Timing is everything when it comes to newsjacking.
While some campaigns are months in the planning, others start with a breaking news story, a quick idea and the ability to move before the moment has passed.
Last week provided two perfect examples, as Team Umpf turned two entertainment stories into reactive PR opportunities for two clients, one in Cardiff and one in Glasgow.
The first, and most reactive, involved Sir Tom Jones, and a very public departure from The Voice; the second, where we had a week of rumours and teases, involved Oasis, and the possible second coming of one of our most successful PR stunts.
Here’s how we did it.
St David’s Shopping Centre Offers Sir Tom Jones a New Voice
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When news broke that Sir Tom Jones had been fired from ITV’s The Voice, we immediately spotted an opportunity for St David’s Cardiff.
Tom is, of course, one of Wales’ most famous exports. So, rather than simply commenting on the news, we decided to offer him another job.
Via an Instagram and Facebook post, St David’s publicly invited Sir Tom to become ‘The Voice’ of St David’s, with a proposed new role providing the voice of the centre’s PA announcements and lifts.
It was deliberately simple, topical and tongue-in-cheek, exactly the sort of reactive content that can cut through when a story is dominating the news agenda.
The original Instagram post generated more than 1,000 likes, while the Facebook post attracted another 3,300. The comments delivered a crescendo of support for Sir Tom’s potential new career.
We made the story leap from social media into earned media, with coverage across Welsh media as well as The Sun online and in print.
Whether Sir Tom takes St David’s up on the offer remains to be seen, but when it comes to a quick-fire newsjacking PR stunt, *it’s not unusual* for us to have a decent idea.
It’s ‘Definitely Maybe’ Coming to Glasgow…
Just a few days later, attention turned from one musical legend to two others.
With reports suggesting Oasis could be heading to Glasgow’s Celtic Park as part of their 2027 world tour, we saw an opportunity for another of our clients, Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow.
Conveniently, we had a PR stunt up our sleeve: last year, Umpf created our multi award-winning Oasis Bucket Hat Portrait PR Stunt for St David’s in Cardiff. Our ‘Wonder Wall’ campaign marked the start of the Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour and we commissioned an artist to create a giant, 20ft x 13ft portrait of Liam and Noel Gallagher – the clever part was that it was constructed using 3,000 black and white bucket hats, synonymous with Oasis.
The installation became a story in its own right, securing more than 340 pieces of UK and international media coverage, including the BBC, ITV, Sky News, The New York Times and Rolling Stone, as well as appearing on Oasis’ own channels.
More than a year later, the Wonder Wall is still standing inside St David’s.
So, when Glasgow was officially confirmed as the opening city for the 2027 Oasis tour, we created the idea of Buchanan Galleries publicly asking its fellow shopping centre if it could loan the artwork.
We then tipped off media about the request, turning a conversation between two shopping centres into a reactive newsjacking story.
The idea was picked up by local media and generated plenty of conversation across social media, giving Buchanan Galleries a timely and relevant way into one of the biggest entertainment stories of the day.
Will St David’s agree to the loan? Watch this space.
Why Newsjacking Works
These were two very different stories, but the thinking behind them was the same.
Good newsjacking isn’t simply about attaching a brand name to whatever happens to be trending, there needs to be an authentic reason for the brand to join the conversation.
For St David’s, the connection was obvious: one of Wales’ most famous voices, a Cardiff destination and an opportunity to turn The Voice into ‘the voice’ of St David’s.
For Buchanan Galleries, we already had an asset with a genuine connection to Oasis, not to mention an opportunity to give an award-winning PR stunt a completely new lease of life.
It also demonstrates why reactive PR needs exactly that: quick reaction.
News cycles move quickly. Spotting an opportunity is only part of the job; developing the idea, getting client approval, creating the content and putting it into the media while people are still talking about the story is what turns an observation into a PR opportunity.
Two breaking entertainment stories. Two locally relevant ideas. Two clients joining the conversation. And all within a matter of days.
Sometimes the best PR opportunities aren’t sitting in the campaign calendar, they’re sitting in that morning’s headlines.
