A few hundred words in the Sun yesterday set off a torrent of coverage for CelebVM – PR UK -style.
Our client CelebVM received a deluge of press coverage yesterday following a bit of coverage in the print edition of the Sun. It was extensive publicity for a client, but it was also a superb example of how media in the UK works (and how to get a windfall of unplanned PR UK -style).
First of all, we’ll admit that we did not directly place the story in the Sun. Although we can’t prove it, it was almost certainly sparked from the two days of mentions on Scott Mills’ Radio 1 show last week (especially as like Scott Mills, this coverage focused mostly on Sinitta’s involvement with CelebVM). Interestingly, until this story ran there had been no obvious follow up after Scott Mills about CelebVM anywhere else in the media – for all it’s influence generally Radio 1 doesn’t seem to create waves in the UK media specifically.
CHRISTMAS = SORTED, says Yahoo! PR UK -style.
But coverage in the Sun is a completely different matter. Radio 1’s influence may be limited to pop music, but the Sun drives the celebrity news agenda like no other paper. Within a few hours of this piece appearing in the print edition of the Sun, every celeb-focused media outlet in the country had joined the bandwagon. It was a great illustration of PR UK -style can work for a client’s benefit.
As one might expect in the UK media, each outlet may have been blatantly copying each other, but they each outlet tried to take an original stance on CelebVM. Some, like the original Sun article, were slightly snide. Yahoo! Celebrity weighed in with glowing coverage, calling CelebVM an ‘absolute bargain,’ leading off with ‘CHRISTMAS = SORTED.’
Holy Moly, a specialist celebrity gossip site known for its mocking, irreverent attitude, gave a favourable review of CelebVM as well. A Holy Moly staff journalist even purchased a video himself to try the service out.
Holy Moly, CelebVM are in Holy Moly!
Coverage continued to appear throughout the day, spreading like wildfire throughout the popular media, in the way PR UK -style can only do.
By the close of day additional coverage had appeared in the Huffington Post, Sun Plus (the online version of the Sun), Heat World (the online version of Heat magazine), and the Daily Star.
The British tabloid media will sometimes run in a pack, a tendency only exacerbated since the advent of online content. This can make PR UK -style a very different endeavour from PR in other countries. Choosing a single, influential media outlet can be enough to get the rest of the popular press to fall in line. The best publications for touching off torrents of PR UK -style are typically the Mail Online or, as in this instance, the Sun.
But tabloid PR UK -style is not without its risks. Although tabloids will all pile in on a good story, they will each try to take a different opinion. That means there’s bound to be some negative coverage in the mix. The coverage from the Daily Star for CelebVM was pretty sneering compared to the others. After speaking to the journalist who wrote the piece (who also apologized for the negative tone) we learned that she had been told to write that way by her editor. He wanted the Daily Star’s coverage to be different from everyone else’s. Since everyone else had been either positive or at least luke-warm, that meant the Daily Star had to take a very sarcastic tone. This is sadly unavoidable when you’re in the world of tabloid PR UK -style.
CelebVM has been delighted with its coverage. And we’re looking forward to placing more stories for them. Stay tuned for more!