Duolingo and the University of Nottingham

March was a busy month for campaigns! Here we look at two PR campaigns we loved this month and one we think could do with some work!

Language learning app Duolingo commemorated World Tattoo Day on 21st March with a campaign highlighting the worst translations people have had tattooed onto their bodies. Followers were encouraged to send in photos of their questionable tattoos using the hashtag #TattooDuoOver, with language experts hired to identify mistranslations and grammatical errors. To encourage engagement, the brand partnered with a tattoo parlour to offer some lucky entrants the opportunity to have their dodgy tattoos fixed. Everybody who nominated their design was also given an access code to a free Duolingo trial, hopefully stopping them from making the same mistake again.

What we liked: This campaign was successful in gaining media attention while also encouraging traffic to Duolingo’s site and social channels. There is no better way to get consumers and the media talking about your company than with a fun and bold campaign like this.

This tiny prospectus cuts back on printing, saving more than 72 tonnes of paper and over 18,240kg of CO2. That’s equivalent to a petrol car driving 287,000 miles! With 54,000 litres of water used for every tonne of paper created, the new initiative is also successful in saving enough water to keep every student at The University of Nottingham hydrated for over 6 weeks. The prospectus is available using a QR code instead of the large paper document, so no potential student will miss out on that vital information either.

What we liked: Gaining media coverage and driving conversations on social while helping the environment is a strategy we can all get behind. The University of Nottingham’s initiative is the first in what will surely become the new norm as organisations are increasingly held accountable for their impact on the environment.

The New Zealand All Blacks found themselves in hot water this month when they posted a controversial tweet thanking the ‘partners, mothers, daughters, doctors, referees, administrators and fans’ for their support. They somehow managed to forget the Black Ferns, or any mention of women’s rugby for that matter. The post was quickly labelled tone deaf by many and the tweet was deleted.

What to learn: National events, like International Women’s Day, can offer brands a fantastic opportunity to tap into timely conversations and show their appreciation to groups who have been part of their journey. However, a lack of thought can quickly turn a nice gesture into a major public relations problem. This seems like a very obvious omission that came from rushing to join a trend, without enough thought.