What Comms Experts Can Learn From One of the Best Campaigns of the Year
The Telegraph’s Save Our Pubs campaign is the template for what PRs need to think about with their own crusades, writes Dan Townend.
The media landscape is changing at pace – and keeping up with the latest developments and moves will give every comms expert an advantage over their rivals. Every Thursday we take a look at the media business from mainstream and “legacy” media to cutting edge tech and the latest trends and developments – and how you can use that know-how.
As soon as I saw it on the front page of the Telegraph I knew they’d nailed it.
It’s not the first Save Our Pubs campaign to be seen in the UK media, but the timing last week was spot on.
Labour’s proposals to lower the drink-drive limit to effectively a pint of beer or less would be the death knell for many rural boozers that rely on people driving to enjoy a couple of pints and a bite to eat.
It comes as the hospitality sector struggles with rises in National Insurance payments and the minimum wage and a younger generation who don’t want to, or can’t afford to, pay pub prices for alcohol.
Within a few days the Government had backed down and was preparing a rescue package for the ailing licensing trade.
It’s a classic example of the perfect media campaign. It’s a subject close to its readers’ hearts, who are older and grew up enjoying pubs and who recognise their cultural significance (many a senior Telegraph reader can be spotted at the Cow and Calf on a Sunday afternoon).
It will get huge support from the industry (pub case studies in their hundreds), political opponents (Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch happily backed the campaign within hours) and celebrities (Jeremy Clarkson alas is signed up with the Sunday Times but there were others).
It’s a winnable campaign, at least in terms of getting a U-turn from a Government who have shown they are less than keen to stick with difficult decisions.
And perhaps most importantly, it’s a simple campaign that is easy to grasp. The Telegraph wants Keir Starmer to ease the business rates burden on the sector to give the already struggling industry a chance.
My old paper the Daily Express has for years made a point of being a great campaigning publication. Interestingly, its most successful campaigns have not always been easy wins. Indeed, many have been distinctly controversial.
So it’s long-running campaign to take the UK out of Europe (originally the campaign was simply to have a referendum on the issue) and its current award-winning effort to bring in an assisted dying bill have both met fierce opposition.
But both align perfectly with readers’ views and needs. And both have seen huge engagement.
For comms experts there is, of course, a different remit with campaigns. It’s about the client, the business interest or the charity getting a profile – and hopefully making a mark on beyond just getting media coverage.
But thinking like a journalist is one of the things we stress in our masterclasses – and so here are some thoughts on how to make your campaign sing.
