So when Streets decided to use David (‘The Hoff’) Hasselhoff  to launch Splice Real Fruits,  the question asked of us was ‘could we create a media relations program that would help generate a strong return on the investment?’  Streets realised that the role of PR would be critical to the success of the proposed marketing program – without extensive media coverage incorporating the Splice brand, the number of people exposed to the campaign would not have justified the investment. 

And with ‘The Hoff’s’ penchant for creating controversy, there was the real risk that media interviews would focus on this aspect of the Hoff’s life and further diminish our ability to deliver the messaging.

So we set about developing a plan that would deliver the desired editorial outcome for the Splice brand and created a branded VIP event – Spice Island – to secure brand coverage in the social pages and entertainment/lifestyle blogs.

We took the decision to set-up a series of exclusive editorial slots for ‘The Hoff’ where we pre-negotiated to construct stories/features to ensure appropriate brand mentions and visuals were integrated into the editorial.  Those included exclusives with the likes of Channel 7’s Sunrise program and OK! magazine. 

The VIP event we created – Splice Island – secured excellent social media coverage and was voted ‘Party of the Week’ by both The Sunday Telegraph and Sun Herald newspapers.  In total, we tracked 131 pieces of editorial coverage with a combined potential reach of over 42 million (based on circulation and view / listenership figures).   More than 90 per cent of the coverage carried brand messages and/or visuals and The Hoff’s behaviour didn’t become the story!  A stellar result all round.

The Cosmetic Physicians Society of Australasia (CPSA) represents doctors with a focus on providing non- and minimally-invasive cosmetic medicine, such as anti-wrinkle treatments, laser and IPL. The CPSA is concerned that this burgeoning area of cosmetic medicine is attracting unskilled practitioners and want the public to be aware that they should seek out someone who is appropriately qualified and genuinely skilled when looking for treatments.

To put the issue in context, we set about working with CPSA and key suppliers to get an accurate estimate of how much Australians spend on these treatments. The research revealed that we spent $560 million in 2010; the highest per capita spend in the world, primarily as a result of the impact of our harsh sun on the skin. Small wonder, therefore, that this demand has stimulated new entrants to the industry who are often unskilled and, too frequently, unethical.　　　

Working with the CPSA, we identified the most worrying trends:

– the use of intense pulsed light (IPL) lasers by untrained personnel;

– the unregulated use of a powerful photosensitising solution which has resulted in significant skin damage and pain for some patients;

– the treatment of lesions by non-medically trained personnel, resulting in the non-diagnosis of pre-cancerous and cancerous conditions;

– the practice of offering discount coupons for specific medical treatment without a medical consultation to determine whether the treatment is suitable and;

– perhaps most frighteningly of all, via the internet, the illegal sale and importation of drugs like Botox for self-administration.

We got together the facts and case histories to illustrate the specific problems and embarked on a lobbying campaign to get legislation amended where necessary and a sustained media relations campaign to warn the public of the specific dangers in not accessing treatments from a qualified person.

As a result of our activity, we’ve generated editorial with a combined reach* of over 53 million in the last 12 months.　 It has largely been in media most popular with the key consumers of cosmetic medicine, women aged over 30, and has included regular reports on Today Tonight, A Current Affair, national news bulletins, popular women’s magazines, radio, lifestyle sections of the daily and weekend newspapers as well as beauty and health blogs.　 Virtually all of the coverage has cited the CPSA as the organisation highlighting the dangers and encouraged patients to see a doctor to be assured of safe treatment.

In March 2011, as a direct result of our lobbying, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) scheduled 5-ALA, the powerful photosensitising solution that was being used by non-medical personnel making this dangerous practice illegal. Scheduling this compound means that it can now only available if prescribed by a medical doctor.

Through the practice of freedom of information requests to the state fair trading, consumer affairs and health departments we’ve been able to amass the evidence to show the Federal regulator the extent of the IPL/Laser problem and we’re confident this will help speed the introduction of national legislation in this area.　　

*Combined reach is based on available press and magazine circulations, viewer and listenership numbers as well as unique monthly browsers to online sites.

Not only did Res Publica assist with making the world record a reality, we also were able to secure national media exposure across television, radio, newspapers and online, in media outlets including The TODAY Show (Channel Nine), The Morning Show (Channel Seven), 4BC radio (Queensland), Mix 106.5 FM (NSW) and mX (Sydney), to name a few.

In addition to breaking the record, Priceline and Sally Hansen raised more than $20,000 for cancer support charity Look Good…Feel Better, through its community initiative, The Priceline Sisterhood.

In order to qualify for the record, women received a file, a base coat, two coats of varnish and a top coat and men received a file and a buff to shine. Each mini-manicure took approximately 12 minutes and every person who received a manicure was invited to make a contribution towards Look Good…Feel Better through The Priceline Sisterhood.

