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Hillarys sheds light on how its PR campaign made blinds less boring

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By Awards Analyst, writer

December 8, 2022 | 6 min read

10 Yetis Digital for Hillarys won at The Drum Awards for PR 2022 for the best Long Running and Retained PR Account. Here, we find out how 10 Yetis Digital made blinds less boring through PR.

'Making blinds less boring through sexy PR'

'Making blinds less boring through sexy PR'

Since blinds aren't the most exciting product to market Hillarys has given 10 Yetis Digital creative freedom and asked them to make blinds a bit less boring. Tactics have included the traditional newsjacking but mixed with concept images, microsites and widgets.

The brief

Hillarys first approached 10 Yetis in 2016 for help executing a digital PR campaign that would increase brand awareness, boost SEO and drive traffic. The agency was also tasked with generating high-quality online press coverage and high-quality backlinks to Hillary's website, the landing page, and blog pages.

Feature articles should position Hillarys as expert, not just with curtains and blinds, but with all things home-related. The ambition was for Hillarys to become a lifestyle brand, not just a blinds retailer.

The Idea

10 Yetis would come up with PR campaigns, in three-month blocks, that related to lifestyle, homes and where possible, the bedroom. The blocks allowed for campaigns to be flexible and reactive to the global news agenda.

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The articles offered tips, insight and guidance on a variety of homecare topics like how to deep clean and how to keep bugs out and plants alive. Newsjacking was also used by the agency with Hillary's offering advice on protecting homes during a storm or how to cope with changing seasons.

The agency has also created a number of microsites and widgets. The best example would be the 'Sleep Calculator' which told users what time to wake up each morning based on the time they went to sleep each night. The Sleep Calculator led to a variety of spin-offs, including the Jet Lag Calculator, Lost Sleep Calculator for Parents and Night Shift Calculator.

Clever blind tech was amplified in the press such as baby soothing curtains, SAD curtains, and scenic blinds. Data-led infographics were also key, examples included: looking at what homes of the future might look like and the need to adapt for humans to comfortably live on Mars or underwater, right through to how far away you are from various bugs and creatures at any given time

The results

Over the six and half year PR retainer, 10 Yetis Digital secured 3,507 pieces of coverage. 83% of all coverage was online and 17% was either print or broadcast. Breaking down the online coverage, 65% of all online coverage contained a backlink to the Hillarys website, product or blog pages or campaign pages.

Meeting the brief the agency managed to generate press coverage in more niche areas like motoring, travel, celebrity & entertainment, health & fitness, pet, charity, technology and sex and relationships.

“The team is fully immersed in our creation process, right through from idea generation, design concepts and outreach which is where they really show their expertise," said Sandeep Matharu, SEO manager at Hillarys.

This campaign was a winner at The Drum Awards for PR 2022. You can see all the winners here. The Drum Awards for Marketing are currently open for entry. Find out how you can enter now.

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