PR has long faired as the golden child of the marketing mix, but marketing agencies could take a pointer or two when it comes to their planned activity, says Victoria Evans, Account Director at Social Media, SEO and PR agency, Punch Communications.

Sometimes it can be challenging for brands to generate their own news content for a number of different reasons. These can range from budget to partner approval, to lack of relevant product or service news taking place, and therefore capitalising on external goings on is vital. A great PR tactic for marketing agencies to develop is to research what is going on in the wider world and piggyback on topical occurrences with comment and feature ideas.

Tools of the trade

I would advise always including a strategic section on future events relevant to the brand, and keeping this updated on a regular basis. There are a number of external ‘forward planning’ databases that marketing professionals can sign up to which offer a simple search facility relating to topics, dates and locations. In addition, there are general calendar events that can be capitalised on, for example, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, daylight saving time or many other happenings and wacky celebration days that can be identified via specific sites and using search engines.

Marketers of consumer brands

For consumer brands, external events provide a host of opportunities for securing media coverage. For example, a wine brand could develop media alerts around the best wines to partner with meals on Easter Sunday, Mothering Sunday or Guy Fawkes Night. Or a children’s clothing store could look at great Christmas gifts to suggest, or the ideal wardrobe to take away on a summer holiday. I would suggest, however, creativity is key and as I when I started writing this it was 'Happiness Happens Day’. Recently a number of technology brands made the most of ‘Embrace Your Geekness Day’ and ‘Programmers’ Day’ falls on 12 September 2013. Other PR tactics can also be explored in addition to simple media alerts and press releases; for example, commissioning a survey on a relevant topic to ascertain public opinion, drafting a comment or opinion piece hooked to a calendar event, or planning a press event to coincide with a relevant celebration to showcase products to journalists.

Marketers everywhere

Maximising opportunities with calendar events is not just for consumer brands; it works for non-profit, campaigning and lobbying organisations too. By identifying future dates for legislation, or consultation periods, or more significant events such as the UK Government’s Budget announcement, brands and marketing agencies can research what possible outcomes may arise, and draft relevant comment in advance.

Planning, planning, planning

Finally, the key to success for using calendar events for PR purposes is planning. Agreeing a number of comments on specific topics or products that can be pitched on particular dates in advance will ensure minimum issues or stress when approaching the media.