PR to promote a controversial store opening
Ecigwizard is one of the largest online and offline retailers of electronic cigarettes and e-liquids in the UK and Europe. They supply over 600 independently owned ecig stores, along with over 80 private white label e-liquid clients and over 45 company-owned and franchise stores across the UK.
They have been supplying vapers with an alternative solution to smoking tobacco for over 10 years, in which time they’ve experienced significant growth.
Having worked with them on various campaigns over the last eight years, on their technical SEO, content marketing and digital PR, we were once again brought in to support them with distributing some incredible news… They were opening their first stores within NHS hospitals.
The Challenge
We had been given the opportunity to utilise our skills and contacts to offer this news to the media in order to gain multiple pieces of coverage and essentially make this news a national story. The biggest challenge was finding the right journalist and news outlet to take the article and publish it as soon as possible before other news sources got their hands on the story.
Our Approach
We approached a very small number of journalists, providing details of the news exclusive we had for them. Once we’d piqued their interest, the next step was to identify which journalist would be able to publish the news as soon as possible. The journalist with the ability to publish the story sooner than the rest would essentially be given the story.
Once we had an agreement in principle with the journalist, we wanted to work with, we finalised the press release and the story was published shortly after on The Guardian. It didn’t take long for the news to spread organically.
The Results
Following the story being published in The Guardian, it was quickly picked up by The Times, Telegraph, Metro and ITV, along with various other local and industry publications.
As the news spread and the story grew, the BBC aired an interview with Ecigwizard and journalists across the pond (New York Times) began to pick the story up. It sparked a conversation about whether electronic cigarettes are a healthier alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes, and whether the NHS should be seen supporting this cessation aid over others by allowing them into their premises.
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