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Seeing a PR Opportunity

Posted On - 03/02/2020

Despite the fact that the PR industry was reportedly worth £14.9bn in 2019, there is still a huge misunderstanding around what it is PR agencies actually do.

Yes, press releases can be a part of it, yes, we spend time pitching stories and case studies to the press and arrange interviews and articles, but any good PR agency looks way beyond those things and goes above and beyond to find opportunities to benefit its client.

How to find PR opportunities

This is a story about how a good opportunity, which, with a bit of thought and negotiation, became a great one.

A few years ago, I was working for a mental health charity and read in the press that ‘A Beautiful Mind’, the story of John Nash, a scientist who had schizophrenia, was coming out in cinemas within the next month.

This presented a great opportunity to raise awareness of schizophrenia which is a very misunderstood disease and to raise the profile of the charity.

Collaborative PR efforts

I tracked down the distribution company and pitched the idea of a collaboration which led to a meeting to discuss opportunities for PR. The distribution company were keen to take part since any additional PR activity would benefit the general press for the film.

They agreed to hold two screenings at private screening rooms before the film was released in the cinema. One screening was for fundraisers and trustees to thank them for their support and the other was aimed at health journalists to give them the chance to meet the CEO and ask questions about the condition and about the charity.

The screenings generated some valuable publicity for the charity however one key journalist was unable to make the screening due to a breaking news story. I really wanted this particular newspaper to cover the story as they didn’t have a great track record with mental health stories and it was one of the UK’s biggest newspapers.

I contacted the distribution company to ask if it was possible to bike a DVD of the film – which hadn’t yet been released in the cinema – to the journalist so she could watch it in her own time.

The result? The newspaper ran two pages on mental health issues, valuable publicity for a small charity and a condition which was widely misunderstood.

The point of this story is that your agency should be constantly looking for opportunities to get you featured in the press, either by looking for opportunities to capitalise on, or creating opportunities for you.

This proactive approach has led to our clients being featured on The Victoria Derbyshire Show, CNBC and Sky News, BBC Radio Five Live, BBC TV News and the Jeremy Vine Show as well as The Independent, The Telegraph, The Times, OK! magazine and Hello!

If you’d like a chat about how we can help create PR opportunities for you, drop us a line or give us a call on 01494 461784.

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SEEING IS BELIEVING

‘We have worked with Cerub PR since the beginning of 2017 concentrating on community interest projects and general CSR. Ceri and Anastasia have been very proactive and productive they are easy to contact and have significantly raised our profile in the local and regional media.’

Mike Lowe - Operations Director - Summerleaze Limited

'The team at Buckinghamshire Business First has had the pleasure of working with Ceri at Cerub PR for over a decade as our preferred PR sponsor of the Buckinghamshire Business Awards. Cerub has also provided invaluable PR support for our business-to-business workshops and events and has been a reliable source of ad hoc PR support and advice often with very tight timescales. Throughout this time, Ceri has consistently demonstrated professionalism and reliability, proving to be a safe pair of hands in all situations. Ceri is not afraid to challenge when needed, ensuring that our communications are always of the highest standard. We highly recommend Cerub PR.'

Lynsey Dunn - Buckinghamshire Business First - Head of Marketing, Communications and Events

'We entered two awards, one of which we were shortlisted for. It was our first time doing this and the business is still fairly young, so this was a great outcome and gained us more visibility locally. The nomination was featured in the local press online, which generated backlinks.

'Our CEO & Founder was featured in some key publications, including Business Matters and the Financial Services Forum, which are highly relevant publications for our target audience. The feature in the FS Forum has subsequently led to our CEO securing a speaker slot at one of their upcoming events, which further positions her as an expert in our field.

'We were impressed with the connections and contacts they had, which enabled us to quickly get a PR function up and running, despite having never done activity like this before. The opportunities we got were really interesting and have had a lasting impact beyond the initial project.'

Catherine Story - Founder and Managing Director - Freshbat Marketing

'Shout out to the amazing Cerub PR! We recently wrapped up a dental health month campaign and their energy, creativity and understanding of our brand and audience made a real impact. Cerub delivered real results for us, securing over 40 pieces of high- quality coverage across trade, consumer and broadcast media.

'We achieved loads of awareness for the campaign with both veterinary professionals and pet owners. Ceri-Jane Hackling's strategic thinking, proactivity and ability to spot strong storytelling opportunities made a big difference. They genuinely are an extension to our team and I wouldn’t be without them!'

Will Peel - Marketing Manager - Animalcare

'We took part in a 1:1 PR strategy planning afternoon with Cerub PR. It was such a helpful exercise with Ceri and Anastasia leading us through our business plans and objectives from a PR and Communications perspective. The output of the session was a detailed report/strategic document with plenty of actionable information, ideas and observations that will allow me to create a PR strand to our overall marketing strategy and put the suggestions and advice into action myself. This was a very helpful exercise to support my planning. We look forward to working with Cerub PR in the future as our business grows.'

Hannah Whalley - Marketing Manager - Controlled Events

'Our programme does some fantastic work to help both businesses and the environment. Being fantastic isn’t always enough though; it’s also about getting the message out there to the market. This is where Ceri, Anastasia and the team at Cerub PR thrived. They helped us to reach new marketing outlets, which proved invaluable in the post-pandemic landscape. We would absolutely recommend Cerub and would be happy to work with them in the future.'

Daniel Cope - Programme Manager - Low Carbon Workspaces

‘It has been an absolute pleasure working with Cerub PR. Right from the start, we knew we were in safe and professional hands. They can cover everything you may need, and for someone with zero experience in this area, their no nonsense approach was fresh and welcoming. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.’

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Seeing a PR Opportunity