TOP 3 PR CASE STUDIES TO INSPIRE YOU

Public Relations cover comprehensive and wide-ranging arrays of approaches and strategies. From conservative old-school media placements to extensive event planning to “state-of-the-tech” digital communication, PR often calls for exceptional skills and competencies to do well. As depending on the PR goals that can be vastly different, there will never be the same two PR campaigns in actual practice. 

The benefits of doing PR include earning trust, establishing valuable relationships, and building branding awareness, all while collaborating with content and social media marketing. Plus achieving all this with lower costs than traditional advertising.

Let’s have a look at three excellent case studies that might inspire your strategy:

1. Ice Bucket Challenge
2. Undercover Lyft
3. IKEA Happy to Bed Campaign

_____________________________________

Ice Bucket Challenge

This campaign was started by The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association and broke all records. It raised an incredible amount of $115M and an immense level of awareness around the need to find a cure for severe illness. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was more than a viral video sensation as most of the public perceived it at the time.

As Medicentres wrote on its website, ALS is a neurodegenerative, ultimately fatal disease for which there’s no cure. While the discovery of NEK1 was a minor breakthrough, it’s one more piece of the larger puzzle of how ALS functions. The closer the mystery is to completion, the closer we are to an effective treatment.

The Ice Bucket Challenge has become a model of how fundraising with a smart catch can yield significant results.

Meltwater’s media intelligence platform reported that the ice bucket challenge was mentioned 170,000 times in news media in the second half of 2014. They also discovered that during the 12 months before the challenge (July 2013 to June 2014), the ALS Association received 6,819 media mentions, and the disease itself was covered 64,056 times. For the second half of 2014, the Association received a staggering 37,205 mentions. 

From July 2013 to June 2014, the ALS Association featured in 10.65% of articles talking about the disease. In the second half of 2014, however, they featured in 22.42% of articles mentioning ALS or the ice bucket challenge, ensuring that as many people reading about this new craze knew who it benefitted and what it was in aid of. 

This was a massive factor in ensuring that donations ended up in the right place and helped put them at the centre of the conversation regarding ALS.

The numbers show that the challenge made a lasting difference in ALS awareness.

Why did it work?

• The campaign encouraged everyone to participate. Celebrities, politicians, social media stars, and everyone alive with a phone and a camera. Giving people a chance to show off on social media is an excellent way to get them engaged. Think, people will act if they know they get something out of the action. 
• People flocked to the social videos of celebrities who took part because seeing them in t-shirts in their backyards humanised them. 
• It also gave people a cause to support. Doing good feels good.
• There was an element of fun and creativity. One of the things that made the Ice Bucket challenge different from other online challenges was how much the participants could personalise it. In other words, putting their stamp on being drenched made the videos go viral even more. 

_____________________________________

Undercover Lyft

When it comes to brand exposure, partnering up with an influencer or a celebrity can help to reach new audiences and provide huge exposure on and offline. 

Lyft, a ridesharing company based in San Francisco, California, opted to pick random celebrities to become “Lyfters.”

One of these celebrities, Boston Red Sox ( 9 World Series Championship winner American professional baseball team based in Boston Massachusetts) designated hitter David Ortiz retired; he went on rebranding himself as a “Lyfter.” For a limited time only anyway, and his video had 2.1M views on Youtube. 

Other great celebs were, American DJ, record executive, songwriter, record producer, and media personality DJ Khaled with 5.3M views, Seahawks cornerback Richard Shearman 3.4M views, and retired professional American basketball player and sports analyst on Inside the NBA on TNT Shaquille O’Neil with 11M views.

So why did this campaign work? 

• A well-liked personality with thousands of fans and followers is a huge asset. Yes, having a well-known VIP requires a large budget, but other ways can help you start working with a micro-influencer as opposed to a big shot heavyweight. Identify someone your audience knows, who also has some public recognition. This could be someone from a partnering company, a local community figure, anyone who is well-liked and has a substantial public presence.
• Surprise and suspense are great to entertain. How would you react if you happen to be in a Lyft drive and being driven by a super well-known celebrity? The result of this campaign was massive traffic of multiple social media channels flooded with #Lyft.

___________________________________

IKEA Happy to Bed Campaign

Have you got a product that is not selling?

The best way to get people interested in buying is by letting them try it. 

IKEA had real difficulties when it came to growing the numbers of bedroom range sales. They realised the main barrier to increasing the sales of bedroom suits was that people were unsure which product would meet their individual needs. People were also embarrassed to test out the mattresses on the shop floor. After all, creating a fully furnished bedroom with various bits and pieces is a very intimate experience. 

So IKEA invited users of Facebook and YouTube to create their ideal bedroom according to personality and lifestyle. The personalised 3D bedroom online showroom even allowed to put own photos on the wall. Over 100,000 customers used this online application that had over 6000 positive mentions on social media. IKEA generated 15,000 extra clicks to IKEA UK online store. 

The next hurdle to overcome was the actual “user experience.” IKEA created a Facebook community page, “I Wanna Have A Sleepover In Ikea,” that reached over 23,000 users on the social network site. IKEA then gave 100 customers the chance to do just that. Just in one week, over 500 people submitted applications to take part in the sleepover. The 100 lucky chosen ones well equipped with pyjamas, teddy bears, and toothbrushes spent a night at IKEA Lakeside store. They were even coached by sleep experts.

The integrated PR media across over 300 pieces of print coverage, digital, broadcast, and social media was a huge phenomenon, And IKEA bedroom items become the most popular products in IKEA’s online store.  

So, if you have a product, let people test it.

___________________________________ 

To connect with me personally, please email [email protected].

About The Author

Mariett Ramm

Public Relations CommunicatePReneur. Bestselling Co-author. Publisher. Editor. Content Writer. A woman behind her desk most of the time. If not, she travels for interviews, summits, and conferences. She is a leading Transformation Coach. Humanitarian. Empath. Goodwill Ambassador. Battersea London Dogs and Cats Supporter and proud owner of two Havaneses, Princess Ponc and Sir Bruce.