July was a good month for the nation. It saw lockdown restrictions come to an end for a return to slight normality, good weather (which of course only lasted a couple of weeks in true UK style) and a football final that made the whole country proud. All in all, it was a great month for the UK. But, of course that wasn’t quite the case for the world of PR… Some campaigns had us smiling in July and some sadly didn’t quite hit the mark. If you missed June’s round up, you can find it here. Here’s a look at the good and bad stories that caught our, and the UK medias, eyes…
Brands Get the Nation Prepared for ‘Freedom Day’
We can’t mention July without talking about the day that we’ve all be anticipating for some time: ‘Freedom Day’. The 19th of July finally saw all COVID restrictions lifted and life returning to some form of normal.
This gave brands the perfect opportunity to launch campaigns or promote products to help the nation prepare for the easing of restrictions. The likes of clothing brands such as Missguided, Nasty Gal and Boohoo all created edits on their sites titled ‘Freedom Day’ with outfit inspiration for the perfect night out style. This generated loads of buzz on social media with those itching for a night out sharing their outfits they were buying in advance.
That Euro’s Final that had the country on a high
If you read June’s PR highlights you will know that we were nothing short of excited that England had defeated Germany for the first time in over 50 years – it was what we needed to bring the nation together and share some positivity.
And that excitement only grew in July when the squad qualified for England’s first Euro’s final in 55 years. The press and social media was dominated with stories of people expressing their pride and support, creating such positive online conversations.
It also gave brands ample opportunity to piggyback on to the occasion and produce some creative campaigns to help support the team on their journey to victory. Brands like Peroni, Nike and Nationwide were among those marking England’s historic Euro 2020 performance.
Our personal favourite came from Royal Mail with a simple image of a parcelled football labelled ‘HOME’. This highlighted how a simple, but super clever, image can have such a big impact in delivering a message. Sometimes the simple ideas really are the most effective when it comes to PR and social media content!
🏆🏠🤞#Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/x8b7dw1l9H
— Royal Mail (@RoyalMail) July 8, 2021
The England Team Suffer Unacceptable Racist Abuse
As we all know, England lost on penalties to Italy in the Euro’s final at Wembley on July 11th. What followed this was a social media storm that was purely devastating. A torrent of racist comments aimed at some of the teams players appeared on various social media platforms following the defeat.
After a tough 18 months for the nation, the team did wonders and got through to a major tournament final for the first time in over 50 years – something to be extremely proud of. They were true role models to a lot of people across the country and the abuse received online was truly upsetting. It was a shame to see such a positive online space turn negative so quickly. That said, it was encouraging to see that of the back of this, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to ban people guilty of sending racist abuse to footballers from attending matches.
The ‘Pingdemic’
The NHS COVID app definitely deserves a mention here. Over 600,000 people that were using the app in England and Wales were sent self-isolation alerts between the 8th and 15th of July alone. The suitably titled ‘pingdemic’ caused staff shortages in a lot of industries, including the hospitality sector which had about one in five workers isolating. Pubs, restaurants and hotels had been forced to temporarily shut. It’s great to see we’re now moving in the right direction when it comes to the pandemic with places able to open and return to business.
At Prohibition, we work with a range of brands across all sectors, B2B and B2C, to create innovative PR campaigns that deliver real ROI and help meet business goals. Get in touch with us today to find out how we could support you with your Public Relations. Drop us an email: hello@prohibitionpr.co.uk or give us a bell on 0113 430 4160.
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