‘Amazing stuff guys! Such good positive feedback so far and some awesome PR from Midas.’
Ant Middleton
‘You’ve done an excellent job, and the results really speak for themselves. We’re thrilled with how well everything has come together.’
Terry Batt, Ant Middleton Team
‘Another big thanks on working on this project. It’s been great and we’re really pleased with how the campaign all came together.’
Huw Armstrong, Hodder & Stoughton
The Brief
Midas was hired by Hodder & Stoughton to run a PR campaign for Ant Middleton and Military Mindset promoting the author and book widely to media and positioning Ant as a decorated military veteran, celebrity and public speaker, whose insights into the rigorous and physical military training can teach readers important lessons of resilience.
The Work
Firstly, the Midas team read and familiarised with the manuscript of the book, to identify key angles, best first-person stories, and source material for round-ups, to exploit as part of the PR campaign. We subsequently arranged a kick-off call with Ant and the Hodder team to agree on positioning, campaign goals, PR tactics, logistics, timeline, Ant’s availability, etc. As additional prep work, it was paramount for us to conduct a media audit of Ant’s recent coverage, to identify the most suitable media targets for the campaign.
Upon signing-off a PR Plan and Press Release for the book, to ensure the team was all aligned on key messaging, campaign timeline and tactics, we then proceeded to pitch Ant and the book to a wide variety of media, from nationals to podcasts, sport & fitness outlets to radio & TV, leaving no stone unturned.
We had to navigate some delays with the finished manuscript, due to the Ministry of Defense, who had to vet the content of the book before it could be printed. We mitigated this by keeping in close contact with Huw from the Hodder team, asking him for a sample of the content that we could share with journalists in the interim, while at the same time keeping all media in the loop with the status of the PDF and physical proofs, and sending these out quickly as soon as they were ready.
Mining exclusive content from the book, we packaged up episodes from Ant’s life that hadn’t been featured in the media before (e.g. the exchange in front of the Job Centre) for the national newspapers, and also drafted a number of top tips round-ups inspired by the chapters in the book, to pitch to men’s lifestyle media and fitness outlets.
Exploiting Ant’s international appeal to his worldwide fanbase (Australia and New Zealand, Dubai and the UAE, as well as the UK and the US) we reached out to select international media, offering interviews and round-ups to wide-reaching overseas media. Tapping into Ant’s core audiences around the world, we also pitched him for a selection of high-quality podcast and broadcast interviews, spanning the UK, Australia and the US. For these, it was paramount to liaise very closely to Ant’s team (Debs first and then Terry), to understand exactly when he was going to be in the UK.
As the PR campaign began to take shape, we organised two big media days in the UK for Ant, squeezing in as many in-person PR commitments, and scheduling the remote ones at times that worked for Ant, including: in-person interviews with Heart Breakfast, Sky News, and ITV This Morning; a Daily Express photoshoot along the Thames; remote interviews with Mail Online, The Sun, GB News, Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Daily Express, Closer Magazine; podcast recording with Virgin Radio’s Spooning with Mark Wogan; and more.
Knowing the sensitivity of Ant’s position in the UK media landscape, we implemented some elements of crisis-comms. We conducted in-depth research to understand the current media narrative, flash points and risks, and developed a strategic approach to countering these. With all media opportunities, we made sure to request interview questions in advance wherever possible, and prepared detailed briefs for Ant, including potential risk register, sample questions and suggested messaging. We also flagged to the media the topics Ant was not open to discuss (e.g. Celebrity SAS in the UK), offering alternative talking points (e.g. Dancing with the Star in Australia and the K2 Documentary launch). Throughout the campaign, we monitored social media to identify any potential negative comments and act upon them if necessary.
While the Hodder team initially planned to rely on Ant’s tour of UK events scheduled for October and November, this had to be cancelled by At due to other clashing commitments. Bearing in mind Ant’s limited time in the UK, we still managed to organise two book signings at Waterstones Leadenhall Market in London and Waterstones Portsmouth, to ensure Ant had time to connect with his fans and sign copies of the book.
The Results
We were delighted with the spread of UK national newspaper and broadcast coverage Ant and the book received, including print interviews in Closer Magazine, Daily Express and Daily Star and online interviews across Mail Online, Sun Online, Daily Mirror and National World.
Ant was also interviewed for a variety of TV, Radio and Podcast opportunities including Sky Breakfast, Heart Breakfast, ITV This Morning and Virgin Radio/Spooning with Mark Wogan.
Book round-up’s and articles were also secured in FQ Magazine, Under The Christmas Tree, Sportive.com, Entertainment Daily and Your Healthy Living.
Ant’s large Australian following, meant this was also a key market for Hodder to reach. We are very happy to have secured coverage across Perth Now, 3AW Radio, The West Australian and FIVEAA Radio.
This campaign was led by Anna Zanetti