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| Ronn Torossian |
In the rapidly evolving media landscape, digital public relations has emerged as both a creative art and an analytical science. As traditional PR morphs into a hybrid discipline—intersecting SEO, influencer marketing, content strategy and earned media—brands must rethink how they shape and share their narratives.
Done well, digital PR drives visibility, shapes public perception, fuels search performance, and even helps close sales. But in the cluttered digital space, only a few truly excel.
Here's what "digital PR done well" actually looks like, illustrated by brands and campaigns that have mastered the formula: authentic storytelling, audience alignment, data-driven insights and strategic amplification.
The Evolved PR Playbook: More Than Press Releases
Traditional PR—characterized by media outreach and event coverage—hasn’t vanished. Instead, it’s evolved into a digital-first discipline focused on earning high-quality backlinks, driving social signals, engaging online communities, and managing brand reputation in real time.
Done right, digital PR can achieve what paid ads can’t: trust and authority. According to Nielsen, 92 percent of people trust earned media more than any other form of advertising. In an age of skepticism, a recommendation from a third party—or a genuinely viral story—has an impact no billboard ever could.
So, who’s doing it right?
1. Spotify’s “Wrapped”: Personalization as PR Power
Perhaps no annual campaign demonstrates the viral potential of digital PR better than Spotify Wrapped.
Each December, Spotify delivers its users a personalized slideshow summarizing their listening habits—top songs, genres, minutes listened, and more—wrapped in shareable visuals. In essence, users become the storytellers. Millions voluntarily post their Wrapped summaries on Instagram, X, TikTok, and beyond, creating a massive wave of brand advocacy without any paid placement.
Why It Works:
- Data storytelling: Spotify turns user data into emotionally resonant narratives—“You listened to 40,000 minutes of music. Here’s your soundtrack.”
- Social virality: Designed for sharing, Wrapped content is formatted perfectly for Instagram Stories, Twitter threads, and TikTok videos.
- Earned media: News outlets now cover Wrapped like a cultural event. In 2023 alone, it generated over 1.2 million earned media impressions in under a week.
This is digital PR that doesn’t rely on traditional outreach. Instead, it builds buzz by turning users into the press.
2. Monzo’s Transparent Crisis Comms
When UK-based digital bank Monzo faced a data breach in 2019, they opted for radical transparency. Within hours of discovering the flaw—related to how card PINs were stored—they proactively informed customers, published a detailed blog explaining what had happened, and clearly outlined steps taken to fix it.
The digital PR strategy was focused on ownership and clarity. Rather than letting media coverage dictate the narrative, Monzo used its own blog and social channels to reach users directly. As a result, the brand maintained high trust scores and customer growth despite the breach.
Why It Worked:
- Owned media: Monzo leveraged its blog and in-app messaging, not just press releases, to communicate.
- Tone and trust: The language was transparent, not corporate—speaking to users like humans.
- Media response: Outlets like Wired and TechCrunch praised the honesty, turning a potential PR disaster into a brand-strengthening moment.
In an era of misinformation and corporate spin, honest digital PR is refreshingly effective.
3. Dove’s “Real Beauty” and Body Positivity
Dove’s long-running Real Beauty campaign—now over 15 years old—continues to evolve through digital platforms, making it one of the most sustained and successful examples of purpose-driven digital PR.
In 2021, Dove launched the #ReverseSelfie campaign. The video ad showed a young girl posting a heavily edited selfie, then reversed the footage to show the real, unedited version of herself. The message: social media is distorting young girls’ self-image.
Digital Strategy:
- Multi-platform rollout: The campaign was designed for YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, not just traditional TV.
- Influencer partnerships: Dove partnered with real creators and activists, not celebrities, to amplify the message authentically.
- PR coverage: Earned media in The Guardian, BBC and parenting blogs helped reinforce the cultural urgency of the campaign.
Dove’s success lies in its alignment between mission and medium. They’re not just selling soap—they’re shaping a conversation. That’s PR done well.
4. Greggs x Veganuary: Humor Meets Headlines
UK bakery chain Greggs became an unlikely digital PR superstar thanks to its playful 2019 launch of a vegan sausage roll.
