There were plenty of PR wins and own goals across October, from Halloween monsters and Bayern Munich brilliance to chocolate disputes and disappointing goodbyes.
In our latest PR winners and losers review, we look at the brands and organisations finding themselves in the spotlight for the right reasons – and those getting people talking for the wrong ones.
Staying Fresh
Currys colleagues come to the fore
The IPA Effectiveness Awards Grand Prix – labelled the advertising industry’s ‘highest effectiveness honour’ – went to Currys for a campaign championing the expertise of its employees.
Amid growing competition from online shopping, the campaign, led by AMV BBDO and Spark Foundry, addressed a ‘crisis of unassisted selling’ by putting knowledgeable colleagues front and centre through its creative platform, ‘Beyond Techspectations’.
Currys positioned its staff as the answer to the confusion and frustration when shopping online for technology, and in doing so turned its people into a competitive advantage.
At the same time, a reshaped marketing strategy helped transform business performance, generating £500m in incremental value over two years and returning the retailer to growth.
The lesson? Never underestimate the value of people.
Market Street Monsters with Morrisons
Alongside creative agency Leo UK, Morrisons embraced Halloween in style this year with its ‘Market Street Monsters’ campaign. The memorable name alone was a strong starting point, but the engaging designs, displayed across out-of-home advertising sites across the UK for a fortnight, stole the show.
In the words of Kimberley Gill, Creative Director at Leo UK, the campaign combined ‘simple visual wit with unmistakable price messaging’.
You may be sick of avocados by now, but it was hard to be annoyed by this campaign, which transformed them into ‘Monster Eyes’, while carrots became ‘Zombie Fingers’ and red peppers turned into ‘Screams’.
The adverts were instantly recognisable as Morrisons, given the brand’s signature green backdrop, and will have undoubtedly captured the imagination of children during Halloween.
The lesson? Sometimes the best ideas are right in front of you – sitting in the fruit and veg aisle.
View this post on Instagram
Bayern nail Ballon d’Or
The first English winner of the Ballon d’Or in 25 years, celebrated brilliantly by a German football club. England icon Harry Kane scooped football’s most prestigious individual award in October, having scored an astounding 73 goals for club and country last season.
Of those, 61 came for Bayern Munich, setting a club record for goals in a single campaign.
And Kane’s club did him proud.
In a wonderful video, Bayern transported 73 footballs around London, gifting them to people from his hometown of Walthamstow, youngsters at his boyhood club Ridgeway Rovers and former teammates.
At a time when elite football often feels far removed from the game’s roots, a European giant struck the perfect chord by giving Kane’s achievement such a personal touch.
The lesson? People and places are behind any individual’s success.
View this post on Instagram
Gone Stale
Uncomfortable Deloitte optics
Deloitte, one of the Big Four accounting firms, cut approximately 1,000 UK jobs in the latest financial year, while its average employee count fell from 17,264 to 15,904.
The firm also offered voluntary redundancy packages across its audit and assurance teams, in response to ‘low levels of staff attrition’. In the same year, a 45% pay increase, to £7.1 million, was revealed for the firm’s former UK chief, Richard Houston.
According to HR Review, Houston’s earnings were 93 times the median pay of Deloitte’s UK employees. The package included a one-off award of £1.3m, linked to strategic and financial objectives.
Although Deloitte reported improved profitability, even strong financial results can create reputational challenges if uncomfortable contrasts hit the headlines.
The lesson? Make sure the numbers don’t tell a story you’d rather avoid.
Toblerone take on ‘tiny’ brand
It’s one of the very best chocolate bars out there – especially over the festive period – but Toblerone hasn’t done itself many favours in the public eye.
The owner of Toblerone, Mondelēz, took legal action against ‘tiny’ British vegan chocolate maker Catherine’s Originals.
Mondelēz claimed that the Sussex-based business had copied Toblerone’s shape with its O’bar, filing papers for trademark infringement and ‘passing of’ its iconic design.
Catherine Dodd, who founded Catherine’s Originals as a teenager in 2021, defended the product but described the situation as ‘fairly frightening for a small business’. She says the bar’s shape reflects the ‘O’ in Originals. The 200g O’bar is sold for around £10 and are explicitly marketed ass palm-oil free, while packaged plastic-free.
We still won’t say no to a giant Toblerone this Christmas, but this wasn’t a great look.
The lesson? Consider whether you really want, or need, to become Goliath.
View this post on Instagram
Oh, Lanky, Lanky…
Even if you’re not a cricket fan, you’re almost certainly familiar with the name Jimmy Anderson. Last month, the England great’s 25-year association with Lancashire came to an end after the club decided against renewing his contract.
These moments are really important for clubs to get right, particularly given that Anderson’s incredible England career ended abruptly just two years earlier, prompting widespread criticism.
Although Anderson was told face-to-face by Lancashire, the news still played out poorly in public, with an unfortunate sense of, ‘not again…’.
Anderson also learned that the news had been leaked while playing golf with team-mates in Ireland, having not even told his family at that time. He admitted he was ‘quite shocked’ when told of the decision, adding that ‘it would be nice at some point if someone would let me retire’.
Legends don’t come around often in sport, but Anderson is undoubtedly one for club and country. Lancashire, following backlash from supporters, will reportedly explore a farewell for Anderson, but it shouldn’t have taken such a reaction to ensure a fitting send-off.
The lesson? When valued people move on, make sure they leave in the right way.
View this post on Instagram
This edition of Freshfield’s winners and losers was written by PR and Media Relations Manager, George Hodgson. If your business is looking for some fresh eyes on its next communications challenges, contact us on at hello@freshfield.com.
