Working with Journalists

If you’ve been to one of our ‘Reaching Millions’ PR & Publicity Courses, you’ll know that we spend a lot of time talking about key messaging and USPs; what makes you different from the competition.

Working with Journalists is one of our USPs as a PR agency.

We work with two national journalists on a freelance basis who give us invaluable feedback on PR campaigns and features that we’re working on for clients. Natalie Brown and Stephanie Clarkson are two of our most trusted media experts and ‘sounding boards’ who provide valuable journalistic insight when it comes to the media.

With a wealth of national journalism experience, Natalie specialises in subjects including parenting, family, health, food and relationships. Natalie writes for a plethora of publications including Mail Online, The Sun, The Mirror and numerous other female glossy titles.

Steph offers Sunny Bird PR a no-nonsense approach when it comes to what press want from PR’s and brands in order to feature them. Steph has worked on the Femail section of the Daily Mail where she specialised in human interest features, went undercover at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant and wrote investigative pieces on the trade in human hair for hair extensions and the rise in street begging. She then worked as Deputy Features Editor at Woman & Home magazine before forging a highly successful career as a freelance writer.

As a specialist in creative PR campaigns, the Sunny Bird PR team spend a lot of time coming up with creative PR campaigns for existing and potential clients. Once these campaigns have been fully researched and costed out by the team we present them to Natalie or Steph for the assessment stage. With their insider knowledge of the media, what Editors are looking for, what’s hot and what’s not, they know exactly what will and won’t work in the media.

If our PR campaigns make it past the journalist test then, and only then, will they be presented to the client. It’s this process of ideas through to research through to journalist audit that ensures all of the PR campaigns we execute as an agency achieve the results that we promise.

Our job as a PR agency is to deliver results for our clients and this is one of the measures we have put in place to ensure that we do.

Steph commented:  “I am always impressed by the energy and commitment of the team at Sunny Bird PR.  They really understand the way the press works and the demands on any journalist and therefore employ highly intelligent and effective methods to showcase their clients and to make the journalist’s job easier.”

If you would like the team to come up with some of their award-winning PR campaigns for your business then get in touch on 01202 293095 or email hello@sunnybirdpr.com.

New Client Win: Marisa Peer

The team at Sunny Bird PR are thrilled to announce that they are now working with world-renowned hypnotherapist, Marisa Peer, as she launches her latest book, I Am Enough.

Named Britain’s best therapist by Tatler magazine, Marisa has spent nearly three decades treating an extensive client list which boasts international superstars, CEOs, Royalty, and Olympic athletes.

In I Am Enough, the best-selling author and motivational speaker outlines a practised technique guaranteed to alter your confidence levels in every aspect of your life, from your relationships and sex life to your attitude to weight and your career, by permanently removing self-sabotage and self-destructive thoughts and behaviours.

Sunny, Founder of Sunny Bird PR, commented: “We couldn’t be more honoured to work with such an esteemed author and therapist. Marisa’s techniques have changed people’s lives and we are very much looking forward to introducing her to journalists and supporting Marisa with the launch of I am Enough.”

Happy Clientversary: Ramsay Health Care UK

This month the Sunny Bird PR team is celebrating our three-year clientversary, and most successful year to date, with private healthcare provider Ramsay Health Care UK.

The healthcare provider first began working with SBPR back in 2015 with the primary objective of positioning Ramsay as a trusted voice of authority in the field while securing backlinks directing readers to the website; increasing Ramsay’s SEO and ultimately boosting sales and patient numbers.

The SBPR team have used creative campaigns to ensure we smash our KPIs year-on-year and achieve national coverage on a monthly basis. This year we have seen a 90% increase in our coverage from the year previous including exclusive features in the likes of the Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph as well as interviews on Sky News Radio.

To achieve maximum coverage every year, SBPR devise a detailed 12-month strategy which includes a mixture of long-form features, surveys and expert advice to ensure we have something to talk to journalists about over the coming 12 months.