To promote the launch, Greggs released a parody video mimicking Apple’s signature product unveilings, calling it “The Next Generation of Sausage Roll.” The brand followed up with cheeky Twitter exchanges with Piers Morgan, who criticized the product—only helping fuel viral buzz.
Key Wins:
- Reactive PR: Greggs leaned into criticism, using wit and snark rather than defensiveness.
- Social-first design: The video was crafted for YouTube and social, not TV.
- Media ripple: The campaign generated more than 300,000 social mentions in its first week and led to a 9.6% sales increase.
Greggs turned what could’ve been a minor product update into a headline-grabbing cultural moment, simply by understanding the rhythms of digital attention.
5. NASA’s Mars Landing: Science as Spectacle
In February 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars. But beyond the scientific milestone, what stood out was how NASA turned this into a global digital event.
Using livestreams, real-time social media updates, 3D animations and even TikTok explainers, NASA created a campaign that felt more like a blockbuster movie than a space mission. A particularly powerful digital moment was the release of the “7 Minutes of Terror” video explaining the perilous landing process—a piece that earned global coverage.
PR Highlights:
- Livestream views: 21 million+ watched the landing on YouTube alone.
- Media dominance: News outlets from CNN to The New York Times gave it front-page attention.
- Social media virality: The “Touchdown confirmed” tweet was shared over 400,000 times.
NASA shows that even technical, government-run organizations can command digital buzz when they embrace visual storytelling and direct-to-consumer content.
6. LEGO’s Digital Journalism Hub
LEGO’s digital PR strategy centers on its owned media channel: the LEGO Newsroom—a sleek, media-style content hub designed for journalists, fans and influencers alike. The site isn’t a dry PR database; it features stories, behind-the-scenes videos, creator interviews, and user-generated builds.
In 2020, during lockdowns, LEGO promoted #RebuildTheWorld, encouraging families to build their own dream cities. The hashtag was amplified by influencers, covered by parenting blogs, and even inspired digital exhibits in partnership with museums.
Why It’s Smart:
- Content-first PR: LEGO’s newsroom is a model for brands as publishers.
- Searchable and shareable: The site is optimized for both SEO and journalist usability.
- Community leverage: User-generated content is not just displayed—it’s celebrated.
By acting like a digital magazine rather than a corporate site, LEGO keeps its PR engine running 24/7.
What These Campaigns Have in Common
Looking across these diverse examples—from banks to bakeries, tech to toys—a clear framework for effective digital PR emerges:
- Audience-first thinking: Each campaign was designed around how people engage online, not just what the brand wanted to say.
- Multichannel integration: Paid, owned and earned media worked together to amplify impact.
- Storytelling over promotion: The most effective campaigns didn’t push product—they told stories, solved problems, or sparked conversations.
- SEO and link-building value: Many of these efforts also delivered digital PR’s less glamorous but crucial goal: backlinks from high-authority media sites, improving search visibility.
- Real-time adaptability: Brands like Greggs and Monzo thrived by reacting fast and owning their narratives, not waiting for journalists to tell the story.
What Not to Do: The Missed Opportunities
While we’ve seen digital PR done right, countless campaigns fail due to poor execution:
- Over-automated outreach: Journalists delete templated emails with “Dear [FirstName]” faster than you can say “unsubscribe.”
- Tone-deaf timing: Publishing celebratory content during a crisis—or missing key cultural moments—leads to irrelevance at best, backlash at worst.
- No follow-through: Getting coverage is one step; amplifying it through owned and social media is another.
Digital PR isn’t just about getting coverage—it’s about maximizing it.
In a world of AI-generated content, shrinking newsrooms and algorithmic timelines, digital PR must be more creative, strategic and measurable than ever. The best campaigns don’t just earn media—they create movements, generate memes and foster trust.
What Spotify, Dove, Greggs, Monzo, NASA and LEGO prove is this: Digital PR done well doesn't feel like PR at all. It feels like culture.
And that’s the goal—not to talk about yourself, but to build something worth talking about.
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Ronn Torossian is a public relations entrepreneur and founder & chairman of 5W PR.
