It’s the end of another month here at Hatch – can we start saying Merry Christmas yet?
Regardless, November was a busy one. After five years of planning, six jam-packed weeks of playing, and at least a few extra grey hairs on Matt Peden’s head, the Rugby League World Cup 2021 finished, with triumph at Old Trafford for Australia’s men and women. A huge round of applause to the entire team, from social, to production, to PR, for an outstanding effort organising the biggest and best tournament seen to date (we promise we aren’t biased!).
Elsewhere, Anti-Bullying Week 2022 meant it was time for Nationwide and The Diana Award’s Positive Post Box campaign to shine. With over 300 schools across the country involved, pictures of the kind messages children had been writing came flooding in on social media, causing at least a few watery eyes.
Year 4 beaming whilst posting and reading their notes of positivity today @AntiBullyingPro #PositivePostBox #AntiBullyingWeek pic.twitter.com/MFdtbn5PJ7
— Christ the King RC Primary School (@ctkrcps) November 18, 2022
Oakmere have created some positive posters to send to another school to spread some kindness #positivepostbox #CARE @AntiBullyingPro @AskNationwide pic.twitter.com/wthow7jEpa
— Delamere Academy (@DelamereAcademy) November 18, 2022
YSC have been writing positive messages to friends, family and staff today. #YSCtps #positivepostbox #positivevibes #thankyou ✍️📮 pic.twitter.com/oCqBhsEtgl
— Thameside Primary (@ThamesideSch) November 18, 2022
We even received a shout out from the Prince and Princess of Wales themselves!
Learn more about the @DianaAward’s #PositivePostBox campaign and sign-up to their free #AntiBullyingWeek resources to help empower young people and stamp out bullying https://t.co/TFBLEwzAuj
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 18, 2022
The production team continued racking up the miles, travelling down to St George’s Park for a second shoot with England’s Men ahead of their trip to Qatar, before heading to London to film Q5’s November webinar.
Closer to home, Hatch’s design team were busy creating invites to Hisense’s World Cup Viewing Party, whilst social absolutely smashed George Foreman’s latest Grill & Chill giveaway competition, securing a staggering 23,000 entries!
To top it all off, we welcomed two new clients to the nest – Redmayne Smith and Freestar. Some might say, job well done.
When it came to campaigns from the wider industry this month, the Hatchlings had mixed opinions.
The Good: Cadbury’s 5 Star Bar
It’s every PR strategist’s dream to come up with a proposal that keeps the cost low and the creativity high. Here at Hatch, we know that big ideas don’t require a big budget, and Cadbury’s latest 5 Star Bar campaign proved just that.
The brand’s famous ‘Do Nothing’ tagline was taken quite literally in a logo refresh that simplified the previous design to five blank stars, the same graphic that appears on almost any app or website that asks for a rating. As a result, the 5 Star Bar is now arguably advertised everywhere, without Cadbury having to actually do anything.
Call it predictable, but the idea gets a ‘five star’ review from us.
The Interesting: Joe Lycett’s 10K Shredder Stunt
Joe Lycett’s ultimatum to David Beckham over his ambassadorship for Qatar was perhaps the most controversial news to come out of this month. The comedian’s initial video, calling for the footballing legend to retract his support for the World Cup hosts, as a result of their poor human rights record, was generally received with widespread admiration. This quickly changed to outrage, however, as he appeared to shred £10,000, as he said he would, following no response from Beckham. The confusion was evident, with national headlines varying from ‘Joe Lycett shreds £10,000”, to “Did Joe Lycett shred £10k?”, to “Joe Lycett did not shred £10k”.
🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/YuPYSQ2M6u
— Joe Lycett (@joelycett) November 21, 2022
Last week, it was revealed that, in fact, he did not destroy £10,000 in a cost-of-living crisis, as he’d been criticised for, and that it was a stunt, with the money already safely donated to LGBT+ charities.
In terms of engagement, Lycett smashed it out of the park, with the story featured in almost every news outlet, and the video set trending on Twitter. He also received the full support of the LGBT community, with several publications applauding his unflinching support for minority communities. In true Lycett style, however, he’s certainly earned himself some critics, though the impact, if any, this will have on his status, is yet to be seen.
The Ugly: Pizza Hut’s Trick Shot Challenge
When it came to Pizza Hut’s attempt to enter the World Cup conversation, the results were unfortunately less than spectacular.
The fast food chain asked its customers to film themselves trying to complete the ‘trick shot’ of kicking a football into a suspended empty pizza box. The aim was simple: if they were successful, they could win free pizza.
Think you've got what it takes to score a #PizzaHutTrickShot? PROVE IT!
Record your shot and post it with #PizzaHutTrickShot. Tag us @pizzahutdeliver so we can see your amazing skills (and give you FREE PIZZA)! 🍕
T&Cs apply: https://t.co/22WYnjADXx#WorldCup #WorldCup2022 pic.twitter.com/cb3poOtBSG
— Pizza Hut Deliver (@pizzahutdeliver) November 18, 2022
However, the campaign didn’t go down very well, with the video receiving just nineteen likes on Twitter, despite having 102.9k views. Aside from the bizarre fact that completing the challenge would require people to have gone out and bought a pizza in the first place, the campaign felt forced, with a very tenuous link between the World Cup and the act of buying a product from Pizza Hut.
If you want to know how a competition is done right, going off the evidence a few lines above, feel free to drop us a line at hello@hatch.group, Pizza Hut, to see how we can help!
