The PR landscape is a fast-paced industry that requires all of us to be on our A-game at all times in order to utilise the top news stories each week to push campaigns for our clients. However, that’s easier said than done when hundreds of news stories are published every single day. Knowing which stories can be effectively used to boost brand awareness could be the difference between securing amazing coverage for a client or missing the target. That’s why we at Shout Bravo have once again rounded up the top news stories from the week to demonstrate how we use reactive PR to get our clients’ campaigns in the press.
Personal Finance…
The biggest story in the personal finance sector this week was the US Federal Reserve’s decision to increase interest rates by 0.25 percentage points. The US, much like the UK, is sadly continuing to see a prolonged period of economic hardship as the country reels from high inflation and attempts to remain on the path away from a recession.
As more people across the US are feeling the impacts of inflation, personal finances have taken a hit, with an increasing number of people prioritising budgeting on household shopping. We used the news to gain some great coverage for our budget e-commerce client.
Health…
This week, hospital and GP waiting times remained high up on the agenda for the press across the UK. With junior doctors set to stage another 96-hour walk out between the 11th and 15th of April if they are not granted the 35% pay increase they are seeking, there are growing concerns about how bad wait times could potentially become.
Nationally, the majority of treatment types across the NHS have extensive multiple-week waiting times, whilst GP appointments typically fare slightly better with a majority of patients about to obtain appointments with their doctor within a day or two of calling.
Last week, we launched a campaign for one of our health sector clients focusing on these waiting times across the entirety of the UK. With so much discussion surrounding this topic already available in the press, we were able to gain some amazing regional coverage for our new campaign.
Business…
In the business sector this week, there has continued to be a lot of talk about the amount of business closures across the country. Unfortunately, the economic hardships of 2022 have largely persisted into the first quarter of 2023 – with many businesses sadly being unable to remain afloat whilst trying to afford increased energy and running costs.
Certain industries have taken significant hits, particularly those in the hospitality sector – due in part to their high energy consumption alongside reduced footfall as the general public have made efforts to conserve money and reduce spending on ‘luxuries’.
Due to the topic being widely covered in the news, with more closures being announced daily, we were able to get regional coverage in Northern Ireland for the most recent campaign we created for our B2B digital PR client, focusing on the average age and industry of all UK businesses that dissolved in 2022. Overall, Northern Ireland had recorded the least amount of business dissolutions across the UK.
Culture…
On Wednesday this week, the UK saw the start of the major islamic holiday Ramadan. This holiday marks the ninth month of the islamic calendar, and is commenced by the sighting of the first slim crescent of a new moon. According to the islamic religion, the ninth month is when the Quran was first revealed to the prophet Muhammed, making this a very culturally and spiritually important month for muslims across the world.
Ramadan is celebrated by fasting from early morning until sunset each day of the month, as observers of the faith turn their attention to prayer and devotion. In the UK, there are just under 4 million muslims (as of the 2021 Census), so Ramadan regularly gains significant press attention.
We were able to gain brand awareness for our high-end e-commerce client that specialises in luxury dates and produces best-selling Ramadan calendars containing assorted flavours of date.
To conclude…
And with that, we’ve wrapped up another week in the news. We hope that this sneak-peek into the ways we at Shout Bravo use the news to boost our client’s brand awareness has been eye-opening and insightful, and that it might even be able to inspire the ways in which you utilise the news for your own PR outreach.
We’ll be back again next week to bring you the biggest stories across the news, where we’ll continue to reveal the ways in which we’ve used stories in the press to Shout our client’s names loud and proud.
