How Pr Can Help You Find Your Voice

In this role, I hear a lot of cynics say PR is a 'nice to have'. That it's okay when times are good, but you've just gotta cut back on fanciful excesses like PR when times are tough.

It’s usually pretty easy to show them how good communications is probably at the hub of everything they already do. But that rarely fits with their own perception of PR and how it’s implemented as a tool, to effect positive change, help reposition a brand and drive actual commercial value. Thankfully, it’s not just me that thinks W Communications’ campaign for men’s fragrance firm, Lynx was one of the best examples of how communications can make a huge difference. Not just to the bottom line, but to the way people think and behave. Shortlistings for the campaign for the upcoming UK PR Week Awards and as one of the Holmes Reports’ best EMEA men’s campaigns of 2017, support the claim.

You’ll remember Lynx as the 90s go-to brand of choice for lads desperate to smell like something better than stale football socks. The positioning then, that you’d knock the lasses giddy with a quick spray under the arms, was dated and way out of kilter with modern thinking. Lynx had a problem. So, W pioneered a content-led campaign for them, designed to change the perception of it being a ‘lad-culture’ brand. The campaign directly challenged male taboos, provoked national debate on masculinity, helped reposition Lynx as a force for good and eventually inspired a new generation of young British males to connect with the brand.

So how did they do that? First off, the narrative needed to be changed, with Lynx leading the challenge on the perceptions of masculinity, which was achieved through collaborating with inspiring and authentic public figures. People like boxer Anthony Joshua and Keegan Hirst, the first British Rugby League star to come out as gay, both offered incredibly honest views of their own issues and set the agenda for the debate. That encouraged small groups of ordinary guys to talk more openly with Lynx about what “being a man” meant to them. Lynx wanted to show it was okay to be ‘ordinary’ and to be talking about the things that concerned you, the things that men would traditionally avoid or if they did bring up would be put down in a torrent of ‘banter’. After that, an alternative power list, Men of the Moment. Rather than focusing purely on wealth, sporting success, looks or business acumen, the tenets of many other ‘power’ lists, we featured men who were achieving success on their own terms. Men like Eric Underwood, who brought male ballet to new, younger audiences, and Olly Alexander, who champions LGBTQ causes.

The Is It OK For Guys… strapline was inspired by analysis of Google search data to identify questions young British men were prepared to ask online, but not aloud. The campaign dramatically highlighted male insecurities which we brought to life in a series of interviews with those brave enough to share their anxieties around questions they may have otherwise been too afraid to ask. The year-long campaign resulted in coverage across a number of national newspaper and magazine titles and generated an impassioned online debate. Lynx was at the centre of it all. Leading men’s publications like GQ and AskMen, who had previously refused to profile Lynx because of its perceptions of the brand, couldn’t ignore it either.

So, what was the impact? On social media, Lynx saw a 56 percent upward lift in positive sentiment, global brand analysts, Brand Finance, reported a 90 percent surge in Lynx’s brand sentiment and the campaign even earned the approval of female columnist, Lucy Mangan at Stylist, who dedicated her column to Lynx’s efforts to tackle the issues. She was one who had previously scorned Lynx’s outdated approach. It was a meaningful example of how PR can be used as a tremendously powerful force to effect positive change. We don’t all have the budgets to engage celebrities in order to align them to our brands, but that misses the point. The use of PR to effect change, to add an important voice to the things that matter most to your customers is a tremendously powerful tool. Understand how to do that and you’ll be thanked for it.