One of the most joyous and celebratory times of the year, the festive season is right up there when it comes to Christmas campaigns – especially with it being a family focused occasion, with children’s gifts and toys a central theme.
It is arguably the most important time of the year for toy brands, but how can you engage your audience and stand out from the crowd?
Here, Jessica Morgan, founder of award-winning PR Consultancy, Carnsight Communications, looks back at one of their most successful Christmas PR campaigns and why it worked…
Exploring the idea of how to stand out in the hyper-competitive toy market
“Christmas is the most important time of the year for toy brands, so we needed to make some noise and stand out in a very crowded market,” underlines Morgan, who had worked with Boppy, a British-based, family-run toy brand on a previous campaign.
“The second time round we were looking at promoting jigsaws and luggage for kids – they were big, beautifully designed, sustainable jigsaws made of thick recycled cardboard. Lovely ‘slow toys’ and fun, children's luggage which was also biodegradable.
“Obviously, all brands are trying to get themselves heard, and a key thing with PR is looking at the points of difference and interest. And for Boppy in particular, the fact it was a British based, family business, and these toys and accessories were eco-friendly. They weren't plastic from some anonymous corner of the internet type thing,” explains Morgan.
“Sustainable, traceable, toys, and that's important if you're appealing to parents, grandparents, so that was a key point of difference for us.”
It was also key to look at the trends and what’s going on to resonate with the marketplace. It was 2023, and there was a big drive towards eco-friendly and slow-play toys, encouraging kids to play with things that were lasting, not instant gratification, highlights Morgan.
“Things like jigsaws that would take time, and be durable as well, so we tapped into those trends as well,” said Morgan.
Moreover, making sure the founders were available for interviews was vital, too, with Morgan adding: “We wanted this to be a known and named brand – they weren't the biggest, but they were a traceable known brand with real founders who were happy to talk about their journey.”
“We were able to profile and get them to talk about the brand, not just individual products, so it gave more weight to selling these things in.”
Why it generated significant media coverage
The strategy and execution were key…
“We made sure we had all the information and images before we started,” underlines Morgan. They gathered all the assets and put together a media pack with the right price points, places to buy, links to buy, cutout and lifestyle high-res images, “making sure we honed the pitch for each product as well”.
“Having everything on hand is really important. A journalist might say, ‘Well, that looks great. Can you send me all the places it’s stocked, or where it’s stocked in Manchester?’”
Significantly, they also had a well-researched media list so they didn’t miss any opportunities. “Media lists for Christmas change every year when people's beats change. You might have worked with Hello! on their gift list last year, but this year it's a new contact.
“Or they're not focusing on kids and doing different things. So we went through our media list, and built on it based on who was doing what.”
That took a lot of research, but they were also ready to be reactive with last-minute requests. “‘I’m doing a last-minute children’s gift guide for the Telegraph, those kind of things,’” says Morgan.
“We were ready, professional, and making things as easy as possible for journalists.”
What ultimately made journalists and audiences engage with it
There was a point of difference…
“This British-based sustainable jigsaw puzzle. We got some really nice feedback, ‘Oh, that's a bit different, a bit fresh’.”
Morgan says it’s hard with gift lists because they’re looking for toys and presents not everyone has featured. “From our point of view, we want to be on as many lists as possible, so we always needed to give them a reason to put us on their list.
“And the eco-sustainable but interesting, fun, attractive (the images were charming), that kind of package was really good, so we played into that – tied into the trends, the slow toys that would last more than one Christmas, the eco-friendly trend as well.
Another key point was they had samples at the ready, with Morgan adding: “And that’s a really important thing with a Christmas gift campaign.”
Tangible results
There was a spike in sales and brand awareness…
“The 150-piece jigsaws appeared on ITV This Morning’s Christmas gift list segment, shown to an audience of up to one million; and the online coverage including Netmums, The Express, National World and Good To Know, was just shy of 300,000 views,” outlines Morgan.
Recounting how they’d spoken to ITV before, she knew this particular contact, but didn’t know if he was the one definitely doing the gift list.
She also flagged the campaign was helped by doing a Christmas in July power pitching event organised by CIJ Group. “It’s a bit like speed dating, they give you five minutes with a handful of journalists who are actively looking for things to promote – and we pitched the jigsaws.
“An ITV journalist was there, who I knew from before, and we pitched to him at this event. He ended up getting samples and featuring them on This Morning which was incredible.”
“They did this whole Christmas gift list segment, and they lined up all the toys, went through them and one of them was the Boppi jigsaws.”
Get your next PR campaign noticed
A successful PR campaign starts with the right story and the right media connections. From finding relevant journalists and distributing press releases to monitoring your coverage, Mediapoint gives you the tools to get your stories in front of the right people.
