What a year 2018 has been.

We saw a royal wedding between Prince Harry and Megan Markle, a World Cup where Gareth Southgate restored our pride in the England national team, and of course plenty of exciting PR campaigns from the UK’s top brands.

Here is a list of some of our favourites of the past 12 months.

 

Virgin Trains launch of #Avocard

Virgin Trains fully embraced the stereotype of the avocado-loving, cash-strapped millennial this year with this fun, light-hearted stunt. This social media campaign targeted 26-30-year-olds by offering up a week’s travel discount for those who presented an avocado when purchasing a journey on all West Coast routes.

A clever bit of marketing which saw a lot of buzz on social media, this expertly took attention away from the negative response of the 26-30 railcard which had very limited quantities and many travellers missed out on due to the website’s high traffic levels.

 

Foul mouthed apology by KFC

In what was certainly one of 2018’s most unusual stories, popular fast food chain KFC had to shut down most of their outlets in the UK following a shortage in chicken after changing delivery suppliers. To take ownership of their mistake and thank customers for baring with them, KFC took out a full-page ad in the Metro newspaper which saw their KFC letters rearranged into something a little fouler mouthed.

This was a perfectly pitched response to the unwarranted publicity and was a masterstroke in PR crisis management.

 

Cancer Research UK’s graphic genius

This year Cancer Research UK launched a well-thought campaign to highlight obesity as the second highest preventable cause of cancer after smoking. The charity’s campaign saw controversial graphics, social media posts and videos blazoned with shocking statistics and creative images linking obesity to cancer.

This turned in a hot topic issue across the UK with celebrities and social media personalities weighing in on the subject and newspapers such as the Metro and Telegraph picked up the story, meaning their aim to raise awareness of their new findings should be considered a success.

 

Greggs get romantic

Gregg’s flawlessly gained masses of national coverage and social media engagement by having fun with their brand image and hosting candlelit valentine meals for two in select stores across the UK.

A clever piece of inverse marketing, the campaign showcased the bakery chain’s ability to be creative with their PR and gain media traction at a busy time of the year for eateries.

Here at Make More Noise, we love creating disruptive and exciting PR campaigns.

If you have been inspired by these global successes and what to see what we can a PR firm can do for your business, contact us today at hello@makemorenoise.co.uk or call 0121 306 0996.