Free publicity for the new Wolk hipair bag
You bring a product to market and then generate a lot of media attention with it. But what do you do when you bring a new version to market, which, while significantly improved and with new features, is essentially the same? This was the case with the new Wolk Heupairbag. A product developed in collaboration with the Robotics Department of Delft University of Technology that provides a solution for the more than 24,000 seniors in the Netherlands who break their hip each year. Last year the Wolk+ was introduced to the market with, among other things, improved wearing comfort and a built-in alarm function and GPS. As a result, the contact person linked to the Wolk app receives an alarm when someone falls and at what location the user fell. A great product, with the challenge of getting the media to write again about a product that actually already exists.
Approach: capitalizing on a natural media moment
For Wolk we embarked on a free publicity trajectory, in which we had to look explicitly for hooks with which we could load the ‘lighter’ news. National Fall Prevention Week coincided with the launch of the new Wolk+, and a positive case was thrown into the lap of care institution tanteLouise, which tested the hip airbag on 50 of its residents for a year. None of the residents who wore the hip airbag broke a hip, so we were able to provide evidence that the product works well. This made it not only an improved product, but also one that provides a solution to the thousands of hip fractures each year and the high costs associated with them. A nice hook to approach journalists with. We were also able to offer journalists an opportunity to take a look at the tanteLouise care facility and to speak with the users of the Wolk hip bag.
Result: extensive attention for the Wolk+
From de Volkskrant to RTLZ and from Margriet to Sublime FM and NPO Radio 1, media paid extensive attention to Wolk. Even in Belgium we managed to get a nice publication in De Morgen. This provided Wolk with both brand awareness and conversion to the website.
"To generate free publicity, you sometimes have to look hard for the supporting or larger story. Although this can be a challenge, we always recommend communicating. Pr is well a matter of sowing and reaping, you have to be on the radar of journalists before they can write about you at all. Finally, the steps a company takes, big or small, deserve to be dwelt upon."
Marre de Visser, Senior PR Advisor
