Using expert comments to land hyper-relevant national coverage (within a few hours)
The Challenge & Opportunity
To maintain their position as an authority on classic cars, Hagerty needed a digital PR team that could uncover opportunities to earn online coverage for thought leadership, as part of a wider strategic digital PR approach.
To showcase one example; Aira’s digital PR team spotted an opportunity for Hagerty to contribute to a story the Express had written. The article discussed how the 40-year-old car tax exemption could be in danger of being removed ahead of Rachel Reeve’s 2025 Autumn budget.
As a team we check the news for relevant newsjacking opportunities for our clients throughout the day. As soon as we saw news break out that the 40-year classic car tax could be coming to an end, we knew we had to comment.
Hagerty are the UK’s biggest provider of classic car insurance, focused on serving their clients with the best possible service. British motoring is in their heritage and so they know just how big of an impact making this change would be to the car industry. Hagerty had a voice for motorists, and we knew we had to use it to help demonstrate Hagerty's authority in this space.
- Alex Fiske, Digital PR Lead
This was the first time we'd proposed newsjacking to Hagerty in this way, so the team didn't have existing processes in place for this type of activity.
Knowing speed was going to be key to maximise coverage opportunities and beat any competitors to it, we ensured we communicated the opportunity early, proposed an approach, and took as much of the weight off Hagerty's internal team as possible.
The solution
Within an hour of spotting this story, the Aira digital PR team worked with Hagerty to create a quote from their managing director for outreach, explaining the impact this news may have on the classic car industry in the UK.
Aira produced a first draft for Hagerty’s internal team to review and add to with any additional unique insight.
Taking a tailored outreach approach, we sent the quote to motoring journalists at big UK national sites and motoring-specific websites.
Our proactiveness, collaboration and tailored approach were key to landing national coverage right away. Our team split responsibilities between drafting a newsworthy comment and gathering a list of key relevant motoring journalists who were likely to cover the story.
Our aim was simple: provide a quote before the story was written. This way we could provide value to journalists right away.
- Alex Fiske, Digital PR Lead
Our timeliness and tailored approach led to positive feedback from journalists, including one key national motoring journalist who replied - "Thanks so much for this, very useful! We were planning to write this story this afternoon so we'll definitely use this comment."
This tailored, timely approach also helps to build key media relationships which are valuable for the brand.
The Results
By the afternoon on the same day, we had landed 13 pieces of coverage on hyper-relevant authoritative sites, including the likes of Classic Car Weekly Magazine, This is Money, Regit Cars and The Sun.
Four of these pieces also included links through to the classic car insurance landing page, helping to drive authority to a key focus area of the website.
From a brand perspective, Hagerty was the only brand to be quoted with a reaction to the proposed changes, helping to further cement Hagerty as the authority in this space.
It's still early days to see any wider benefit from our digital PR activity with Hagerty. Looking at the lead measures from just this activity specifically, which is part of a wider digital PR approach, we're happy to see the quality and relevancy of coverage and links secured, as well as the feedback.
It's important to evaluate other parts of partnerships too. In this case we set a new process, and demonstrated success through it, which is a great win. We know that when another newsjacking opportunity arises, the team are armed ready for speed!
- Chloe Osunsami, Head of Digital PR
This newsjacking activity plays just one part in our overall digital PR strategy and approach for Hagerty. Newsjacking (or reactive PR) sits alongside bigger campaign work to help earn brand mentions and links on relevant, authoritative publications online.
This is designed to help increase brand awareness and topical authority, and influence visibility in traditional and AI search spaces.
You can find out more about what digital PR is here, or you can visit our digital PR service page to learn more about what we offer.