In the month that brought us a long bank holiday weekend, a visit from the Easter bunny and hopefully lots of chocolate, there were plenty of campaigns to choose from. We’ve put together a roundup of our favourite ones to brighten up your afternoon, so grab a cuppa plus any leftover Easter chocolate and check out the March edition of Digital PR Spotlight.

Using events like Easter and topics as big and celebrated as ‘self-love’ as hooks is a great way to get your brand seen and heard by a wider audience. But with many gift guides after quirky and interesting products and the media looking for new ways to talk about mental health and self-love, coming up with an original campaign can be difficult.

We’ve looked at what these brands in particular did, why their campaigns worked and the coverage they gained as a result.

Lush: Lush x Shrek collab

Get ready to indulge in Swamp Chic, as Lush launched a brand new beauty collection in collaboration with everyone’s favourite ogre, Shrek, last month. It may not seem like an obvious match at first, but as a classic film that celebrates self-love, it’s earthy, fun and the perfect partner for the beauty brand. Featuring Shrek bath bombs, ‘get outta my swamp’ shower slime and a Gingy bubble bar, it has everything Shrek fans could ever want. 

The odd but ultimately perfect collaboration got the media talking and resulted in a nice mix of top-tier coverage. The campaign secured over 50 pieces of coverage across national and regional media to beauty and lifestyle titles. It generated a big buzz on social media too – mainly Tik Tok and Instagram – due to its quirkiness, with plenty of influencers sharing reviews of the products. 

Standout coverage

• Evening Standard (DR 89): The essential guide to Easter
• The Sun (DR 90): This is the ‘grimmest bath bomb I’ve ever tried’ says Lush fan after testing out the brand’s new Shrek inspired range
• JOE (DR 71): You can now buy Shrek bath bombs from Lush
• Hello Magazine (DR 82): Lush has just launched a Shrek-themed beauty collection
• Manchester Evening News (DR 83): Lush fans ask ‘are you kidding me?’ after new bath range is revealed
• Stylist (DR 80): Swampify your self-care with this Lush x Shrek limited edition collection
• POP SUGAR (DR 74): I’ve Entered My “Swamp Girl Era” Thanks to Lush’s “Shrek” Collection

Why it worked

Firstly: nostalgia. Nostalgia marketing works because it feels uniquely personal and helps evoke positive emotions. Not only is Shrek a classic film – particularly for millennials and gen Z – but it has become a pop culture phenomenon with the help of meme culture and social media. These days, you can even head to a Shrek rave. This campaign taps into that culture while potentially bringing it to a whole new audience. 

Secondly: timing. This was strategically launched at the end of March and coincided with Easter weekend. With people getting more than just chocolate eggs nowadays, it was perfect for those writing gift guides and looking for quirky gifts to feature and test out.

The topic of Self-love (sorry, Shrek-love) has exploded in recent years, with lots of brands piggybacking the subject to secure coverage and start conversations. Naturally, a film celebrating self-love partnering with a brand that is the epitome of self-love was always going to do well. 

Lastly, this campaign was ideal for social media as it features strong visuals, quirky shareable products and is ultimately memorable. With plenty of people rushing to try out the new Shrek bath bombs and shower slime, the brand gets what they want; a buzz, plus thousands of likes and audience engagement. 

Pour Moi: Get paid to listen to Taylor Swift

Is there anybody who isn’t jumping on the Taylor Swift bandwagon? Pour Moi is the latest brand trying to get the attention of millions of Swifties by offering the ultimate dream job: listening to Taylor Swift for £300, whilst wearing luxury underwear. The brand launched the competition last month so they could pick a winner in time for Taylor’s new album, ‘The Tortured Poet’s Department’, release day on April 19th. 

The underwear brand has little to do with the global popstar but they know she’s a hot topic and if Swifties are going to be listening to the album, on repeat, all day – they may as well get paid for it. Media titles know anything mentioning Taylor Swift is bound to get engagement and clicks, and the brand wants to capitalise on that. The brand also shares a similar, predominantly female, target demographic as Taylor’s key audience.

