How to Harness Nature to Create PR Ideas People Actually Care About by Matt Holmes at Mumbrella CommsCon 2023.

2. Harnessing human nature to
create ideas people care about.

3. the
deeply
human
agency

4. what deeply
human means
A deeply human and healthy agency culture
A deeply human and honest relationship with our partners
A deeply human understanding of consumers as people with
unconscious needs and fundamental motives for behaviour

5. Paid
Owned
Earned
Media

6. It’s about
earning
publicity that
people care
about.
Partnering with
authentic
influencers.
Driving
meaningful
social
reactions.
Making a bigger
impression than
what you can
pay for.
Creating content
that moves
people.
where we show up

7. human motivations

8. Rational
Emotive campaigns have
been found to generate 2x
more profit than rationally
led brand PR.
Emotion
“95% of purchasing
decisions are subconscious”
Harvard Professor, Gerald
Zaltman
What’s important is to try
and realise what emotions
are that your brand or
product triggers and then
how to leverage this.

9. evolutionary
social motives

10. human behaviour

11. cultural content sets

12. POSITIVE
LOW AROUSAL
NEGATIVE
HIGH
AROUSAL
Disgust
Sadness
Shock
Anger
Discomfort
Boredom
Irritation
Frustration
*Viral Marketing: The Science of Sharing Karen Nelson-Field 2013 Ehrenberg-Bass Institute
Hilarity
Inspiration
Exhilaration
Astonishment
Amusement
Calmness
Surprise
Happiness
emotional intensity

13. the Poem methodology
Rhyme Reason
+

14. Put the consumer first Ask why people will care (honestly)
Reverse brief Tissue sessions

15. let’s look at the deeply
human approach…
for real life

16. The (brand) challenge
Awareness and consideration for Wotif
had been on the decline. They needed to
create an emotional connection to their
audience.
The (deeply human) insight
Booking a holiday is actually stressful
and adults often focus on the wrong
things.

18. The (brand) challenge
Generate major PR for Cashrewards
around Black Friday with no new news
and often push back from editorial
media about being too commercial.
The (deeply human) insight
People think that cash back is too good
to be true.

20. The (brand) challenge
Traditionally, Tourism Australia makes
bespoke campaigns for a single market
but this time they wanted one big launch
that could work in any market in the
world and be adaptable to local customs,
sensitivities and languages.
The (deeply human) insight
Character-driven animated characters
appeal to vast international audiences.

22. The (brand) challenge
Generate mainstream media for the new
PlayStation VR despite VR being difficult
to showcase without experiencing for
yourself.
The (deeply human) insight
People are savvy about being sold to,
but high profile local content creators
and by providing entertaining, tricky key
messages can be delivered in a fun way
and cross cultures..

24. The (brand) challenge
Use latest Movember men’s health
statistics for prostate cancer, testicular
cancer and mental health to generate
significant PR coverage for launch.
The (deeply human) insight
Numbers or even graphical data are
difficult for us to absorb and aren’t
engaging, but if we visually represent an
issue in an emotive way ‘the get’ is much
faster and more impactful.

26. The (brand) challenge
Continue a disruptive brand strategy for
Glenlivit by using April Fools Day to earn
significant earned media beyond small
roundup coverage.
The (deeply human) insight
Aussies are very patriotic and also don’t
like fusty rules, so a ‘anti-category’ fake
product that was as believable as
possible, breaks rules and taps into
Aussie culture would cut through..

28. The (brand) challenge
Announce a brand partnership in
women’s running between two brands
with very different perceptions (adidas &
The Athlete’s Foot).
The (deeply human) insight
Even the most committed of us aren’t
elite athletes and don’t connect with
many big budget sports brand
campaigns, so could we explore the
human side more such as the random
stream of consciousness we all have
when running

30. the last word.
over to you…