Newsjacking

Newsjacking is a marketing strategy where companies leverage current news or trends to spread their own brand messages. The goal is to capitalize on the public attention surrounding a trending topic and bring the company's brand into the spotlight. Newsjacking is commonly used in PR, social media, and content marketing. 

• Speed: A company must respond immediately to capitalize on a current topic. Delays can result in missing the opportunity. 
• Relevance: The event should be somehow connected to the company’s brand or product to appear authentic. 
• Creativity: The post should be creative and ideally humorous, to engage the audience and go viral. 

• Increased Brand Awareness: Newsjacking puts the company in the conversation and boosts visibility. 
• Real-Time Marketing: It allows for timely responses to current events, which increases the brand's relevance. 
• Increased Engagement: Topics that are already in the media tend to generate more interactions on social media. 
• Cost-Effective PR: Newsjacking can be a budget-friendly PR strategy, as it doesn't require expensive campaigns. 

• Inappropriate Topics: If a topic doesn’t align with the brand identity, it can backfire and harm the image. 
• Excessive Dependence on Trends: Companies must ensure they don’t just follow trends, but maintain an authentic connection to the brand. 
• Legal Issues: Newsjacking can lead to legal pitfalls, such as using copyrighted content without permission. 

• Oreo Super Bowl 2013: Oreo quickly responded to a power outage during the Super Bowl with the tweet “You can still dunk in the dark,” which went viral. 
• Arctic Monkeys: The band creatively responded to the Brexit referendum, tying politics to their brand identity. 

Newsjacking can be a highly effective strategy when executed quickly, creatively, and with relevance. It offers a way to boost brand awareness cost-effectively and foster engagement, but it also carries risks if it comes across as inauthentic or opportunistic.