April was here one minute and gone the next, bringing along with it Daylight Savings time, blooming Bluebell woods and all four seasons in 30 days. Whilst we were all busy running back and forth from the wardrobe with our Big Coats, the Digital PR team built a list of links longer than Taylor Swift’s new track list (read: very long). Nature took centre stage this month with floral fields, stargazing hotspots and wild camping highlights providing the ultimate summer travel inspiration, and the press office continued to prove that tips and advice never fail to bag a tasty quick win.

Read on for all of April’s campaign coverage and press office highlights.

Brand Campaigns

Starry Night Index- Inghams

Our brief for Inghams is to build links to their ‘/walking-holidays’ folder, with stories that position them as outdoor experts. Exploring the beauty of the outdoors doesn’t have to be restricted to daylight hours, and with a solar eclipse taking place in April, we created a Starry Night Index, which revealed the best DarkSky parks for stargazing based on Google reviews, search data and AllTrails scores. Whilst Stargazing is an evergreen subject that can be talked about at any time of year, this campaign coincided with the solar eclipse, making it highly topical. Things like solar eclipses are perfect for campaign planning, as you can hijack the extra interest in a topic but still have time to pre-plan and research your story. The eclipse gave us a great hook at the start of our outreaching, but as the data is evergreen we can continue to pitch the results throughout spring.

The Index caught the attention of regional news journalists across the globe, with coverage landing on Nation Cymru and Belfast Live in the UK, as well as further afield on Daily Hive and Calgary CTV News in Canada, and North Carolina’s local news websites.

 

 

SportsShoes Running Report- SportsShoes

As the UK’s experts in all things running, we released a new report with SportsShoes.com, that uncovers the country’s current attitudes to running – from how many of us are doing it, to what’s stopping us, how it’s impacting our overall health, and even what can make us run faster. We worked with a multitude of experts and ambassadors to fill the report with advice and commentary and support runners in lacing up their shoes.

This has so far helped us to secure coverage from multiple UK and international titles, covering four different unique angles within the report, including T3 and Sussex Express, and even picking up an organic link in Good Housekeeping.

 

PureGym- How The World Works Out

PureGym are experts on all forms of exercise and are acutely aware that we all love to exercise in different ways. Some people lift weights, some people run, some people practice Pilates. There are so many factors that influence this, but is where you live one of them? We set about finding out the most popular form of exercise in every country, to reveal all…

While we’re still outreaching this piece, its already gained international coverage and links from the likes of GQ, Glamour, Aus Leisure and other relevant titles, with interest being gained internationally around what their home country’s favourite exercise is!

 

Premier Inn- Beautiful Flower Fields

We’ve all been waiting with bated breath for the warmer months to arrive, and with Spring now beckoning flowers to bloom, we decided to create an uplifting travel inspiration piece by analysing the world’s most beautiful floral destinations. In the past we’ve done campaigns with Premier Inn such as ‘The World’s Most Instagrammed Spring Cities’ with great success, and this year, we wanted to put a new twist on seasonal trends. We compiled photos of the world’s most breathtaking flower fields and used eye-tracking technology to find out which are most appealing to the naked eye.

This campaign has absolutely blossomed(!), achieving 44 pieces of coverage and 23 followed links with a very health average DA of 60. We secured coverage on British big-hitters including Metro, Country Living, House Beautiful and Time Out, as well as international publications El Pais, Travel and Leisure and So Soir.

 

Press Office Best Bits

Wild Camping Hotspots- AutoTrader

With Auto Trader showing that there was a spike in ‘off-roading’ vehicle interest, and Pinterest Trends highlighting that the open road would be a big aesthetic trend for 2024, we shared the best wild-camping style campsites that will give drivers a fantastic off-grid road trip experience in the UK.

Lots of Welsh press picked up on the fact that Eryi (Snowdonia) was one of the most desired wild camping locations in the UK, with the likes of Leader Live covering the story.

 

Inspirational ambassadors- Pour Moi

As Pour Moi champions body confidence and female empowerment, we wanted to shine a light on this by using one of their ambassadors. ‘Midsizesammi’ shared how posing in her lingerie online helped her to love her body again, despite some online users telling her to hide her post-partum body.

We’ve had  great coverage from UK red tops for this influencer outreach, including the Mirror, the Daily Star and The Sun.

 

Toxic Plants- Patch Plants

Using Patch Plants in-house Plant Doctor, Kelly Dyer, we issued a warning to pet owners to check their gardens for five common outdoor plants that are toxic if eaten by their pets. To ensure we provided useful information for both journalists and consumers, we then suggested alternative plants that shared similar appearances and benefits to the five toxic plants.

This helped us to secure links from around the globe directly into key category pages, as well as securing links from reputable pet-specific sites: https://digg.com/animals/link/plants-toxic-pets-garden-alternatives

 

EV Lifespan- Scrap Car Comparison

With more and more people opting for an EV, there are increasing numbers of questions being raised around them. With Earth Day landing in April, we focused on how to get even more out of your electric car and, in turn, keep the vehicle on the road for a long time before it needs to be scrapped. Showing simple tips tied to a hook/current audience need will always be a winner. 

This landed national coverage and links including The Sun! https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/27404680/warning-millions-ev-drivers-charger-error/

 

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