Integrated PR

There's been loads of coverage recently of the current 'units' campaign.

I first noticed it on Classic FM last week, it wound me up no end. But it's totally stuck with me, and I've since seen the TV spots, which, in my opinion are much better.

The main reason I'm writing though is because of the little article about the campaign, in campaign (!). It's a 'live issue'...

In a nutshell, the article examines the use of PR alongside traditional advertising campaigns, in order to boost awareness and such. For 'units', they talk about the news release of survey results a few months ago saying that middle-class adults are drinking too much. It also quotes Amelia Torode, who's blog you should definitely check out.

Now that I think about it, I totally remember all that news and how it made me feel about my own behaviour. When the advert came along, it reinforced that undercurrent of thought, and is really making me wonder about how much I drink. Definitely an inspiring integrated campaign. The article talks about Honda, too, so there you go.

I guess a danger could be, if this starts to be more common, that it works against a campaign. If, for example, another study is released and the government later puts out an advert not as well-targeted or well-written as 'units', could the government seem to be being reactionary, and their message losing weight? We've already seen how badly Gordon Brown has led the public agenda over the past few months.