Claudine Snape, head of communications, Asthma UK Visit the CharityComms website to view slides from our past events, see what events we have coming up and to check out what else we do. http://www.charitycomms.org.uk

2. Hijacking the news
jumping on a breaking news story
Claudine Snape claudine.snape@gmail.com @claude78
July 2014

3. So what is newsjacking?
“Newsjacking is the art and science of injecting your
ideas into a breaking news story and generating tons
of media coverage and social media engagement.”
David Merrman Scott

4. Why you should newsjack
• Raise brand profile and increase credibility
• Increase propensity to support
• Increase online reach
• Drive visitors to your website or calls to your
helpline
• Gain new members/supporters
• Improve organic search rankings
• Promote key advice and services

6. theworldofraven.wordpress.com

7. @caitlinmoran
“Tuesday’s final of The Great
British Bake-Off was wholly
hijacked 40 minutes in by a
cutaway shot of a squirrel
gallivanting outside the Bake-
Off marquee..”

8. When to hijack

9. Hashtag #hijacking
• There are an estimated 400 million tweets sent a
day.
• The hashtag function of Twitter is often used by
brands and companies as a PR tool to gain
visibility.
• Hashtags can create visibility, drive real time
conversations and influencing trends and drive
traffic towards your website.
• They can also be hijacked to draw attention to a
related cause or to cause embarrassment.

13. Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/opinions/2014/24190/seven-
cautionary-tales-of-hashtag-hijackings#ixzz373gzV714

15. Pitfalls?
• A lot of time and effort for nothing
• Can be reputationally risky without a clear link to
the subject
• You can’t control the direction the story could
take – it could take you onto uncomfortable
ground
• Your spokespeople could feel ill prepared and be
off message
• You can’t control the timing – it could mean you
have to drop another campaign launch

16. AFP PHOTO/Leon NealLEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images

17. Defra Air Quality Twitter alerts
March 31st 2014

18. Mail Online March 31st 13:41BST
Mark Duel - writer

19. Tues 1 April. Asthma UK statement
Kay Boycott, chief executive at Asthma UK,
says: “The two thirds of people with asthma who
find that air pollution makes their asthma worse will
be at an increased risk of an attack following the
alarming Defra warning of high pollution levels
around the country…”

22. Key commentators
Prof Frank Kelly, chair of the Department of Health’s
committee on the medical effects of air pollution,
said:
“ Schools in areas affected by severe air pollution
should keep all pupils inside over lunch and
playtimes. He said staying indoors was vital to avoid
them suffering asthma attacks and potentially
lifelong lung damage”.

23. Guardian Online
Wednesday 2 April 2014 16.18 BST
Josh Halliday and Mark Tran

24. Mirror Online
Wednesday 2 April 20:18 BST

26. Question YES NO
Has your asthma flared up? 83.8% 16.2%
Are you using your reliever inhaler
more?
84.7% 15.3%
Have you avoided going outside? 50% 50%
Are you scared of having an asthma
attack?
62.9% 37.1%
Have you sought advice about
managing your asthma?
39.9% 60.1%
Have you had an asthma attack? 31.3% 68.7%
Survey Monkey responses as of 9.40am Thursday 3 April 2014, based on 342
respondents

30. Thurs 3 April. Asthma UK statement
Kay Boycott, chief executive at Asthma UK, says:
“It’s not a surprise that there has been an increase
in Ambulance calls given that two thirds of people
with asthma tells us that air pollution makes their
asthma worse and nearly a third of people who took
our overnight poll reported having an asthma attack
due to the air pollution…”

31. Third Sector media briefing

32. Impact
• 400 articles giving 683m OTS
• Helpline staff gave advice to at least 30 people
• Facebook reach of 134,837 (over a 400% increase in comparison
to the same period the week before)
• 432 more ‘likes’ on our Facebook page and 153 more followers
on Twitter
• 75% increase in web visits
• Downloads of key resources nearly trebled
• 21% increase in people looking at our advice page on asthma
attacks
• 254% increase in the number of people doing the Triple A: Avoid
Asthma Attacks Test

33. What went well?
• Acting quickly – getting tailored social content on FB and
advice on the website – was shared widely
• Having a legitimate reason to comment
• Using existing pre-approved content
• Getting a cross organisational group together and confirming a
plan of action
• Regular team huddles on progress and content ideas
• Developing the story further by using a survey
• Responding to other new hooks (ambulance figures)
• Targeting journalists following the story
• Having spokespeople available to add credibility to story
(asthma nurses)
• Having strong case studies willing to talk about experiences
• Having the resources to cope with the media follow up

34. What could have been done better?
• Could have responded earlier if we had set up DEFRA alerts
• More content on Twitter and news jack using smog hashtags
• Better variety of pictures!
• Focus on single action
• Only £198 raised from text donations in response to the
tailored ask
• Should have contacted mummy bloggers

35. Top tips – 1. Find news to jack
• Decide what are issues or subjects that could impact
on your charity
• Delegate key responsibilities to individual staff
• Draw up a list of who is commentating across digital,
broadcast and print media
• Monitor keywords and set up alerts on those issues
and subjects (ie Google news)
• Monitor influential blogs
• Track key journalists, bloggers and media outlets
• Follow relevant twitter hashtags
• Keep an eye on trending word clouds

36. 2. Make a plan
• How are you related to the breaking news?
• Why should the media care?
• What existing content can you use?
• Quickly decide roles and responsibilities
• Get senior buy-in
• Negotiate with managers about dropping lower
priority work
• Brainstorm your approach with a cross organisational
group
• Meet at the end of each day to review and plan for
the next day

37. 3. Get out there quick
• Blog your take on the news
• Tweet it using an established hashtag
• Issue a real time media alert
• Go direct to journalists who are most likely to
cover the story
• Talk about it in a speech
• Use your established networks

39. Questions

40. Background reading
• Newsjacking – How to inject your ideas into a breaking news story
and generate tons of media coverage. By David Meerman Scott
http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/books/newsjacking/
• Newsjacking on social media, by Kirsty Marrins, digital
communications consultant. @Londonkirsty
http://kirstymarrins.com/2013/07/24/newsjacking-on-social-media/
• 5 brand marketing efforts that took newsjacking to the next level.
Britt Klontz. http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/01/brand-
marketing-newsjacking-next-level/
• The Inbound Marketer's Complete Guide to Newsjacking. Corey Eridon
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/32983/The-Inbound-
Marketer-s-Complete-Guide-to-Newsjacking.aspx
• Seven cautionary tales of hashtag hi-jacking, by Mark Potter.
http://www.marketingprofs.com/opinions/2014/24190/seven-
cautionary-tales-of-hashtag-hijackings#ixzz373gzV714

41. Visit the CharityComms website to view
slides from our past events, see what events
we have coming up and to check out what
else we do.
www.charitycomms.org.uk
#charityPR