There’s a new way to drive traffic online, and it is with newsjacking. It is the act of linking your brand with the most shareable content online. This will help to enhance the appeal of your brand to your audience.
It is a term coined by PR expert and bestselling author David Meerman Scott. In this post, we see the best online Newsjacking examples. I wish to give them an Oscar for their business marketing and real-time humor.
Newsjacking has had its fair share of laughs and scares. In this article, we will have a closer look at the best examples of this practice. If you are looking to give your product more attention, be sure you give this method a go.
5 Best Online Newsjacking Examples
1. MINI
This is some of the finer examples of taking a news story, pumping it with some humor and then turning it into a meme. The ad takes a shot at the discovery of horse meat in beef products in the UK and Europe, thanks to DNA testing. The story first broke out in Ireland and then spread all over the European Union.
The beef products were then removed from all the stores and supermarkets. It was huge news all over Europe and Mini took advantage of this on their Twitter ad with the tagline ‘Beef. With a lot of horses hidden in it.’
2. Charmin
Charmin is a toilet paper manufacturing company.
Oscar season was in the air and the red carpets were rolling like an angry river stream. Charmin had the right idea about informing stars to look down before they set foot on the carpet. The company had always been a spot in with its sense of humor on Twitter.
Tweeting Best Online Newsjacking Examples
3. KitKat and bendgate
It was a story that came together in about 30 minutes. This was the time the iPhone 6 had come out. People were accidentally bending them by putting them in their back pockets. When the world was buzzing about this, KitKat decided to jump in on this news for its own marketing.
It was a humorous quip at Apple without coming off as harsh. At the same time, it even reinforced the brand and was able to get about 26,150 retweets and 13,022 likes. Just goes to show you that a little humor goes a long way.
4. Oreo Superbowl Tweet
The newsjacking fever had actually started with this. During the middle of a blackout at the Superbowl in 2013, Oreo tweeted this:
The timing and the convenience were so brilliant that it had garnered over 15,880 retweets and 6,200 favorites. The marketing team decided to capitalize on a bad turn of events and give it a rather tasty twist. There wasn’t much planning into it. It was just done in a matter of minutes. Hats-off to these best online Newsjacking examples.
5. Refuge And The Archers Storyline
What do you think about a fictional couple on BBC Radio 4’s The Archers? The first thing that will probably come to your mind is; “What is that”? or “Why should I care?” But this year, the show caught the attention of many with its portrayal of domestic violence within one of their storylines.
As a result, the Archers consulted Refuge, which is the charity involved in trying to prevent domestic violence and support the victims as well. Refuge took advantage of this and began to take it to the next level. They were sharing this piece on social media, while the Archers were live and trending.
The refuge was able to engage the fans and educate them about the message being shared in the show. This lead to a 17 percent increase in calls to Refuge in February and allowed the setup for ‘The Helen Titchener (nee Archer) Rescue Fund’ JustGiving page.
From that point Refuge raised over £170,000.
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These best online Newsjacking examples just show that with a well thought out communications strategy and keeping a close eye on newsjacking, you can drive sales.
