January PR Highlights - Campaigns, Topics, Events & Experts

From heart-shaped sweets perfect for ‘confused singles’, insulated flasks that have taken TikTok by storm with collections worth thousands, to millennial names going extinct due to Gen Z’s choice in baby names. January has started the year off strong with product, data, and creative PR campaigns. But here are the top-performing PR campaigns the media couldn’t get enough of last month:

The Top 10 PR Campaigns of January:

1. U.S. News: The #1 Diet of 2024

• Campaign type: Data-led campaign
• Results: 7421 Links secured
• U.S. News researched the best diets that enable you to manage your weight long-term and eat healthfully. The Mediterranean Diet has been ranked as the best diet once again.

2. IKEA: IKEA’s Life At Home Report

• Campaign type: Creative Campaign
• Results: 2822 Links secured
• Furniture giant IKEA collected data from 250,000 participants around the world, to identify the essential needs for a better life at home. 52% of those surveyed say that home is their favourite place in the world, and this rises to 60% of people who have pets); a dream home equals a dream life.

3. The Royal Society of Chemistry: The Chemistry of Tea

• Campaign type: Study Campaign
• Results: 1358 Links secured
• Chemist Michelle Francl explores how science transforms humble leaves into this beloved beverage. She focuses on tea varieties that come from a single plant, including green, black, white, yellow, oolong and pu’er teas, as opposed to rooibos, and chamomile.

4. Siggi’s: Digital Detox Competition

• Campaign type: Creative Campaign
• Results: 1132 Links secured
• Yoghurt brand Siggi’s offered 10k to 8 people who can go without their phone for 30 days. To be considered for the contest, contestants had to write a 100-500 word essay on why they’d like to digitally detox and the positive impact it’ll have on their life.

5. Betway: Most Popular Independent Coffee Shops

• Campaign type: Data-led campaign
• Results: 660 Links secured
• Looking at TikTok views, Instagram hashtags and Google search volume, Betway analysed 300 of the hottest spots around the globe, with coffee houses like Federal in Manchester and London beating New York to the punch.

6. Trader Joe’s: Most Popular Products of 2024

• Campaign type: Data-led campaign
• Results: 584 links secured
• American grocery store chain Trader Joe’s has released a list of their most popular selling products predicted for 2024. The list ranges from chicken soup dumplings to chilli and lime-flavoured tortilla chips.

7. Baby Centre: The Gen Z Names Going Extinct

• Campaign type: Data-led campaign
• Results: 465 Links secured
• Gen Z may have brutishly booted millennials off of the top of the social food chain, and now they’re making their names extinct. The Baby Centre reveals the top names that were once popular with millennials which are now doomed to become extinct by Gen Z. Some names for girls include Brooke, Blake and Mckenzie.

8. Hidden Valley: Ranch Lip Balm

• Campaign type: New Product Campaign
• Results: 451 Links secured
• Ranch dressing brand Hidden Valley has created a Limited edition savoury, garlicky, salty ranch-flavoured lip balm. According to an exec at Burt’s Bee’s, this idea was because of the overwhelmingly “enthusiastic” response to the fictional debut of these products on a previous April Fool’s Day.

9. Sweetheart’s: Situationship Sweets

• Campaign type: New Product Campaign
• Results: 409 links secured
• Sweethearts have created sweets perfect for ‘Confused Singles’, and those whose relationship status is about as blurry as the dreaded last line of an eye exam.

10. Barilla: Pasta Engagement Rings

• Campaign type: New Product Campaign
• Results: 311 links secured
• One lucky winner will receive a set of two rings inspired by Barilla’s heart-shaped pasta ahead of Valentine’s Day. The first ring is a “Barilla blue” enamel stripe ring while the other is set with a 3.51-carat lab-grown heart-shaped diamond with a pavé ruby (0.25 carats) band.

Amidst the whirlwind of attention-grabbing campaigns that dominated media coverage this month, journalists across national publications, consumer outlets, and trade platforms delved into a diverse array of topics. For PR professionals and brands seeking inspiration sometimes, the most impactful coverage arises from taking a step back, assessing the landscape, and identifying opportunities. Has there been a sudden shift in weather patterns, the launch of a new film, or a new product capturing media attention? Reactive opportunities can sometimes be the most successful:

The Top 5 Most Covered Topics:

1. Storm Isha (4k pieces of coverage)
2. Dry January (3.7k pieces of coverage)
3. Blue Monday (3.4k pieces of coverage)
4. Stanley Cups (3.1k pieces of coverage)
5. Full Moon (2.9k pieces of coverage)

The Top Most Covered Events:

• The Golden Globes (2.7 million social engagements)
• Mean Girls The Movie (468k social engagements)
• Luke Littler (373k social engagements)

Types of Experts Journalists Have Favoured This Month:

• Health Experts (1419 articles)
• Legal Experts (945 articles)
• Tech Experts (610 articles)
• Travel Experts (337 articles)

Format of Campaign

1. Data-led PR
2. Commentary or thought leadership PR
3. Reactive PR
4. Creative/Campaign PR
5. Product PR

Curious about how our PR team can collaborate with your brand or business to secure links in national publications? Reach out to us today, and let’s explore the potential opportunities and how we can help your business reach millions of readers through targeted and impactful stories. Connect with our PR team at hello@ayko.com, and let the journey towards enhanced visibility and strategic media presence begin.