Blog post -
Top of the PR pops: July highlights
The summer has been packed with sporting events (the World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Tour de France, to name but a few) music festivals and all imaginable kinds of happenings. Despite making the most of beer gardens, supporting their favourite athletes and catching some rays, PR and comms professionals around the world have been busy. Here are some campaigns and events that caught our attention!
Secret Cinema needs to get back to the future & learn how to use social
London based Secret Cinema was forced to cancel the fully booked opening night of a special screening of the film Back to the Future, which enjoys a cult reputation mainly amongst those born in the 70s and 80s.
Rather than directly contacting those who had bought tickets about issues which could affect the event, they posted about its cancellation on Facebook less than two hours before the screening was due to start.
Reactions were furious and often, absolutely hilarious.
There were so many of these comments that it gained national media coverage, even the likes of the BBC and The Guardian wrote about it.
Secret Cinema has an awesome, dedicated fan base - one which many brands would envy. If they had communicated directly with customers who had bought tickets for this event, and been open and honest earlier about the issues they were facing, this crisis probably wouldn't have spiralled out of control.
Also, bravo to the brands who were quick to jump on the opportunity....
Show some flesh!
Plans to turn London's Victorian Smithfield market into a £160m office and retail complex outraged many who wanted to preserve the historical meat market.
SAVE Britain's Heritage, who have been campaigning to save historic buildings since forming in 1975, started the #SaveSmithfield campaign by unleashing a "Gaggle of Gagas"on Westminster.
Even though we didn't spot any Lady Gaga meat dresses on the march, the colourful costumes surely contributed to the vast amount of coverage they received in both traditional and social media. Lady Gaga even tweeted about the campaign herself which helped it trend on Twitter.
On 8th July, ministers announced they had rejected the proposed redevelopment plans. Well done Gagas, you helped bring the campaign to the edge of glory! (Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)
Is it World War III?
No, it’s the world's reactions to the Brazil vs. Germany game on Twitter.
As I'm sure you know, the game ended in a staggering 7-1 defeat for the home team Brazil, bringing explosions of tweets across the globe as the drama unfolded.
Germany’s 5th goal generated more than 560,166 tweets per minute and more than 35.6 million tweets were sent by the end of the match.
The Brazilians weren't the only people to be embarrassed by the Germans, Singapore National Council's campaign on problem gambling backfired spectacularly.
You have to admit, the coincidence is hilarious.
Even the Singaporean Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin posted on Facebook page: "Bad timing. Looks like the boy's father who bet all his savings on Germany will be laughing all the way to the bank!"
They did try to rectify it but the jokes kept rolling in.
Yorkshire sheep join in the celebration
This year the Tour de France began in Yorkshire and even the sheep were showing their support, with a little bit of help from Yorkshire sheep farmer, Keith Chapman, and London based direct marketing agency Soul.
Matching the lead cyclist's jersey, 150 sheep were dyed yellow to celebrate the Grand Départ and promote the sponsors, Yorkshire Building Society.
The spectacle turned many heads during the Tour de France’s first leg between 4th and 6th of July, and caused a bit of a stir on social media.
Mynewsdesk's July highlights...
The most influential journalist on social media
This year we were the very proud sponsors of Press Gazette’s award for the Most Influential Journalist on Social Media.
So who won?
Former Daily Mirror editor and ex-CNN talk show host, Piers Morgan.
Check out the speech he made on accepting the award and the full list of influential journalists on social media here.
Ellen Degeneres beware!
The most popular content marketing event in the UK, the Content Marketing Show, was held in London on 17th July. A bunch of eager Mynewsdeskers were there to listen to the inspiring line up of speakers and join in the fun on Twitter.
Did you see any of these guys?
Our silly pic even made it all the way into an article on The Drum about the highlights of the event.
What were your PR highlights in July?
Let’s see what next month has to offer. Until then, enjoy the weather and keep your eyes open, we’d love to hear what's got you talking! Drop your comment in the box below.
