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Duncan Laurence wins Eurovision for the Netherlands

The focus of this PR activity is the official announcement from Eurovision’s website of the victory for Duncan Laurence and the Netherlands who took out Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song ‘Arcade’. 

The article provides details of who won, the number of votes they received, and the runners up. It also goes on to give some facts and figures about Netherlands being the winning country and finishes with a short bio about Duncan Laurence, as well as a quote from him about representing his country. 

“In the past few years many well known artists represented The Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest. I’m not well-known, but that’s also a good thing; The Netherlands has a lot of young and talented musicians. My participation proves that nothing is impossible. You can suddenly get the opportunity to represent your country on an international stage. I’m very proud to represent my country… I will give it my all!”

As this is official correspondence on the competition’s site, it can be seen as the point of call for those wanting to catch up on what they may have missed with the content being in Tel Aviv, Israel and therefore potentially being an awkward timezone for some to be able to watch the final live. 

I follow the contest every year but was unable to watch this year due to being away, but ultimately saw the result on Twitter and then looked at this article to get more detail.

The video of Laurence performing the winning song which can be viewed below.

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Gary Ablett  free to play

The AFL’s Match Review Officer Michael Christian released his assessment of the incidents from Round 8 and to the surprise of some, Gary Ablett Jr was deemed to have no case to answer despite committing yet another act that some questioned and thought may find him in strife.

The still frame above from the video of the incident shows the nature of the incident and why some were up in arms

Ablett had committed an act the prior week that actually saw his receive a one week suspension but an appeal to the tribunal saw the suspension handed down by the MRO overturned. 

The response from social media led to many questioning the match review process and how Ablett managed to get away a similar act two weeks in a row.

I saw the incident while watching the game and immediately assumed Ablett would be in trouble, particularly after an eerily similar incident the week prior which he actually was suspended for, as previously mentioned. However, as stated, Ablett’s action was deemed legal enough to not warrant suspension, to my surprise.

In the video attached to this article, Michael Christian explains why Ablett wasn’t suspended. However, the public backlash towards the process and the incident still continued on as it believed there are inconsistencies in how some incidents get a week while other similar incidents failed to attract a guilty verdict. 

The article that gets released on AFL.com.au with a summary of the week’s incidents often can be met with backlash as people are angered by certain actions either copping a suspension or not, but it breaks down why they are handed down or not, which ultimately provides some valuable context rather than a blind decision with no evidence or explanation, therefore making it an important and effective form of PR.

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World Cup of Darts Draw

The 2019 BetVictor World Cup of Darts is almost upon us, with the draw having been completed. An article on the PDC website has all the information that someone needs such as the draw, nations, competitors and schedule.

The article serves as a preview to the competition, this year being hosted in Hamburg, Germany which kicks off on Thursday June 6th at 7pm local time and will carry on until the final on June 9th. 

In addition to the above details, the algorithm in place on the site suggests related news for people to engage with, an effort to generate more views of the content and hype for the event.

Despite being more niche than other more popular sports, this appealed to me as I have personally been a darts fan for a while and have been looking to consume as much darts related media as possible in the lead up to the World Cup.

Therefore, while only being of relevance to a more restricted group of people, the article is good PR as it gives a darts fan and even those who may not be, all the relevant information that they need about the World Cup of Darts draw and even provides extra content on the page to keep one interested and engaged while on the site.

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Clive Palmer’s election campaign

In the lead up to the 2019 federal election, Clive Palmer, leader of the United Australia Party, spent a grand total of $60 million in advertising for his election campaign. That is the focus of this PR activity. 

Clive Palmer had advertisements in all forms of media to get his message across, simultaneously tearing apart the Australian Labor Party (ALP) while making a claim to ‘Make Australia Great Again’ in the process. 

The ad above appeared on TV regularly in the lead up the federal election, with a catchy parody of the chorus of We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister. Other tools used in the campaign included billboard advertisements such as:

Short clips and posts also appeared on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, absolutely saturating all forms of media to spread the campaign’s key messages.

Personally, I saw many of the television ads, as well as posts on social media too. One could say there were ‘hard to escape’ because of the sheer volume of ads across as many mediums as possible. 