After just a few short months, coverage began appearing in leading consumer magazines. Awareness of this fantastic range then skyrocketed following a story on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair which featured the new Barley + Oats product, and showed the health benefits experienced by a couple of two of the many people who had taken part in the Goodness Superfoods 100 Day Challenge.

Following the segment on A Current Affair:

·         Sales of all Goodness Superfoods products tripled across Woolworths stores nationally;

·         The website received over 14,000 hits, with visitors staying on the site for an average of five minutes;

·         The Goodness Superfoods switchboard rang off the hook with calls from people asking where they could buy the products and from potential suppliers looking to sell the Goodness Superfoods range.

Res Publica is continuing to work with Goodness Superfoods on a multi-faceted PR campaign to raise awareness of its  products and keep the brand top of mind amongst fibre-hungry Australians.

 It will be instructive to see how Sony PlayStation’s security breach and Apple’s iPhone location tracking controversies play out.

Some brands recover pretty well from disasters. Toyota’s a good example. In 2009, it issued a recall of some 8.5 million vehicles because of faulty mechanics, but the controversy’s largely behind it now. They may have been a little slow off the mark, but the general perception is that they took appropriate steps to look after their customers and communicated their progress on a regular, sustained basis. A survey in 2010 showed that 59% of Americans still viewed Toyota favourably. Given a fair swathe of Americans never looked kindly on Japanese cars, this figure represents an excellent result.

On the other hand, The Catholic Church continues to reel from its paedophile scandals. Its reputation in heartlands like Ireland has not yet recovered. That was not just because of the massive scale of the problem. Only 11% of the Irish population believe the Church handled the situation appropriately and the younger generation in particular remains utterly disillusioned. When it was revealed that the Church hierarchy knew they had a serious systemic problem and had repeatedly tried to hush it up, often by shunting offenders from parish to parish, it was at that point many of the faithful simply gave up on them. The Pope’s subsequent unqualified apology to the victims was too little, too late.

There is little room for error when you’re in the middle of the storm and you certainly ought not to try and enlist sympathy. Last year, BP’s CEO, Tony Hayward, in the midst of the protracted oil spill that spewed up to an estimated 100 million gallons of toxic oil into the Gulf of Mexico said of the local community “We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused their lives.” So far, text book stuff. He then went on to say, “There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.” Whoops. The criticism was scathing and unrelenting from that point – the yacht race around the Isle of Wight didn’t help either. No-one heard the apology, all they registered was ‘you want your life back, what about the 11 people who died? What about the fishing communities, those who can’t earn a living, what about the ecological impact? DON’T YOU GET IT?’ From that point, Hayward’s resignation was inevitable.

You can’t ‘spin’ your way out of a crisis, in fact the employment of spin is a guarantee that you’ll spiral deeper into trouble. Firstly, you’ve got to swiftly acknowledge that there a significant problem, don’t be dragged kicking and screaming to that realisation. Admit some culpability immediately, and that is not as easy as it sounds because it may entail a trade-off between reputational and legal risk. At all times, demonstrate that your key priority is to help those impacted, fix the problem and then learn what you can to help avoid a repetition. There are no short cuts or clever tricks. It is the ruthless and relentless application of common sense, the essence of good PR essentially.

 Encased in Magnum’s renowned milk chocolate shell, Magnum Temptation Fruit features a rich vanilla centre packed with an abundance of dark chocolate chunks and cranberry pieces, complemented by a smooth berry sauce.

 Magnum Temptation Fruit is elegantly presented in Temptation’s signature ‘jewellery box’, making it the perfect indulgence for those seeking a little bit of pleasure in their day.

Available now in supermarkets, petrol and convenience stores nationally. Single serves RRP$4.40 and three-pack grocery multipacks RRP$7.79.

Res Publica is currently working with Priceline to promote the launch of Priceline Protects – a new insurance offering developed to challenge the conventional approach to insurance by providing affordable, accessible and relevant insurance options to Australian women and their families.

To support the launch, Res Publica commissioned a survey of 1,000 Aussie mums to get an understanding of how they felt about the insurance industry. The findings showed that 85% of mums are frustrated with the industry, viewing insurance products as too expensive, too time consuming and filled with jargon. Some women would actually prefer to have a pap smear (27%) or change a dirty nappy (19%) than look into insurance. [1]

Res Publica used these findings to engage with a range of media – from women’s and parenting magazines to personal finance and insurance writers. The media campaign will be supported by a series of events for mums and mums-to-be to drive awareness of Priceline Protects with this key audience.

Designed by women, for women, Priceline Protects has been developed in partnership with leading life insurer AIA Australia and will launch with two initial insurance options – Priceline Protects Life Cover and Priceline Protects Serious Illness.

