And that’s a wrap – check out some of Holyrood PR’s successes that made 2021 special
THE LAST 12 months have been unpredictable, but that didn’t stop us from continuing to do what we do best – helping our clients tell their stories to the world.
Throughout the year we delivered innovative digital and social media campaigns and traditional feel good stories that reached more than 280 million people.
We welcomed new team members, won new clients and scooped up awards, all whilst juggling everchanging rules and restrictions.
So, without further ado, read on to check out some of our highlights from 2021.
January: Boroughmuir alumni invited to celebrate school’s new chapter
Kicking off with a bang, we secured front page coverage for CALA Homes as it welcomed VIP guests to its Boroughmuir development – a revival of one of Edinburgh’s most historic school buildings.
We arranged for the current headmaster and three senior pupils to return to their old stomping ground and see the transformational changes being made to their old school.
Our release and professionally shot images were just the ticket for landing some brilliant coverage, putting CALA in front of key audiences.
- 183,409 opportunities to see
- Six items of coverage
- Highlights in Luxury Edinburgh, Sunday Mail, Scottish Construction now, Edinburgh Evening News, and What House?
February: Firms should encourage their staff to get walking this winter
February saw us help Paths for All launch an innovative campaign encouraging Scots to get out walking in the fresh air.
We put together a release focusing on the mental, physical and social wellbeing benefits of walking and how it is vital to incorporate it into the working day. The release targeted both seasoned and new walkers, while tapping into the work from home and hybrid working enviroments.
The campaign delivered impressive results and secured crucial targeted coverage across Scotland:
- 130,725 opportunities to see
- 17 items of coverage
- Highlights include; Press and Journal, Evening Times, Aberdeen Evening Express, Stirling Observer & Shopper, Fife Herald and Citizen
March: Outstanding in his field: Minister invited to work from pasture
As life started to get back on track, we helped Finderne Development Trust pull off a PR stunt which swept the headlines. The rural highland community turned to us to help share their anger and frustration at the regions poor broadband services blighting families and businesses.
The aim was to catch the attention of the Scottish Government’s Broadband Minister, Paul Wheelhouse. The trust had worked tirelessly to set up a meeting with him in the past and within hours of the campaign launching Paul responded to the trust and set up a meeting to discuss the broadband further.
The trust said their rural broadband was like working in a field, so we created some eye-catching photographic stunts to go alongside compelling media releases which explained the frustrations of the community.
The story captured an abundance of coverage from every corner of the UK, showcasing the daily struggles of the community:
- 223 items of coverage
- 10,891,901 opportunities to see
- 166 items of local coverage, from across Scotland, England and Ireland
- Impressive national coverage in Mail Online (UK), Yahoo, Indy100, The Independent (print), The Scotsman, Daily Record (print), The Courier (print) and more.
- Three broadcast features in, Moray Firth Radio, STV North News at Six and London Evening Standard podcast
- Valuable specialist coverage in Total Telecom (print and online), ISPreview, The Institution of Engineering and Technology and The Scottish Farmer
April: Jerba Campervans becomes only Scottish converter officially qualified by Volkswagen
As we sprung into a new season, North Berwick-based campervan firm, Jerba Campervans, became recognised as a Motorhome Qualified Converter by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Being one of three companies in the UK to receive the stamp of approval from the German car manufacturer.
It helped cement Jerba’s already distinguish reputation as a trusted campervan converter.
The story generated a clean sweep of coverage in trade, business, national and regional outlets, culminating in:
- 169,316 opportunities to see
- 12 items of coverage across print, online, and social
- Specialist trade coverage in Caravan Times and Laidback Leisure
- National coverage in The Herald across all its social platforms and newsletters
May: Record 30 operating rooms to be shipped to Africa in 2021 through unique UK charity
In May we helped celebrate charity Kids OR’s record breaking number of 30 operating rooms across a number of African nations, securing more than seven million opportunities to see – inclusing exclusive features on STV’s Six and 10 o’clock news.