However, despite the $60 million in advertising, the United Australia Party failed to win a single seat in the federal election, yet Palmer claimed it was a success in that Labor did not win a seat. 

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James Faulkner’s social media gaffe

This entry focuses on the post by Australian cricketer James Faulkner on Instagram where a hashtag was misinterpreted as the player coming out as gay.

The post at the centre of the furore caused a stir when many on social media assumed the hashtag of #togetherfor5years to be in reference to Faulkner celebrating a 5 year anniversary with Rob Jubb, who has since been confirmed as his best friend and housemate, not a partner. After the controversy, Faulkner edited the post to include ‘(best mate!!!!)’ to clarify.

Fuelling the fire was the response of other current and former Australian players such as Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Tait and Brett Lee who showed support for the apparent bravery of Faulkner’s act. 

"Happy birthday mate! Great courage 👏 "

Great courage mate, bet u feel better.

Those were the posts of Glenn Maxwell and Shaun Tait respectively. It remains unknown whether they were aware of the situation and in on the joke, or equally as oblivious as those shocked by the post.

I distinctly remember waking up and seeing a link to the post, with friends and other online communities discussing it at length, and whether it was legitimate or just a cheeky post. 

Ultimately, Faulkner and Cricket Australia cleared the air and apologised, but also expressed their thanks that a majority was very supportive of the now false ‘coming out’. 

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#maccask2k

The focus of this PR activity is the ongoing competition by the AFL and McDonald’s whereby children can have a kick of the footy in their own backyard with an AFL superstar by uploading an image to social media of them having a kick of the footy with the hashtag #maccask2k

Always dreamt of having Reece Conca in your backyard? @mcdonaldsau are here to make it happen! Share a snap of you having a kick with #maccask2k for your chance to WIN 🏉

A post shared by 7AFL (@7afl) on Apr 19, 2019 at 12:02am PDT

The use of ambassadors sporting a Maccas Kick 2 Kick guernsey while playing ‘kick to kick’ appears weekly on TV as well as appearing in short clips on social media like the one above with Reece Conca. 

The simple and engaging nature allows parents of children to simply get their child in the running as it only requires a photo and the hashtag and is advertised on the three major social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, as well as being advertised on TV and at games.  

In addition to this, having the AFL players involved as ambassadors promoting the competition on their social media accounts makes this a very good activity as it shows the level of commitment and investment from the ambassadors to the cause.

Happy to be back on board with Macca’s Kick 2 Kick this season! Don’t let the weather stop you from having a K2K in your own backyard – I might even join you! Post a photo with #maccask2k on social media for your chance to win a one-on-one kick with me.

A post shared by Jack Riewoldt (@riewoldtjack08) on May 30, 2019 at 6:54pm PDT

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ASICS unveil Aussie World Cup uniforms

The following PR activity is the unveiling of the Australian Cricket team’s uniform for the upcoming Cricket World Cup. Apparel manufacturer ASICS tweeted out an image of allrounder Glenn Maxwell posing in the new kit, which is predominantly and vibrant canary yellow and bits of lime green.

The two main organisations involved with the activity were ASICS, the manufacturer of the kit and Cricket Australia, the body in charge of the Australian cricket team.

The tool used in the unveiling was the use of Glenn Maxwell, an incumbent player, posing in the new uniform. Then, in the article published on cricket.com.au, a poll was posted to get the thoughts of the people. 

I saw the tweet by ASICS as well as Cricket Australia on my Twitter newsfeed the day it was published. I then followed the link to the article about the reveal which can be read here.

The reveal by ASICS as well as the promotion of it by Cricket Australia, as well as the accounts of people like Glenn Maxwell himself, helped spread the news about the new uniform and like when Australia wore a similar uniform for a recent series against India earlier this year, it was met with praise and delight.

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Katie Brennan becomes inaugural Richmond AFLW player

Richmond AFLW have made their inaugural signing by recruiting Katie Brennan, former Western Bulldogs’ captain and marquee player. She has three years of AFLW experience and is regarded as one of the best players in the league.

The club unveiled Brennan as a signing on their website, as well as social media accounts with the use of picture opportunities and an interview with Brennan proudly posing in her new colours posted across the channels.

