There were PR coups and gaffs of Olympic proportions this week, but it was the British Heart Foundation's campaign with Vinnie Jones which won our hearts.
We must first however applaud The Scout Association which struck PR gold when Kate Middleton’s team unveiled it as one of her official causes. The Duchess of Cambridge is to become a volunteer helper at her local scout group.
Kate Middleton, herself a former brownie, will wear the Scout Association’s distinctive blue shirt, scarf and famous woggle (no doubt with some considerable style) as she lends a hand at meetings close to the rented farmhouse she shares with Prince William on Anglesey.
This is a major PR coup for the movement which hopes the megawatt appeal of Kate will help the organisation recruit more adult volunteers – something it so badly needs.
While the Scout Association was surely giving itself achievement badges for this coup, there were no honours going to the IT boys behind London 2012’s latest ticketing fiasco. The organisers of 2012 were forced to suspend all ticket resales for the Olympics and Paralympics due to problems with their website. Just a few hours after being launched, the system, where people could put up unwanted tickets for others to buy, had to be shut down, leaving thousands fuming and turning to the social media channels to vent their rage.
But Olympic PR gold, for ingenuity surely goes to The British Heart Foundation which through the really clever use of hard-man Vinnie Jones and the Bee Gees classic ‘stayin alive,’ communicated the important message that people who are daunted about giving the kiss of life should simply concentrate on chest compressions when performing CPR – with the beat of the disco tune providing the perfect rhythm to follow.
This activity, which is part of a major ad campaign, wins our vote because it has all the ingredients ...
Lots of content for the media to play with: film footage of Mr Jones, which works across the web, a catchy news hook in the form of the tune, research among consumers to add serious weight to the news story, case studies, expert advice etc.
This is all backed-up by a mix of other tools ranging from T-shirts, a mobile phone app, a Q&A with Vinnie, a petition to sign plus an option to buy the music and donate to charity plus the chance to show support on twitter by tweeting #hardandfast.
It's an appropriately wholehearted effort by the BHF to get a very simple but powerful message across that 'hands only CPR is not as hard as it looks'...and they've done it brilliantly.
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