Kids OR helps support doctors and hospitals throughout the continent with no, or critically low provisions for children’s surgeries by delivering dedicated operating rooms to improve and save the lives of thousands of people.
The global coverage secured by our team helped to raise Kids OR’s profile and brought awareness to the work they do, highlighting their mission to help people around the world:
- 7,563,836 opportunities to see (provided by Kantar media)
- 176 items of coverage across online, broadcast and print media
- Secured National audience with exclusive TV features on STV news at 6 and 10, linking with a surgeon in Africa as well as facilitating a trip to the depot
- Features on BBC Radio Scotland and Radio Tay
- UK wide online features prominently on Evening Standard, Mail Online, MSN
- Scottish national and local coverage Herald, Edinburgh Evening News, The National Scotland, as well as a number of Dundee-based titles
- Stellar print features across The National with page leads in The Metro, The Scotsman and The Courier
- Overwhelming coverage across local, regional, and national press
June: Talented artist draws new inspiration – with move to Scotland
During summer, artist Ben Wild made the move to the Scottish capital and our team was tasked with sharing his name far and wide. We made sure Ben settled in with a media bang.
Our coverage helped Ben secure his blue tick verification on Twitter which he was more than delighted about:
- 16 items of coverage
- 546,417 opportunities to see
- National coverage in The Scotsman and The National (print and online)
- Prime local coverage in Edinburgh Evening News, Midlothian Today, The Edinburgh Reporter, and Fife Today
- Business coverage in Daily Business, Insider and News Net Scotland’s Twitter
July: Night of virtual celebrations for golden anniversary
2021 marked Bield Housing & Care’s golden anniversary and we were delighted to pull out all the stops and put our creative skills to the test.
Unfortunately, celebrations couldn’t be planed quite like the housing provider had hoped, so Bield looked to Holyrood PR to create the buzz and a special occasion virtually.
We organised a logo competition to find a bespoke design to celebrate the anniversary which was used in all of the organisation’s material.
The team also pull together a magazine dedicated to the golden anniversary, showcasing all of the amazing things which have happened in the past 50 years, as well as looking forward to its bright future.
Holyrood PR also helped organise “The Big Night” – an eight-minute-long video filled with content such as facts about Bield over the last 50 years, guest speakers and congratulatory messages from some of Scotland’s most popular celebrities.
HPR liaised with former customers and staff from Bield to get positive messages about the charity, while also securing video content and messages of support from National Clinical Director Professor Jason Leitch, former captain and current First Team Coach of Hibernian Football Club David Gray, ‘Still Game’ comedians Sanjeev Singh Kholi and Mark Cox, as well as Sally Thomas, Chief Executive at Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.
- 322,585 opportunities to see
- 11 items of coverage
- Highlights include: Scottish Construction Now, Evening Times, Glasgow Evening Times, North Edinburgh News, Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
- Messages of support from five well known Scottish faces
- Publication of a bespoke golden anniversary bulletin
August: Olympic star Duncan Scott inspires youngsters to return to pools
In August, the most decorated British Olympian at a single games, Duncan Scott, splashed into the media with Scottish Water.
Duncan’s return from the Tokyo Olympics coincided with him reprising his role as Learn to Swim ambassador for the fifth year, encouraging Scottish children to get in the pool.
Our team organised a media event and pitched a media release on the campaign which created impressive coverage across national, regional and business media, highlighting the importance of learning to be a safe, confident swimmer.
- 15 items of coverage across print, online, broadcast and social media
- 595,861 opportunities to see
- Featured in national, regional and business media
- STV News interview with Duncan Scott
- Radio Forth feature
- Highlights include The Sun, Edinburgh Evening News and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
September: Accountants say numbers add up for Edinburgh expansion
As summer came to an end, Douglas Home & Co made the announcement it was expanding and opening up an Edinburgh office. Our team helped to showcase its new office and made some impressive headlines for the accountancy firm.
