.png)
Hard FIZZ is big, bold and proud of it!
And with some of the biggest names in music (DJ Paul Fisher), sport (surfers Nikki Van Dijk and Laura Enever) and hospitality (chef Hayden Quinn) behind it, it was never going to struggle to make noise!
But for all the star power in the world, it is possible to not take full advantage of natural hype - and that can prove costly in the long run for a client.
That's why the Gold Coast seltzer brand enlisted Yellowpanda to launch its world first 'immersive' seltzer brewery, FIZZ HQ, and new flavour, FIZZ X.
These two campaigns could not have run more smoothly, and Hard FIZZ was thrilled with the results.
Firstly, both of these launches were inherently newsworthy to certain, niche stakeholders in the beverage industry but the mission was to reach a wider, mainstream audience for FIZZ, thus achieving brand recognition among (potential) consumers.
The strategy with the brewery launch was to target Queensland's largest and most widely read newspaper, the Courier Mail, with an exclusive first look through the venue before "bleeding it out" to other local media (including Channel 7 & 9) and trade publications.
The result was a full page article and colourful picture in the CM (which was then syndicated nationally around the Newscorp network), mentions on the nightly Channel 7 and 9 news and in a number of trade publications.
Several weeks after the launch, the local Newscorp paper, the Gold Coast Bulletin, then featured FIZZ HQ (unsolicited) as one of the 'best new venues' on the Gold Coast, using quotes provided at the launch.
The FIZZ X announcement coincided with an extensive social media campaign (which was run in house) with multiple articles in highly regarded trade publications.
The brand also helped fundraise for a national charity campaign which also gained some "bonus" coverage in the local media.
Hard FIZZ is now working with Yellowpanda to develop a longer term strategy with an aim of securing write ups in more serious business outlets to gain credibility as a commercial enterprise.
The key ingredient in this success was FIZZ having two genuine announcements to make -Yellowpanda's role was to make sure the right people heard them.
Clients who are simply running "business as usual" are unlikely to see any "quick wins" with PR - results can (and will) come with sustained efforts - but the lesson with FIZZ is, be newsworthy and make news!
Yellowpanda publicist Brendon Wolf says it was a great collaboration between himself and the client.
"Everyone was excited from the get go," he says.
"And more to the point, everyone was on the same page as far as what we were trying to achieve and how we were going to do it.
"From my perspective, what made this easy was FIZZ's availability and openness to work with my ideas.
"These initial results are now a tremendous springboard to shoot for even higher value media."