We kicked off this year by tapping into the media’s ‘New Year, New Me’ ethos to promote Ramsay’s weight-loss procedures on a national level. With the media saturated in weight-loss stories, we knew we needed some hard-hitting statistics and relatable case studies to be heard above the noise.

To do this, we surveyed 2000 women who had experienced difficulties with weight loss and discovered that 75% of them were ashamed or embarrassed by their weight gain. The shocking figure was just the hook we needed to take the story to the media. We pitched the feature to national radio stations along with a leading weight loss surgeon from Ramsay, and a case study who had undergone weight loss surgery with Ramsay. Both were available for radio interviews and happy to comment on procedures, statistics in the survey, as well as their own personal experiences to produce some informative and relatable pieces for radio.

Dr Halstead and case study Plaxy on the air

The campaign was a phenomenal success with a total of 14 radio interviews including Sky News Radio, talkRadio and regional stations in key hospital areas. Overall, we reached almost 4 million listeners spreading news of Ramsay weight loss procedures across the country.

Our second targeted media outreach of the year was Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in April. For this, the team utilised assets made in previous years including an eye-catching graphic, which ran with the headline ‘What Does your Stool Say About You?’, highlighted the often-overlooked symptoms of Bowel Cancer.

Our bowel cancer awareness campaign reached over 2.8 million people with 12 pieces of coverage including The Daily Telegraph, Express Online and Yahoo!

This summer, SBPR took on a new challenge away from the national limelight in the form of Ramsay’s regional PR. We were asked to support with the launch of its nationwide Speaking Up for Safety Initiative. Ramsay are the first hospital group in the UK to launch the initiative which encourages and empowers staff to challenge anyone, including senior colleagues, who may be putting patients at risk with their behaviour.

SBPR had just one week to secure as much coverage as possible across the country in advance of the initiative going live in each of Ramsay’s 38 hospitals. Over the course of just one week, the team created targeted media lists of the publications in each of the hospital’s regions, and through intensive calls to regional journalists the team achieved 22 pieces of coverage from Yorkshire to Wiltshire.

Our final campaign of the year focused on sports injuries and the importance of warming up to avoid serious injury - a campaign designed to feature in women’s magazines and more specialist sporting titles.

To deliver this campaign we gathered several assets including shocking survey statistics. The carefully-conducted survey asked 2000 people how they injured themselves while playing sport, as well as their recovery time, age and gender. The survey produced newsworthy results such as 70% of people over 55 have been to A&E with sports related injuries and that sports injuries account for more than 13.5 working days lost per person.

These results were presented to journalists along with heartfelt case studies from women who experienced serious sports injuries impacting their lives who then went on to receive corrective surgery from Ramsay allowing them to return to their sport. Simple warm-up exercises with instructions and corresponding photography were also provided along with expert comment from a Ramsay consultant on the importance of warming up.

This gave the team an array of material and assets to pitch to journalists depending on which were most suitable for their audience and publication. Consequently, we achieved numerous feature length pieces, and backlinks, in key titles such as Top Santé, Runner’s Radar, My Weekly, Trail Running and many more.

Thanks to the team’s carefully planned PR Strategy and great media contacts within the national health press, we managed to secure a huge 64 pieces of coverage for Ramsay Health Care UK over the past twelve months. That coverage has reached over 23 MILLION people, and if the equivalent space was bought in advertising would have cost over £640,000!

New Client Win: Bliss Sanctuary for Women

The team at Sunny Bird PR are delighted to announce that they will be working with Bliss Sanctuary for Women in Bali.

The luxury, female only retreat in beautiful Bali offers women Bliss on their terms. With retreats in Canguu, Seminyak and now Ubud, Bliss caters for every woman’s needs. The SBPR team worked with Bliss to gain press coverage and press trips for the two original retreats in Canguu and Seminyak and are excited to be supporting Bliss with its third launch on the island.

Sunny Bird, MD and Founder of Sunny Bird PR commented: “Having visited Bliss myself I know just how idyllic the retreats are, they offer so much more than a traditional yoga retreat or wellness holiday. We are all eager to get started and tell the world about the latest addition to the Bliss family.”

