 billion and coverage in a massive 168 publications in the UK, US and Australia, our client reached new heights of widespread brand awareness as the most prominent and trusted online parenting community.
We also created a campaign in collaboration with Sky Mobile that revealed that Britons will waste £30,000 over their lifetimes on direct debits and services they do not need. Our creative team were challenged to come up with an idea to propel the brand into the national news agenda and we didn’t fail, landing insightful coverage in The Times, Mirror, Express and Sun as well as radio coverage on BBC and talkRADIO within hours of the story landing.
We produce high quality video that brings content to life in this digital age – where social media plays and ever increasing role in our lives. In 2018 a social media project for new CBeebies programme Bitz and Bob achieved 488,000 views and 115,000 comments, likes and shares, tackling gender stereotypes in a fun and creative way and showcasing the talents of our Social Media Outreach department.
And we build graphic puzzles, infographics and digital quizzes. We achieved a massive 191 pieces of coverage with an interactive quiz project for British Airways which challenged Brits on their geographical knowledge, achieving 16k plays, 2:40 minutes average dwell time and extremely high engagement with 80% of quiz views leading to completion, whilst landing high quality media coverage around the world in the process.
Maximising High-Profile Announcements
We don’t simply create content however…our expertise also lends itself to advising on corporate strategy and social responsibility. In November 72Point worked with Volkswagen and their partners to achieve staggering levels of coverage across mainstream, retails, automotive, specialist, environment and sustainability media to announce their partnership to create the UK’s largest free supermarket EV charge network, rolling out 2,400 EV charging bays across 600 Tesco stores over the next 3 years.
72Point were appointed as the PR agency to manage this high-profile announcement, creating compelling content and reaching a mass audience. We also achieved coverage across offline, online and broadcast channels to maximise our client’s announcement.
72Point were able to expertly control the key messages of the content, ensuring that figures and statistics remained consistent in coverage across 27 countries with the same 5 key messages landing 90 – 100% of the time.
Results:
- 401 pieces of coverage
- 3.94B online readership
- 8.45M estimated coverage views
- 2.32 social shares
- 53 average domain authority
- 9.47M online readership
- 12.7M broadcast audience
- Media value delivered = £2.8million.
QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS
Ideas can be fantastic. In his essential 2014 book ‘Hegarty on Creativity’, John Hegarty describes them as “the most profound of products that we as humans generate”. They drive our industry.
But, I’d argue, questions are more important.
They are the niggles, the doubts, the wonderings, the grit in the oyster.
The right question – and even sometimes the wrong one – can make the difference between a project flying or flailing.
Question Culture
Managers have a responsibility to encourage a ‘question culture’. I recently sat in a brainstorm and listened to a complicated, sermon-like brief being delivered, followed by a tense tumbleweed moment while the creative congregation considers its reaction. Perhaps it’s my time as a journalist which empowered me to break the silence: “Sorry, I don’t really understand that. What does it mean?”
On that occasion, it was pure expediency which sparked the question. More commonly, it is curiosity which should be the driver. Because for my money, lack of curiosity – particularly in our business – is the only unpardonable sin.
Three words still haunt me from my former life as a journalist: “He didn’t say”.
I was writing a story about a punter who had won big on a day at the races.
My fearsome News Editor mused, menacingly, (yes, he even did that menacingly) “I don’t suppose it was his first trip to the racecourse, was it?”
“He didn’t say,” I replied.
A beat. “YOU MEAN YOU DIDN’T ASK, DON’T YOU?”
Now, you could chalk that up to inexperience, or nerves. But what it really exposed was a lack of curiosity – and once exposed, that had to be corrected, because, as my gimlet-eyed mentor pointed out, without curiosity you’ll never thrive in a creative culture.
Request a Ratecard and Get a Free Brainstorm For Your Brand
Error: Contact form not found.
Curiosity
Curiosity can be learned. It can be practiced. If you’re not genuinely interested in, say, WD-40, act as if you are. Ask enough questions until you find something that is actually interesting. It usually doesn’t take as long as you’d think (fun fact, found in less than two minutes – WD-40 was once used by a bus driver in Asia to remove a python which had coiled itself around the undercarriage of his vehicle. That’s actually interesting).
The oft-repeated brainstorm mantra that “there are no wrong/bad ideas” should be extended to include “wrong/stupid questions” because the wrong question can so often provide the pivot for a completely fresh approach – “I don’t know, let’s find out”.
Discovery can be an exciting thing. Admittedly, it’s all relative. Stumbling on the ruins of an ancient civilization is, I imagine, thrilling. Trying to come up with a winning idea about a new treatment for piles, less so. But staying curious is the surest way to keep the twin evils of boredom and complacency at bay.