The ‘dream job’ advert has gained nearly 100 pieces of coverage across a variety of sites, from national and regional titles, to student and lifestyle titles – all thanks to linking the campaign with one of the most prominent celebrities of the 21st century.

Standout coverage

• Daily Star (DR 82): You could have ‘dream’ job of listening to Taylor Swift – and sitting in undies
• Irish Mirror (DR 76): Irish Taylor Swift fan wanted to listen to new album for €350 – plus other perks
• Student Beans (DR 82): Get Paid To Listen To Taylor Swift’s New Album
• ABC Audio (DR 68): Lingerie brand will pay one fan $475 to review Taylor Swift’s new album 
• Her Campus (DR 78): YOU CAN GET PAID $400 TO LISTEN TO TAYLOR SWIFT’S NEW ALBUM
• MyLondon (DR 77): One lucky fan Taylor Swift fan can get paid £300 to listen to her new album The Tortured Poets Department

Why it worked

Everyone loves a dream job campaign – no matter how silly!

A ‘dream job’ campaign is a made up job with the primary purpose of generating news coverage and audience interaction. This latest one is tapping into a Swifties’ dream and paying them to lounge around in luxury underwear while listening to her latest album, all for £300 plus some free underwear. 

It’s relevant and timely; Taylor Swift is EVERYWHERE, especially since her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, and as she’s set to launch another brand new album.

Though the dream job campaign has been done a million times, each one tends to be fairly unique. How many other jobs do you know that let you sit in your underwear listening to music all day? And the uniqueness is what tends to make them work. They’re extremely shareable, and get people talking.

Finally, they can help drive engagement and traffic to your website, if the idea is interesting enough. To get the most out of the campaign, you can have people apply through a landing page like Pour Moi. This means you’re driving a bigger audience to your site and – who knows, they might stick around and buy something. 

Balenciaga: How to look like a snack

Balenciaga knows exactly what they’re doing with this one. Not only are they trying to make us look like a snack, but they’re trying to go viral with new crisp-inspired bags for those with money to burn.

The fashion brand launched three different bags in the style of popular crisp flavours made out of calfskin to mimic the look of crumpled packaging. Priced at $1,750 dollars a bag, the salty collection is not affordable, and some critics say it’s even a ’social experiment’ to see whether people will actually buy anything as long as it is designer. 

The campaign has secured nearly 120 pieces of coverage in a variety of US and Spanish national, lifestyle and fashion titles. It was also used in numerous gift guides, as well as big talking points across social media with plenty of people not buying that it was a real product. 

Standout coverage

• The Sun (DR 90): McDonald’s Moschino to Kim Kardashian’s £5K diamante ‘bag of chips’ – bizarre fashion items inspired by fast food
• The Independent (DR 91): Kim Kardashian leaves the tag on for Balenciaga fashion show
• Tapas Magazine (DR 56): Balenciaga sells its chip bags for 1,500 euros
• Trendhunter (DR 82): Balenciaga Presents Its Own Branded Premium Snack Bags
• Trill Mag (DR 40): Balenciaga Releases $1,750 Chip Bags
• NSS Magazine (DR 71): The new Balenciaga bag is a sneaker

Why it worked

Put simply, viral marketing means that your content is shared quickly while reaching a huge audience in a short space of time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t – not all publicity is good publicity, after all. However, Balenciaga has managed to nail their viral marketing strategy, mainly by often asking for obscene amounts of money for quite frankly, ridiculous items – and people absolutely love it. 

In today’s world, fashion brands don’t need to only create beautiful pieces – they need to get people talking. The Spanish brand does just that by creating items that polarise opinions and generate a big buzz, boosting publicity and driving engagement and traffic to the website.

The luxury fashion brand seems to let meme-makers do their job for them with social media sites exploding after a particularly bizarre release as people flock to Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) to share their views on the product.      

Finally, the chip bag itself is quirky, shareable and fun, which makes it perfect for reviewers and social media influencers looking for engagement and something a little different to feature on their site or timeline.