New Client Win: Centre VR

The team at Sunny Bird PR are very excited to have started working with the south coast’s number one virtual reality gaming centre, Centre VR, based in Portsmouth and Bournemouth. With over 140 games and multiple headsets, Centre VR is ready to take you and your friends to into other worlds, dimensions and the next level of gaming!

Sunny Bird PR are working on a targeted social media campaign to make sure that no one misses out on this incredible experience. Sunny, founder and MD of Sunny Bird PR commented: “It’s a real thrill to work with such exciting technology, we’re proud to be supporting the brand as it asserts itself across the south coast.”

PR Campaigns – The Good, The Bad and The Viral

September came around super-fast and with it the SBPR team waved a sad goodbye to summer (how is it autumn already?!). With switches from iced-coffee to regular coffee and the addition of scarves to our work wardrobes, the team searched the media for the best and worst PR campaigns out there to warm us up…

This month’s campaigns include a plastic-free PR campaign from Ikea, an innovative hotel campaign which secured a place on the Condé Nast Traveller Hot List and a controversial Brexit stunt featuring Theresa May in a sack!

Buckle your seatbelts…

The Last Straw for Ikea

Since Blue Planet II aired on our screens this time last year, plastic fever has gripped the nation with brands, consumers and corporate organisations taking steps to reduce their consumption of single-use plastics – and we love it! We at Sunny Bird PR love a conscious PR campaign that contributes towards making our planet a better place to live, and that’s why we love this from Ikea.

Ikea unveiled the ‘Last Straw’ display in the London Design Museum following its eradication of single use plastic straws in stores across the UK and Ireland. The installation aimed to act as a reminder of our collective responsibility to strive for zero waste lifestyles. This follows the company’s announcement in June that they intend to phase out all single-use plastic products by 2020.

Ikea accompanied this creative PR tactic with a social media campaign encouraging people to share the small actions they are taking to maintain a more sustainable life, using the hashtag #IKEALastStraw. What actions are you taking to go plastic-free?

Life’s a Beach for Panacea Retreat

Having recently taken on an exclusive retreat, we thought it would be wise to see what the PR competition looked like elsewhere in the luxury travel market. One such resort catapulted into the UK travel media was the Panacea Retreat in Koh Samui.

As opulent as a Thai island may seem, the resort had some major challenges to overcome if it wanted to attract the affluent British travel market. Specifically, the Panacea Retreat was located on a hill with no direct beach access, wellness venue, children’s club or standalone restaurants outside of the induvial villas.

Not to be deterred, the resort’s PR team devised creative initiatives to turn each one of the hotel’s challenges into a newsworthy story. The inaccessible beach was transformed into a Beach Butler service. Guests selected the best beach for their desires (child friendly, remote, romantic) and were attended to by a butler who was there for their every whim from arranging lounge chairs, gourmet picnics and proffering sunblock.  A bespoke children’s programme was also developed with tailor made experiences from butterfly safari to Thai essential oil perfume making. In addition, a Gentleman’s Getaway was created at the resort’s largest villa featuring a private wine cellar, games room, poker room, boxing ring and infinity pools.

Within a year, these creative concepts had secured the resort a place on the Condé Nast Traveller Hot List as well as features in a plethora of esteemed publications including The Sunday Times, Tatler, Financial Times, Elle, Elite Traveller, Mayfair Times and The Daily Telegraph.

These creative tactics, and consequent media coverage, highlight the power and importance of PR in changing the way a business is perceived.

The Theresa May Sack Race

We absolutely love this innovative, creative and funny campaign from London-based gym, Gymbox Victoria, who has turned Brexit misery into a promotional opportunity.

This hipster gym is offering exclusive 30-minute classes called ‘Brexfit’, where you can vent your pent-up negativity regarding the current political climate on leading MPs. Trainers hope this unique gym concept will allow you to channel your political frustrations into a calorie-burning workout.

The 30-minute class includes politically themed workout stations including the ‘Politician Punchbag’, (adorned with an image of Boris Johnson), ‘Corbyn Ju-Jitsu Throw’ weight-throwing, ‘The Jacob-Rees Logg Lift’ and ‘The Theresa May Sack Race’.

