Newsjacking PR Agency
At Umpf, we’ve been using reactive and clever ‘newsjacking’ techniques to earn media coverage for our clients for more than 15 years.
What is newsjacking, and why does it work?
Newsjacking, a term popularised by marketer David Meerman Scott, is the art of inserting your brand into a breaking news story to generate coverage.
Newsjacking has risen in popularity due to increasingly short news cycles leading to more opportunities to comment on the agenda, and is often seen across social media on short-form platforms, with ‘quick and dirty’ content receiving huge reach and engagement.
Done right, it helps brands:
1. Ride the wave of trending topics
2. Position themselves as expert voices
3. Generate quick, high-quality media exposure and consumer engagement
But timing, tone, and context are everything — and that’s where a sharp PR instinct comes in.
Read on for:
- How do you do newsjacking?
- Newsjacking: what can go wrong?
- Six successful newsjacking case studies
- Five of our favourite Umpf newsjacking stories
How do you do newsjacking?
1. Keep an ear to the ground
Using media monitoring tools, alerts, and manual scans, keep an eye out for relevant opportunities – or a spark that might develop into one. At Umpf, we create editorial calendars and newsplans for both proactive and reactive opportunities with awareness days, upcoming events, film releases, and more, so we know when an opportunity might present itself.
2. Be ready in advance
Knowing who your spokespeople are and the right people to sign-off a quick-turnaround, reactive comment is the key to successful newsjacking. We love having access to any and all of our clients’ owned insight, data, and research from the get-go – even if it isn’t relevant immediately, the right opportunity might crop up at a moment’s notice.
3. Make it relevant
Make sure the opportunity is relevant for your brand to be commenting on, and that the statement has the correct tone and the response is tailored to the platforms you’re targeting. Make sure you’re speaking to the right media contacts too, and sharing content in a format that’s quick and easy for them to run with. Journalists are more likely to use your response if you provide what they need, in the format that they need it.
4. Be fast and be first
Newsjacking is a case of survival of the fittest – there are limited opportunities to generate coverage or social buzz, and you want to be first to the punch.
5. Be creative
Thinking outside of the box and approaching a response in a unique way can set you apart as an authoritative voice among the crowd.
5. …But be careful
Not all news events are an invitation for brand comment. Which brings us to…
Newsjacking: what can go wrong?
Sometimes, a quick-fire brand response isn’t appropriate. There are numerous instances of brands using hashtags or news topics to generate awareness without doing their research – here are five warning stories:
1. Sears
American retailer Sears using the devastation of Hurricane Sandy to sell generators: 
2. DiGiorno Pizza
DiGiorno Pizza accidentally using a serious hashtag raising awareness of domestic violence issues to flog its pizzas: 
3. Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters also blindly using a deadly hurricane to encourage online shopping: 
4. Celeb Boutique
Celeb Boutique’s insensitive tweet about its Kim Kardashian-inspired dress using a hashtag about the Aurora cinema shooting: 
5. Kenneth Cole
Fashion brand Kenneth Cole used a direct reference to protests in Egypt to promote a fashion line:
Six successful newsjacking case studies
So who is doing it well? Here are six of our favourite examples of newsjacking:
1. Oreo
A classic: when the power went out during Super Bowl XLVII, Oreo capitalised on the blackout with a rapid-fire tweet:
2. Uber
‘Thank you for not riding’ – Uber shares some compassion and thanks people for staying at home during pandemic lockdowns, a time you’d least expect rideshare apps to be part of the conversation: 
3. London Fire Brigade
When news broke that Kate Winslet had helped save Sir Richard Branson’s mother when a fire broke out at the Caribbean home they were both staying at, the London Fire Brigade jumped into the conversation to offer the actress the chance to train with them – hoping to encourage more women to become firefighters.
4. The British Geographical Survey
The British Geographical Survey shared research around Taylor Swift fans shaking it off during The Eras Tour, with data around which songs generated the biggest seismic response creatomg a unique media hook.
5. MoneySuperMarket
When rumours started circulating in July 2025 about a potential new ban on smartphone GPS use while driving, MoneySuperMarket were quick to hop on the opportunity to set things straight, securing comment from the Department of Transport and issuing alongside their own advice on fact-checking online road safety information.
6. The London Dungeon
While Glasgow’s Willy Wonka-inspired event was a PR disaster, the infamous star of the show The Unknown was offered a job ‘scaring children’ at the London Dungeon in a brilliant headline-grabbing move.
Five of our favourite Umpf newsjacking stories
And here are a few examples of what we’ve achieved here at Umpf…
1. Bluewater & Charlton Football Club
In March 2025, off the back of press comments from Nathan Jones, Charlton’s manager, about players being banned from Bluewater as they aimed for promotion, the Umpf team pitched an idea to Bluewater and within 24 hours the social content was live. We scripted and then filmed a tongue-in-cheek video featuring the Bluewater security team making sure that the shopping centre was clear of players and definitely not high-fiving, shopping, or drinking Costa Coffee. As well as hundreds of thousands of social media views, the newsjacking stunt was in The Guardian and praised on the BBC’s Football Daily Podcast. PRMoment’s ‘The Good and Bad PR’ feature referred to us as ’retail banter kings’.
Nathan Jones, don’t worry we’ve got your back! 🤫😉 @CAFCofficial pic.twitter.com/0jIkbpqMe8
— Bluewater (@TweetBluewater) March 14, 2025
2. EnjoyTravel.com
During lockdown, as a cheeky PPC stunt for EnjoyTravel.com, we poked fun at Dominic Cummings’ car journey which broke government guidelines. Google users searching terms such as ‘Visit Durham’ and ‘London Durham car hire’ saw ads for EnjoyTravel.com mocking Cummings’ gaff, with the headline ‘Driving from London to Durham: Follow Government Guidelines’ linking to a page expanding on the joke, which led to coverage in The Sun. 
3. Cook’s Club
With new alcohol restrictions in Spain’s Balearic Islands dominating the headlines, we saw the perfect newsjacking opportunity to reframe the narrative for our client, Cook’s Club. With its newly opened Calvia Beach hotel just minutes from Magaluf, we positioned the brand as part of the area’s transformation into a more stylish, premium destination. We issued a statement highlighting how the changes could positively shape tourism in the long run – while showcasing Cook’s Club as the go-to choice for modern holidaymakers. The result? Balanced, high-profile coverage that shifted the conversation from controversy to opportunity.
4. The Travel Network Group
When the travel industry united for a Day of Action to request support from the Government during the pandemic, we helped The Travel Network Group get ahead of the agenda to join the movement, giving them support to cut through the noise and dominate the headlines. We drafted and issued a powerful statement ahead of the event, positioning CEO Gary Lewis as a leading voice in the sector and offering him as spokesperson for interviews.Our rapid media outreach secured high-impact coverage across national, trade and broadcast outlets including Sky News, BBC News, The Independent, The Telegraph, Times Radio and LBC. By acting fast and aligning with the national conversation, we ensured the company’s message reached millions — not only influencing opinion, rallying support, and cementing their authority on the issue, but also gaining valuable trust from travel businesses and other key stakeholders.
5. Shapps O’Clock
Back in 2020, the Umpf team were analysing data for client Thomas Cook and we noticed a trend: the most popular hours of the working week for online holiday searches was immediately after the Grant Shapps Covid corridor updates. Pre-pandemic, holiday searches would rise significantly in the evenings after work, from 6pm until late evening, but during Covid, with people spending more time at home, there was no evening spike. The volume of online searches remained the same from 10am through to 10pm… apart from the ‘Shapps o’clock spike. The newsjacking story was picked up widely across both national and regional media.
