10 Inspiring Public Relations Examples from Top Brands

An effective public relations strategy can be a game changer, as 71% of consumers buy from a reputable brand they can trust.

Additionally, data shows that PR profoundly influences consumer behavior, with 60% of consumers reading through articles about a brand before making a purchase.

The global PR market is worth $97 billion and is estimated to be $133.82 billion by 2027. So, PR’s power lies in its capacity to influence consumer behavior and perception.

This article explores 10 inspiring successful PR campaign examples from leading brands. Read on to learn how their public relations strategies shaped their brand image and influenced different spheres of their businesses.

Successful public relations examples and why they worked

Let’s look at the strategies behind successful PR campaigns by various brands, the results they generated, and what helped the campaign work so well.

LEGO Rebuild the World campaign

In 2021, LEGO ran a PR campaign dubbed #BuildtoGive to help children in need globally. For each star user built and shared on social media channels, LEGO donated a LEGO set to vulnerable communities, children’s homes, or hospitalized children to play during the holiday season.

The campaign was a great opportunity for families to play together, and it hinged on their Play Well report findings that family play strengthens bonds. LEGO leveraged this to boost its campaign’s reach and highlight how it will spread smiles to children and their families.

Julia Goldin, LEGO’s chief product and marketing office said:

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Results: Within the first week, the campaign generated close to 4 million YouTube views, currently at 14 million, and helped raise 1.5 million sets to be donated. In the same year, LEGO’s consumer sales also grew by 22% compared to the previous periods.

Why it worked: The playful and imaginative video displayed a world where everything is possible, resonating with the campaign theme of celebrating the limitless possibilities of LEGO bricks, encouraging families to get creative while bringing joy to over 1.5 million children.

Pro tip: When you run a social media marketing campaign, don’t miss using the best social media customer service tools to engage your customers effectively. Remember, responsiveness is the key to user satisfaction and engagement.

IKEA’s Do Try This at Home campaign

IKEA’s Do Try This At Home campaign promoted affordability and fun despite the high cost of living.

IKEA lowered the prices of its furniture and home goods to make them affordable to its customers. The public relations campaign mirrors the cost-conscious strategy of the marketing space, where people share stories of pursuing their hobbies despite the high cost of living.

One scenario spotlights a child and an adult doing martial arts in their living room, and then they transform into anime personalities.

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The scenarios depict how IKEA’s products were helping people’s activities with affordable price tags to drive their campaign theme.

Results: The campaign increased consumer engagement and IKEA’s website traffic while inspiring people to view their homes as a source of happiness without a connection to rising costs.

Why it worked: The IKEA concept was simple yet influential. They researched that 43% of consumers were concerned about their disposable income, and 38% were worried about the cost of living. They then encouraged people to try “do-it-yourself” (DIY) projects using IKEA’s adaptable and affordable products.

IBM’s Every Second Counts PR campaign

IBM operates in a dynamic business environment with stiff competition. To manage this, IBM launched an Every Second Counts campaign to stay ahead of the competition.

The theme of the PR campaign was to inquire if businesses were adequately prepared for a cyberattack.

Results: The campaign was so successful that a few weeks after the presentation, IBM garnered more than 500,000 engagements and 4.8 million impressions.

Why it worked: The campaign effectively used infographics and videos to communicate the message, focusing on real-world scenarios. The mode of delivery portrayed urgency and relevance to resonate with audiences’ emotional and intellectual capacities.

Zoho’s press releases boost their reputation and bring in new customers

Zoho is a reputable CRM and inventory management software company trusted by big brands like Amazon, L’Oréal, and Zomato. Their PR strategy includes regular press releases and customer success stories.

They frequently publish press releases to share company news about their products and services with top media outlets. For example, they recently announced the launch of their payment gateway. They also release PR articles on their websites and in top business and tech publications such as Business Line and Daily Maverick.

They invite industry leaders to Zoho’s annual analyst day and other company events for added exposure, resulting in widespread media coverage in top publications like Forbes.

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Results

Zoho’s press releases and features in articles and reports by industry leaders have helped build its brand reputation, strengthen customer relations, and boost users. For FY 2023, its revenue crossed the USD 1.36 billion mark.

Why Zoho’s PR strategy works

Zoho uses customer stories, company announcements, new product feature updates, and industry analyst reports to build trust and showcase their products. Reading customer success stories and expert recommendations helps companies trust Zoho’s CRM software for their business processes.

That’s how the company beat Silicon Valley competitors to lead the CRM industry for 25 years and book a 3% YoY profit increase.

The Barbie movie pre-launch campaign

Ahead of the Barbie movie launch in July 2023, the brand ran a massive public relations campaign to promote the movie. With an ~$150 million marketing budget, the brand entered into 100+ retail partnerships and other marketing collaborations.