There is even a Cameron Quitters Corner for those who find it all too hard.

Gymbox spokesman Rory McEntee said: “We actually invited Boris Johnson to attend the class although he would have been bonking mad to turn up. The punchbag with his face on has gotten plenty of action though. While there’s nothing certain about our EU exit we are certain this is London’s best gym class for releasing frustration.”

We love how this gym grabbed onto the toxicity of Brexit – a topic that doesn’t have obvious synergy with a gym – and completely nailed it. So very often, a coattails campaign can seem desperate but this one struck the right chord between humour and…humour.

The gym succeeded in getting noticed for its punchy PR campaign and was featured across the board of London-centric titles and further afield including Metro, Time Out, Scottish Daily Record, AOL Travel UK, Belfast Telegraph, The New European and many more.

The Story Book Activated by Dirt

When looking at creative ideas to get people outdoors and active for one of our clients we came across a PR campaign in Africa by Unilever detergent brand Omo (known as Persil in other markets).

The brand developed what it is called the world's first "dirt-activated" story book for kids, as part of its ongoing "Dirt is Good" campaign.

In a bid to get children outside playing and away from technology, Omo created a book where pages only come to life when smeared with dirt, thanks to a special ink formula from printing specialists Colourtone Aries. Agency Ogilvy South Africa worked with artist Karabo Poppy to create the story, "The Tale of Spots and Stripes." It's a tale about unity, in which a leopard cub and a tiger cub roll around in the mud and then look the same.

The innovative campaign has been featured on Adweek, Campaign Live, PR Examples, AdAge, and Inspiration Weekly.

A Totally Paw-some Campaign!

We absolutely loved this campaign from Pedigree which launched the UK’s first ever digital dog!

Created by communications agency HyperNaked in partnership with Petplan Charitable Trust, Pedigree promoted its annual dog-adoption drive.

The week-long digital campaign encouraged users to take virtual dog Ripley for a web-walk to raise money for dog adoption. Every time a user walked Ripley, Pedigree donated £1 to the adoption drive and Ripley was walked enough for a total of over £100,000 to be raised!

The annual adoption drive aims to save 20 stray or abandoned dogs that are put down every year in the UK, according to charity Dog’s Trust UK.

The innovative campaign was featured in The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and was shared across numerous social media channels, including some National Parks and even @lovebournemouthbeach and @lovebournemouth!

New Client Win: BBX

The team at Sunny Bird PR are thrilled to announce they have been chosen to work with BBX on its PR Campaign.

BBX is the international service exchange site that is revolutionising the way businesses source suppliers and develop their customer base.

A unique concept in business development and supply chain sourcing, BBX is a community that enables entrepreneurs worldwide to leverage their spare capacity for new business opportunities. The extra revenue can then be used to purchase other goods and services from the platform lessening the need for spending cash on essential services.

Businesses on BBX trade with one another using BBX Pounds, which they can use to order supplies or services for their business.

Sunny Bird, founder of Sunny Bird PR, commented: “As a firm supporter of start-ups, we really saw the value of what BBX offers entrepreneurs. The SME market is a tough one, and giving businesses the potential to use their spare capacity, services or products really makes sense. The team can’t wait to get started and introduce BBX to the business and trade media!”

New Client Win: Cream & Country

The Sunny Bird PR team is delighted to announce that they have been chosen to represent luxury ice cream brand, Cream & Country, as it launches into the world of premium desserts.

Cream & Country create pots of delicious, creamy ice cream that are inspired by the classic tastes of Britain, such as rhubarb and ginger, English sparkling wine and elderflower, cream teas and New Forest gateau.

Cream & Country is inspired by King Charles II who was the first person in the UK to experience ice cream at a legendary Windsor Castle banquet in 1671. Continuing the royal theme, Cream & Country opened its flagship store at Hampton Court Palace and are proud to be working with His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent, a Royal ambassador for the brand.

Sunny Bird, founder of Sunny Bird PR, commented: “We are very proud to be supporting the launch of this luxury British brand through its public relations in both the consumer and trade media.”