🔥 Top PR Campaigns of the Week

This Week’s Standout PR Campaigns

1. Longest Cheesesteak Record at PHL​
​As seen in: Fortune​

MarketPlace PHL marked National Cheesesteak Day by assembling 1,291 cheesesteaks at Philadelphia International Airport, setting a Guinness World Record and handing them out to travellers, staff and TSA workers.

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​What we like about this campaign

It's a simple idea built around a recognisable icon. Easy to picture, easy to share. The Guinness record and the giveaway add a human angle that makes it worth covering.

2. Solo Travel Index by Quotezone​
​As seen in: Time Out​

Quotezone created a Solo Travel Index analysing public transport, hotels and tours, internet speeds and safety across European cities, then pitched the ranking (naming Madrid top) to generate travel coverage and media attention.

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​What we like about this campaign

Original research packaged as a ranking is an easy-to-pickup journalist hook that generates headlines and social shares; it positions the insurer as travel-aware without overtly selling insurance. Simple, media-friendly data stunts like this reliably attract mainstream travel coverage.

3. Remitly 'World's Most Polite Countries' Survey​
​As seen in: Time Out​

Remitly surveyed 4,600 people across 26 countries to rank global politeness, with Japan coming top, followed by Canada and the UK - a simple ranking designed to spark coverage and debate around national reputations.

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​What we like about this campaign

This is an interesting, classic data-led PR story. Simple, shareable, and tied to culture. Rankings like this are easy for journalists to run and tend to get picked up widely.

Sponsor

Finchling scans the news cycle and tells you exactly which stories you should react to, and why.

Most news monitoring tools work the same way: you give them a keyword, and they send an alert every time it appears somewhere. But this means you also get sent a LOT of junk.

Finchling doesn't care about keywords. It reads the news and asks a better question: "Is there a reactive PR opportunity here for this brand?".

• Alerts for the stories that matter: Finchling highlights stories worth reacting to, how competitors are making the news, and trends to inspire your next campaign.
• Ideation that starts with the news, not a blank page: Instead of starting from scratch, every opportunity comes with data angles to explore - so you can pitch a story only your client can tell.
• Track your competitor's press coverage: Finchling shows which competitor campaigns and announcements are getting attention, and what your team can learn from them.

📣 Top PR Opportunities

News Hooks for PR Campaigns

1. Day-one Statutory Sick Pay and the Fair Work Agency launch​
​As seen in: Department for Business & Trade​

From 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay becomes a day-one right — no waiting period, and the earnings threshold is removed, bringing around 1.3 million more workers into scope. The same date also introduces day-one paternity leave, stronger whistleblowing protections, voluntary gender pay and menopause action plans, and higher redundancy penalties. A new Fair Work Agency follows on 7 April with enforcement powers.

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​Why have we flagged this?

The TUC estimates 4.7 million women will benefit, with over 830,000 eligible for SSP for the first time — costing employers around £450m a year (about £15 per employee). With the Fair Work Agency launching at the same time, there’s a short window for brands to speak on workplace health and readiness before it shifts to enforcement. Many briefings blur 2026 and 2027 changes, so getting the timeline right is a simple way to stand out.

Angles to explore

HR/payroll platform (e.g. Personio, BrightHR, Rippling): Survey UK SMEs before 6 April on whether they've updated payroll, absence policies, and manager training for day-one SSP. The "readiness gap" story writes itself — the Fair Work Agency launches the next day with enforcement powers. Data-led, positions the brand as a compliance authority.

Pharmacy or consumer health brand (e.g. Boots, Lemsip, Beechams): Poll workers on whether day-one SSP will change presenteeism — going to work ill because you can't afford unpaid waiting days. "Will Britain finally stop going to work sick?" is consumer-facing, ties to cold/flu product categories, and lands across health and workplace coverage.

2. Harry Potter trailer breaks HBO records​
​As seen in: Deadline​

HBO's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone trailer hit 277 million organic views in 48 hours — the most-watched trailer in HBO/Max history, more than doubling the previous record set by Euphoria Season 3. The series premieres Christmas 2026, with a planned multi-season run covering all seven books.

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​Why have we flagged this?

This is one of the biggest entertainment marketing moments of the year, landing nine months before the show airs. The scale of engagement signals a sustained fandom cycle through Christmas — giving consumer brands multiple windows (trailer drops, casting reveals, premiere) to tie into nostalgia, family entertainment, and gifting narratives.

Angles to explore

Book retailer (e.g. The Works, Waterstones, WHSmith): Track backlist sales of the Harry Potter series and the wider children's fantasy category in the 72 hours post-trailer. The sharper story isn't "Potter books sell more" (obvious) — it's whether the trailer is pulling an entire generation of new young readers into fantasy, and whether parents are buying for kids who haven't encountered the books yet. A generational discovery angle has more media legs than a simple sales spike.

Streaming analytics or broadband provider (e.g. Uswitch, Sky, Virgin Media): Survey households on whether the Harry Potter series will influence their Christmas streaming subscriptions — will families subscribe to HBO Max specifically for this, upgrade broadband for better streaming, or shift viewing plans? A "battle for the Christmas living room" angle ties into the annual streaming wars narrative and positions the brand in entertainment and tech coverage during a peak decision-making window.

3. Landmark verdict finds Meta and Google liable for addictive app design
​As seen in: Fast Company​

A California jury found Meta and YouTube liable for intentionally designing addictive platforms that harmed a young user's mental health, awarding $6 million in compensatory and punitive damages (Meta 70%, Google 30%). It's one of the first cases to treat social media addiction as a product design defect rather than a content issue. TikTok and Snap settled before trial; thousands of similar cases are pending.

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​Why have we flagged this?

This is being called Big Tech's "Big Tobacco moment" — platforms judged like defective products, not protected speech. A federal trial follows in June. Brands positioned around digital wellbeing, youth safety, or ethical tech have a sustained policy tailwind, not a one-day story.

Angles to explore

Parental controls or family safety app (e.g. Qustodio, Bark): Survey parents on whether the verdict has changed how they think about their children's social media access — are they tightening controls, setting new time limits, or considering removing apps entirely? The story isn't behavioural data (too hard to isolate), it's parental sentiment shift. Timed within two weeks of the verdict while it's still in the news cycle, and positions the brand as a practical resource rather than an alarmist.

School or edtech platform (e.g. ClassDojo, Zumo, Oak National Academy): Survey secondary school teachers on whether they've seen changes in phone policies, classroom screen rules, or PSHE curriculum around digital addiction since the case began making headlines. The story: "Is the courtroom reaching the classroom?" Teachers are a trusted, quotable voice for education and parenting desks, and the brand sits naturally at the intersection of tech and child development.

Sponsor

The Digital PR Summit, from Digitaloft.

The Digital PR Summit is back with a bigger and better event in 2026.

The UK’s largest dedicated digital PR conference, the Digital PR Summit, will return to Manchester April 22nd 2026 at the iconic Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.

The Digital PR Summit 2026 will bring together more than 500 agency, freelance and in-house marketing professionals for a full day of insightful talks, industry panels and networking opportunities.

With 20 talks and industry panels from in-house marketers, agency-wide marketers and journalists across two tracks, the event offers an incredible opportunity to learn from and network with some of the brightest minds in digital PR and SEO.

🙌 Until Next Week

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​Aleyda Solis From Trending Campaigns​