Here are some of the many tactics it used:

• Retail partnerships with brands like Xbox, Crocs, and Forever21 to launch Barbie-themed products
• Partnership with Airbnb to create a Barbie-themed Malibu Dreamhouse where people can get the Barbie experience

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• Media collaborations with reputable publishers like the Washington Post to create buzz around the movie launch with content that engages and also meets SEO copywriting checklist
• A collaboration with Google, which turned the screen pink for anyone searching for “Barbie,” “Barbie movie,” and “Margot Robbie.”

Results

The movie earned over $1.45 billion worldwide from its box office collections.

The campaign caused a lot of social media buzz and organic earned media. The #Barbiemovie has over 1.2 million Instagram posts.

Why it worked: This PR campaign effectively created a buzz, making it a cultural phenomenon and a viral social media sensation.

Dove’s Project #ShowUs campaign

Dove is a beauty brand known for smashing beauty stereotypes and promoting women’s natural beauty worldwide. In 2019, it worked with EVERYBODY CONSULTING to launch its Project #ShowUs campaign.

They believe most women don’t feel represented in the visual ads they see by brands and want to rectify the situation.

The brand asked its customers and women worldwide to share their authentically beautiful pictures. It partnered with Getty Images and Girlgaze to create a library of 10,000+ images of real women with real beauty.

The goal was to create a collection of photos that brands can use for their ads and marketing campaigns. Here are some images from the campaign:

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Results: Over 2,500 companies, including reputable brands like Apple and Adidas, used images from this library, generating significant media coverage for Dove’s initiative. Over 100,000 women worldwide supported the project.

Why this PR campaign worked: It struck an emotional cord with women (Dove’s target audience) who don’t feel represented in media campaigns.

Spotify’s viral Wrapped campaign

Spotify pioneered a viral Wrapped campaign in 2016, which has become an annual trend. The music campaign was Spotify’s deliberate move to create the fear of missing out.

In this campaign, users can share their Wrapped Stories on social media platforms straight from the app.

Results: In 2020, the Wrapped campaign increased Spotify’s mobile app downloads by 21%.

Why it worked: This challenge was only open to people using the Spotify platform. Due to fear of missing out, more people tapped in and downloaded the app to participate in the challenge.

STABILO BOSS’ Highlight the Remarkable campaign

STABILO, the leading manufacturer of highlighter pens, ran the Highlight the Remarkable campaign to celebrate women who made notable strides in writing history but remained invisible.

They had a black-and-white print featuring notable women, such as Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician involved in complex computations that pioneered the 1961 space trip mission.

The brand used a highlighter to draw a yellow highlight to reveal her in the photo.

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Results: The PR strategy went viral on social media, with the Chief Creative Officer, Dennis May, noting that:

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The campaign also won gold and silver in various industry events.

Why it worked: Ideally, this campaign had no call to action to sell highlighters. It only contextually used highlighters to recognize under-recognized women. This is a classic example of how a simple yet clever idea can cause a massive brand impact.

Subway’s Eat Fresh Refresh campaign

Previously, Subway’s marketing campaigns featured the tagline “Eat Fresh.” However, due to changes in its menu and overall brand, it altered its campaign to “Eat Fresh Refresh.”

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Subway’s main campaign initiative was part of its broader master plan to re-engage its consumers who were losing interest in its brand offerings. The campaign ran across different platforms showcasing Subway’s enhanced menu quality and variety.

Results: This first menu change over 20 years increased sales by 4% compared to the previous year’s sales. Also, transactions increased by 33% compared to the previous two years, signaling a turnaround.

Why it worked: The campaign featured various sports stars, such as Serena Williams and Steph Curry, who promoted the brand’s new menu. One of the commercials showed Tom Brady pulling a multi-grained bread from a perfume bottle. His humorous stance on how good the bread smells uniquely spotlights Subway’s new options, captivating customers to try its menu.

Coinbase’s bouncing QR code during its Super Bowl debut

Coinbase featured a bouncing QR code mimicking a bouncing DVD logo on the screen during its Super Bowl debut. The displayed code only lasted for 60 seconds, and it directed people to a Coinbase sign-up account offering $15 in bitcoins.

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Results: The traffic was so massive that approximately 20 million people were directed to its landing page within a minute. This caused the app to crash for an hour, which Surojit Chatterjee, its Chief Product Officer, cited as historic.

The Coinbase app surged from position 186th to second place on the App Store and induced a rush of downloads.

Why it worked: The ad was simple and minimalistic. The campaign was also well-timed, airing during the Super Bowl, an overwhelming high-stakes event.

Ready to take your brand’s PR to the next level?

Public relations is an indispensable tool for your brand to build trust and deeply connect with your audience. It helps improve your brand reputation, drive engagement, and increase sales volume.

Notably, strategic PR goes beyond managing your brand’s image. It also entails driving narratives that echo, motivate, and leave a lifelong impact.

Whether initiating a new campaign, managing media relations, dealing with a brand crisis, or looking to connect deeper with your audience, each PR strategy is a chance to convey your brand’s story in an impactful way.

Keep your target audience in mind and show up where they are most active.

Get inspired by these successful PR campaigns and plan your strategy for the last quarter of 2024 today!

If you want to monitor the impact of your PR efforts, discover how Mention can help!