Whether you’re working for a large corporation, a well-known organization, or are simply doing some personal branding, public relations (PR) is crucial.
Public relations is a great way for companies, organizations, and individuals to build a strong reputation and strengthen relationships with their target audience.
Over the years, many companies have utilized PR to significantly improve their business strategy. In this article, we will be taking a look at three successful PR campaigns that you should know about. There are some valuable lessons to be learned, so keep reading!
What are Public Relations?
Before we get into the successful campaigns, let’s first talk about what public relations really is.
Many people don’t fully understand what PR is and what the profession entails. To be fair, on the surface level, PR does seem a lot like marketing and advertising, but there’s so much more to it!
According to The Public Relations Society of America, “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” In other words, PR professionals are advocates for the companies, organizations, or individuals they work for.
Now that you hopefully have a better understanding of what PR is, let’s dive into the campaigns!
Social Tees Animal Rescue
Social Tees Animal Rescue is a non-profit organization based in New York City that seeks to find homes for abandoned dogs and cats. In hopes of boosting their efforts, in 2014, the organization came up with a brilliant idea - creating profiles for puppies on Tinder to raise awareness. Yes, you read it right, TINDER!
The organization created witty profiles for the abandoned dogs they’ve rescued and listed their breed, age, and such. When users swipe right and match with the dogs, the organization sends a message introducing themselves and how they can potentially adopt a dog. Within the first few days of the campaign, the organization had over 2,000 matches, and several dogs were already adopted.
If you’ve been around Instagram for a while, you most likely remember the infamous egg picture that quickly became the most-liked post on the platform.
The picture of an egg was posted with the caption “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this 🙌” Within nine days, the post surpassed Kylie’s record and now has a whopping 55 million likes.
While many Instagram scrollers assumed it was merely a troll or social experiment, there was actually a deeper purpose to the post. Since the first egg picture was posted, a series of six more egg pictures (now unavailable on the Instagram account) each with different levels of damage was posted. In the last post of that series, the caption read “Phew! I feel so much better now. If you're feeling the pressure, visit talkingegg.info to find out more. Let's build this list together.”
With that post, people’s confusion was clarified - the post was used to slowly but surely build an audience and promote a message for mental health. Many were in awe of the subtle execution of the campaign.
Mattel (Barbie Dolls)
Over the years, as society’s way of thinking has evolved, so have Barbie dolls. Long gone are the days when Barbie dolls were only meant for dressing up. Now, Barbie dolls are here to send a message and positively shape the younger generation’s thinking.
In 2020, Mattel, an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company, created a “Thank You Heroes” doll collection to salute essential workers during COVID-19. The series of six Barbie dolls are all female healthcare workers, one of them being Dr. Audrey Sue Cruz, a Filipina-American doctor who not only helped in the healthcare field but also in promoting the #StopAsianHate movement.
Mattel’s campaign not only supported COVID essential workers but also promoted diversity and is a reminder to children, particularly young girls, that they can become whatever they set their hearts to be.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve read about those campaigns, don’t you want to learn more about those organizations/products? That’s exactly what PR does - it pulls you in by creating a good reputation for companies and organizations.