Hi there,
At the beginning of this week I was feeling pretty down. The ‘novelty’ of having to stay indoors had worn off, FaceTimes and ‘Houseparties’ were not dampening the longing to go see my mum or friends, and I wasn’t achieving any of the daily goals I had set myself.
I have re-claimed around three hours commuting time since working from home, and I had big plans. I aimed to read a book a week, load up my blog with new content and eat like a health queen, to compliment my daily exercise routine. And though the daily exercise has largely remained (I have Joe Wicks to thank for my sanity RN), I am not hitting my reading quota, I haven’t even looked at my blog, and on Tuesday morning I’d scoffed six chocolate Viennese biscuits by lunchtime.
My anxiety around achieving all of these things was making me feel even more sad. I wasn’t enjoying the small, lovely things that have come out of this: bingeing The Office with my boyfriend; catching up more regularly with groups of friends than ever before; the aforementioned chocolate Viennese biscuits.
And so, I’ve come to the conclusion that being a work in progress, doesn’t mean having to constantly work on yourself.
Any small win, be it a healthy dinner, a nice chat with a loved one, or getting this newsletter out on time is enough for me right now (or in fact all of the time) – as long as I’m safe, happy and healthy.
In what is a pretty shitty time I hope reading this newsletter brings a moment of distraction or comfort, and I hope you enjoy this second issue of Work in PRogress.
As ever, I’d love to hear any feedback, or suggestions of cool campaigns, interesting resources or even your top quarantine tips – in the words of HSM, we’re all in this together.
Stay safe.
Abi x
Issue #2 – Fave PR Campaigns
My fave PR campaigns from the last two weeks…
- I (along with the rest of the country) really enjoyed the Netflix billboard campaign. The campaign, created by students at the Miami Ad School, and which is not affiliated in any way with Netflix, urges people to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic with billboards that spoil the streaming network’s most popular shows. You can view the campaign here.
- This campaign by GuarantorLoans is the PERFECT coronavirus lockdown content and looks at the pets on Instagram with the most followers. Adorable but also slightly depressing (when you realise that JiffPom, an adorable looking Pomeranian earns more than your annual wage in a single Instagram post…)
- A really interesting and thought-provoking campaign by Save On Energy on the environmental impact of streaming Netflix TV shows and films.
- As previously mentioned, I’ve been a sucker for a home workout these past two weeks, so massively appreciated this campaign by PureGym on the most popular workout songs.
- There’s no denying we’ve all had to change tactics slightly, with lots of us having to think of creative and reactive ways of securing coverage. I loved this quick-thinking reactive work on behalf of Purely Diamonds, who in this feature, provide their top tips for proposing in the midst of a pandemic.
- Finally after announcing free membership in several countries around the world, this super in-depth look at traffic and searches by Pornhub, is a great example of how brands can be using internal data to provide new insights into life on lockdown…
Develop your skills..
Learn something new and discover useful resources this Friday morn with my fave tips, tricks and informative articles from the last fortnight:
- Kubix Digital have put together the ultimate survival guide to support us all through the next few months. ‘How to survive the month of COVID-19 April in quarantine‘ signposts to a number of resources, including free courses and after-work socialising opportunities such as ‘Tea Time SEO’.
- Jane Hunt and Bex Moss ran a really insightful webinar on ‘How to handle your PR during COVID-19’ during the week, and if you missed it, you can catch up here.
- Running with the list theme, Aira Digital have also put together a great resource of free courses on everything from SEO and content marketing to paid media and project management. You can view the resource here.
- Laura Hampton shared a really brill video with some top tips on three activities that are working really well in digital PR at the moment. You can check out the video here.
- For a weekly dosage of best digital PR campaigns and articles, and to check out one of my favourite newsletters of all time, subscribe to Bethanie Dennis’ The Weekly PR.
This issue’s Work in PRogress – Alex Hickson
This week’s Work in PRogress is the brilliant Alex Hickson, digital PR executive at Edit. Read the full interview with Alex on my blog, linked below.
And that’s it!
Please direct all feedback, suggestions and any events, training courses or campaigns you think should be included in this newsletter to:
📩 abigailebennetts@gmail.com 📩
And catch up on other issues of Work in PRogress here.
Abigail Emily Bennetts 