Company: Wise Up PR, Boston, MA
Company Description: Wise Up PR is a global communications agency that partners with businesses, of all sizes, to help achieve their PR goals. Boasting a diverse level of B2B and B2C experience, we assist our clients to maximise the value of PR across every major English language media market.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Communications Research
 Nomination Title: Helping Attest To Make Guesswork Illegal Thanks To Media Relations
- Optional: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 26 words used.
- Releasd page: Contains award entry, press releases, images, video for this campaign. In addition it has metrics from Releasd and a coverage tracker document. Link here.
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated PR campaign or program, or written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
Campaign planning began in September 2022 and the launch happened in April 2023.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 243 words used.
In September 2022, Attest, a consumer research platform for the world’s biggest and fastest-growing brands, sought to flip the script on its existing media relations program for 2023. It has worked with US-based agency Wise Up PR since 2021, achieving all of its PR goals up to that point, including numerous media partnerships, ongoing impactful media placements and a turbocharged boost in brand recognition amongst key audiences.
To take the brand to the next level, Attest wanted to move beyond the confines of traditional B2B communications programs to reveal its true personality to potential customers in the marketing and retail industries. It tasked Wise Up PR with coming up with a creative that not only achieved this goal but was rooted in authenticity for the brand. To build on this significant challenge, the brief was that this creative must also be centered around Attest CEO Jeremy King.
Added to the challenge was a very limited budget, meaning just one major asset could be created and leveraged for the entire campaign. The effect of this was that the campaign would live or die through media relations alone, with the safety valve of paid social promotion unable to come to Wise Up PR’s rescue if this campaign didn’t land with journalists.
To approach this mammoth challenge, Wise Up PR’s first approach was to conduct a listening tour of all of Attest’s key spokespeople. The listening tour uncovered one key insight that propelled the entire campaign.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 237 words used.
Founder, Jeremy King was previously a scientist before he launched Attest. During the listening tour, he detailed how he relies on empiricism, exploring hypotheses and using data to make decisions. When he moved to the world of business, he was shocked by how little a role hard data played in critical business decisions and the messes left behind by decisions devoid of research.
With this critical insight, the Wise Up PR team focused on messaging to weave Jeremy’s passion for the scientific method right into the heart of the campaign. During Wise Up’s sourcing session with Attest’s CEO, he outlined how lack of data and reliance on guesswork were “nearly illegal” in science. With these authentic words, the strapline for the program was born – Make Guesswork Illegal.
To be the lynchpin of this campaign, Wise Up PR advised to create one major asset – a video – that could bring Attest’s campaign fully to life - with a dose of well-intentioned humor. Not only this, it recommended that CEO King should don a lab coat in the video to walk us through the Guesswork Crime Lab, where the most salacious brand crimes are investigated for their lack of consumer forethought.
However, the Wise Up PR team, both former journalists, also knew that while having such an asset in place would help for brand repositioning, it would never appeal to editorially and independently-minded journalists. More was needed.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2022. Even if your initiative started before 2022, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2022 only (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
The Wise Up PR team decided to create a launch moment for this video asset, centered on bespoke research – from Attest’s own platform - that directly ties into the new messaging to generate media coverage. Two pieces of research were created and converted into launch press releases focused on:
- A brand press release: The research focused on how often marketers admit to relying on guesswork.
- A consumer press release: The second piece of research revealed how brand loyalty with shoppers has plummeted due to “greedlflation” and how consumers choose to break up with brands, tying this topic to the issue of brands ignoring the need for data.
The campaign captured an audience of millions, with 149 pieces of earned media coverage being achieved, reaching over 4.5 million estimated coverage views and an average domain authority of 68 highlighting the quality of the coverage. This coverage also generated over 180,000 views on social, as well as 3,000+ engagements (all metrics from Releasd).
The two-pronged approach for press releases was validated also with coverage being secured in marketing titles (Media Post etc.), while mainstream media including Business Insider and Yahoo! Finance published articles. Beyond these metrics, Attest also saw a significant jump in its own brand awareness tracking amongst its key audiences.
It's rare that a campaign based entirely on fact, from the CEO's background to the research conducted, can not only achieve outstanding media relations results but also fundamentally reposition a brand amongst key audiences and beyond.
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