Being a big news story in the football world, the announcement was one of the first posts on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds, and as a Richmond fan, I immediately liked the posts and was so thrilled with the news that I shared it with fellow fans. 

The posts unveiling the signing of Brennan were very successful and effective, generating discussion about who else Richmond may sign, whether she truly signed for a ‘fresh start’ or whether it was motivated by money. These talking points are ultimately a side effect of a big name player making a move, but make for successful PR.

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Ashwin ‘Mankads’ Buttler

The focus of this week’s PR activity is the vision and uproar caused by Kings XI Punjab’s Ravichandran Ashwin dismissing Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler via a ‘Mankad’ - the act of a bowler running out a batsman at the non-striker’s end instead of delivering the ball. 

Many media outlets reported the story, social media in a divisive manner and the discussion of whether or not the ‘Mankad’ is in the spirit of the game has been re-opened for the masses to weigh in. 

Ashwin took part in a press conference where he addressed the incident, explaining his decision and justifying his action by stating that it is legal within the rules of the game.

Having woken up to the news, I interacted with the activity by watching the incident on Twitter and then listened to the Ashwin press conference, and then also followed up by reading subsequent articles about the controversy it has caused.

As aforementioned, the publicity the incident has received has re-opened the discussion as to whether it is in the spirit of the game, even though it is in the rules of the game. Therefore, the press conference worked to get people talking about Ashwin’s decision, for better or for worse. 

An article about the incident can be found here.

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Mighty Mike back to winning ways

This week’s PR activity is the round report of the 2019 Unibet Premier League. Headlining is the news of Michael van Gerwen getting back to winning ways on night six. The current world number one beat Gerwyn Price to get back on top of the league.

Professional Darts Corportation (PDC) publishes a round-up of the week’s results with a report on how each player went, while highlighting at least one player or result as being significant for their headline.

The major tools being used here are pictures and quotes from post-game interviews. The header of the article with the title has an image of van Gerwen, with an image in the middle of the report as well. As ‘Mighty Mike’ getting back to his winning ways was the major focus and the big news, that was listed first with all the other results to follow.

I initially saw the result of van Gerwen’s match on Facebook, after seeing a video where he hit a 132 on the bullseye to take the 7th leg and go up 5-2.  Following that, I saw the tweet below of the same thing and went on to read the report on the PDC website.

HUGE MOMENT FROM MVG | Mighty Mike takes out 132 on the bull and gives it LARGE to this Nottingham crowd 😱😱😱#Unibet180 pic.twitter.com/rA1ihWKEvP

The report does as it is intended to do, provide a summary of the week’s results for those who want to read it or missed the action, as well as provide the scores at the bottom, the next week’s fixtures and the table after that round. It also includes quotes from interviews with the players such as Michael van Gerwen saying:

"The main thing tonight was to get back to winning ways, so I'm happy with that even though the performance wasn't fantastic,"

So ultimately, this is an effective form of PR, but in a different way to the activity from last week, as this one gives more of a summary and about conveying the week that was and is less about promotion and exposure.

The night six report from PDC can be read here.

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Richmond AFLW Women’s Football Membership Launch

The focus of this PR activity is the recent launch of Richmond implementing a women’s football membership. With a Richmond AFLW team set to join the competition in 2020, the club has launched a membership with all profits supporting the women’s football program. 

To help promote the launch of the membership, the club brought on Australian tennis star Ash Barty, a lifelong Tigers fanatic as the inaugural member. Having  a well known personality like Barty involved as a face associated with the launch is a clever tool from a marketing standpoint. 

Pictured: Australian tennis star Ash Barty with her membership card

Having Barty pose for a photo opportunity with her membership card shows what the card will look like and also helps put a face to the name, as well as having her sporting a Richmond guersney, highlighting her passion and love for the Tigers. It helps gives a sense that she is very much invested. 

I initially saw the article on the Richmond site while browsing it for something else, but it drew my attention straight away as a fan of AFLW. Immediately, I stopped my initial search for the other content and clicked on the article to learn more about it. Ultimately, the article included everything necessary to make it a good PR activity as it outlined all the important details, included two images and even hyperlinked other relevant pages.

Anyone wanting more information about the benefits of women’s football foundation membership and how they can support the AFLW team heading into the 2020 season can do here.

Original article can be found here.