This move into the insurance space, from Australia’s leading health and beauty retailer, comes at a time when Australian women are chronically under-insured[2]. Amanda Connors, Priceline Marketing Director believes Australian women have a conflicting approach to insurance: “We know they’re the ones looking after most of the household admin[3]. They’re making the key decisions and keeping the family budget in check, yet despite 78% classifying life insurance as an important form of protection for their family, scarily over 62% don’t actually have any[4].”

The survey conducted by Lonergan research in February 2011 also looked at the reasons why Australian mums don’t have life insurance, finding that concerns around cost, time and a lack of understanding of the benefits were the main deterrents .[5]  This avoidance comes despite the fact that over four in five (83%) Aussie mums believe that their untimely death would place an enormous or significant financial strain on their family[6], highlighting a strong awareness amongst mums of just how important this type of protection is.

Priceline Protects – the key facts

·         Backed by one of Australia’s leading life insurers, AIA Australia

·         Currently offering Life Cover and  Serious Illness

·         No medicals required – sign up in just a few simple steps

·         Affordable monthly cover from less than $20 a month

·         Bonus Clubcard points for every insurance dollar spent

·         For more information about Priceline Protects go to www.pricelineprotects.com.au or call 1800 66 77 80

More than 11,000 cricket fans and star athletes from cricket, rugby union and rugby league watched the Retravision Warriors claim victory over the XXXX GOLD Queensland Bulls by 32 runs.

With $500 and $1,000 on offer from brewer XXXX for every ‘four’ and ‘six’ hit during the match, the game promised to be an exciting one, with Chris Gayle blasting seven boundaries and eight ‘sixes’ whilst Queensland Bulls players Michael Lumb and Nathan Reardon added  to the total with nine boundaries and four ‘sixes’ between them.

All profits from beer sales were also donated by XXXX with the total fundraising activities reaching $41,125.

Lending their support was Allan Langer, Nathan Friend, Ashley Harrison, Chris ‘Buddha’ Handy, Greg Bird, Michael Henderson, Chris ‘Choppy’ Close, Michael Hancock and Andrew Gee as well as the XXXX Angels who performed at the game.

Res Publica worked in partnership with Queensland Cricket to publicise the fundraising event.

A “better for you” natural alternative that contains no caffeine, no artificial stimulants and little to no sugar, OSKI Positive Energy Drinks are made from natural ingredients and include L-Theanine, Siberian Ginseng, Ginkgo Biloba and Schizandra that combined, may help maintain and improve mental alertness and concentration, maintain physical performance and overcome fatigue.

Queensland-based Ken Melia, OSKI’s Dad and Co-Founder of ZAG Beverages believes consumers are crying out for a natural alternative: “Aussies are pretty stressed. You only have to pick up the papers every few weeks to hear about the latest study that’s highlighted how stressed we are.

“In fact, 60% of young Queenslanders are reaching for a sugar or caffeine hit three or more times a week¹ .They’ve got to tackle a list a mile long and they can’t afford to be tired and lack focus.

“They also don’t feel good about it. Three in four (76%) of those younger Aussies we spoke to who consume caffeine and/or sugar are concerned about the effects on their health¹.

“Up until now, the ‘lift’ in the day was achieved through caffeine and sugar. Through OSKI Positive Energy Drinks, we’re giving them a natural choice that will help them make it through the day without feeling worried or guilty about what they’re consuming,” said Mr Melia.

The survey, conducted by Lonergan Research confirmed that whilst 28% of young Australians consume energy drinks each week, young Australians are also reaching for coffee / tea (79%), soft drink (77%) or chocolates and confectionary (85%)¹.

Local businessman Ken Freer, CEO and Co-Founder of ZAG Beverages said the reaction from consumers had been fantastic.

“The response to our sampling trials over the last couple of weekends has been amazing. After tasting the product and finding out more about OSKI’s natural ingredients, people were walking home with cartons of OSKI.

“We’ve spent months getting the ingredients, taste and packaging right to appeal to the many people across South East Queensland who have been looking for an alternative like OSKI,” said Mr Freer.

OSKI Positive Energy Drinks are semi-sparkling and with less than 47 calories per 250mL bottle, are available in two 250ml variants: Mango Orange Passion and Superberry.

With the functional drinks segment one of the fastest growing segments in the soft drinks category in Australia and already representing 10% of the market, ZAG Beverages are looking to make OSKI Positive Energy Drinks available to all Australians and potentially overseas markets in 2011.

“It’s not just Queenslanders who are looking for a more natural alternative. We know from overseas trends and from our research in Australia that people need something to get through the daily slump but the reality is not all energy is good energy. They’ve now got a positive choice with OSKI,” said Mr Freer.

OSKI Positive Energy Drinks are currently available in selected convenience stores throughout South East Queensland at around $3.50 – $4.00.