The mass of coverage showcased Douglas Home & Co growing beyond its Borders roots. The coverage also raised awareness of the organisation to its target audience and anyone in Edinburgh area who required professional accountancy in in the capital:
- Delivered 21 items of coverage
- Created 511,457 opportunities to see the story
- Achieved coverage in national, regional, business and local media
- Highlights include The Scotsman, The Herald and Edinburgh Evening News
October: Cheers to digital success for Scottish rum start-up
In autumn we launched an exciting digital campaign with Scottish rum start up, Brass Neck Rum, to the sale of its 1000th bottle. We sourced three of Scotland’s best food and drink micro-influencers to promote the impressive milestone across digital platforms.
Working closely with @glasgowfoodelicious, @cocktail_oclock and @hilarycaneat we helped curate a digital campaign to showcase Brass Neck’s versatility and delicious flavours
The campaign generated 100 new followers on its social media platforms and an increase of sales in Brass Neck’s Amazon shop.
Influencer highlights included:
- Seven stories shared by our influencers in total, all tagging Brass Neck Rum
- Five grid posts from our influencers reaching 39,184 users
Social media results included:
- Nine items of coverage across newsletters, online and social media.
- 112,243 opportunities to see across national, regional, and business publications
- Features in The Glasgow Evening Times, Scottish Financial News, and Edinburgh Reporter
November: Skyrora agrees multi-launch deal with Shetland spaceport for the next decade
Our client Skyrora shot into the press in November after the firm announced a multi-launch deal with SaxaVord Spaceport on Shetland for the next decade.
It marked a significant milestone for the Edinburgh-based rocket company which plans to launch the first rocket to go into space from the UK next year.
Our PR team went into overdrive as we secured some eye-watering coverage from around the world.
The story dominated the space industry agenda throughout the foreseeable month and firmly planted Skyrora as a key player in the emerging UK sector.
The story secured impressive coverage across print, newsletter, online and social media:
- 29,847,848 opportunities to see
- 228 items of coverage across national, regional, specialist, business and local outlets
- Featured on broadcast programmes such as BBC breakfast, BBC World News, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Shetland and Times Radio
- Secured coverage across print, newsletter, online and social media including outlets such as the BBC, ITV, The Times, The Sun, Sky News, Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror
December: Global brand launches first Scottish restaurant in St James Quarter
As we entered the festive season, we helped global brand, Thai Express Kitchen, launch its first ever Scottish venue.
Comprising three key elements – a media launch, media releases and social media – our fully integrated campaign ensured Thai Express Kitchen landed in Edinburgh with a splash, establishing it as the new go-to Thai food spot in Edinburgh.
Our media releases generated:
- 47 items of coverage across print, online and social media
- 924,869 opportunities to see
- Coverage across national, regional, local, business and specialist media
- Highlights include Edinburgh Live, Edinburgh Evening News, Insider, Scottish Financial News, DRAM and The Edinburgh Reporter
Media launch event results include:
- 43 attending guests
- 68 items of coverage
- 492,811 opportunities to see
Social media results generated:
- 14 posts; 155 stories
- 55,088 impressions
- 11,978 accounts reached
- 2,396 profile visits
- 261 accounts engaged
- 198 new followers
- 184 website clicks
Paid social media post results:
- 9,192 people reached
- 229 profile visits
- 15,337 impressions
What a year! We have shared so many amazing stories in the past 12 months. Stories which have made businesses more profitable, built team morale and productivity, and the best thing of all, we have loved digging them out!
Holyrood PR wishes all our clients a lovely New Year and can’t wait to see what 2022 brings!
In need of a Scottish PR agency that delivers results like this on a daily basis?
We’re looking forward to a bright 2022 – and would love to learn more about your business goals and to demonstrate how professional PR can help you to smash them. Get in touch with us on 0131 561 2244 or by using the form below:
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