Definition
Newsjacking is a marketing and public relations tactic where a brand or individual leverages trending news stories, current events, or popular cultural moments to inject their own perspective, product, or content into the ongoing conversation, thereby generating media attention, social media buzz, and increased visibility.
Coined and popularized by marketing strategist David Meerman Scott, the core idea is to identify a breaking news story relevant to your industry or expertise and quickly react by offering a unique angle, commentary, data, or solution related to the event. Successful newsjacking requires speed (acting while the story is hot), relevance (making a genuine connection), and adding value (insight, help, humor) rather than just self-promotion. The goal is to ride the wave of existing media and public interest to gain earned media coverage, social shares, website traffic, and enhance brand relevance.
Is It Still Relevant?
Yes, newsjacking remains a relevant tactic in the fast-paced digital marketing landscape of 2025, but it must be approached with considerable skill, speed, and ethical sensitivity. Its relevance stems from:
- Capturing Attention: It allows brands to tap into topics already commanding public and media attention, potentially gaining visibility more quickly than through traditional campaigns.
- Earned Media Opportunities: A timely and insightful contribution can lead to valuable press coverage, interviews, or mentions from journalists and influencers looking for angles on a trending story.
- Social Media Amplification: Relevant and clever newsjacking content can achieve significant organic reach and engagement on social platforms.
- Demonstrating Relevance: It can position a brand as timely, culturally aware, and authoritative within its domain.
However, the risks are substantial:
- Requires Extreme Speed: The window of opportunity is often measured in hours. Slow reactions are ineffective.
- High Risk of Backlash: Insensitive, irrelevant, or opportunistic attempts, especially concerning tragedies or sensitive social issues, can severely damage brand reputation.
- Difficulty Standing Out: As many brands attempt real-time marketing, cutting through the noise with an authentic and valuable contribution is challenging.
While the potential rewards are high, newsjacking requires careful judgment and execution.
Real-world Context
Newsjacking examples range from highly successful to disastrous:
- Classic Success (Global): During the 2013 Super Bowl blackout, Oreo quickly tweeted “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” This was fast, clever, relevant to the event, and brand-appropriate, earning massive media attention.
- Industry Expertise Example: Following the announcement of a major change in Google’s algorithm, an SEO agency swiftly publishes a detailed blog post analyzing the implications for websites and shares key takeaways on social media, positioning themselves as timely experts.
- Potential Local Example (Pattaya): If temporary, unexpected restrictions were placed on accessing Pattaya’s beaches due to a specific event (e.g., environmental cleanup), a local hotel located slightly away from the beach might quickly run a social media campaign highlighting its beautiful swimming pool and indoor amenities with a message like “Beach access limited? Enjoy our stunning pool instead!” (Needs to be done sensitively).
- High-Risk Failure (Insensitive): Following news of a natural disaster causing hardship, a brand promoting non-essential luxury goods uses a related hashtag to push its products. This would likely be perceived as exploitative and lead to severe backlash.
- Failure (Forced Relevance): On the day a major international treaty is signed, a local Pattaya coffee shop posts “Discuss world politics over our new iced coffee!” The connection is tenuous and unlikely to resonate or add value.
Successful newsjacking adds value to the conversation related to the news; failed attempts often feel forced, irrelevant, or insensitive.
Background
- Pre-Internet Roots: The core idea of leveraging current events for public relations has existed for decades. Companies have long issued press releases or expert commentary related to ongoing news.
- Term Popularization: Marketing strategist David Meerman Scott heavily popularized the term “newsjacking” and codified the strategy in his 2011 book of the same name, emphasizing speed and injecting ideas into breaking news cycles.
- Impact of Real-Time Social Media: The rise of platforms like Twitter in the late 2000s and early 2010s created an environment where news broke instantly and public conversation happened in real-time. This provided the ideal conditions for brands to practice newsjacking quickly and publicly.
- Early Examples & Learning Curve: The early 2010s saw many brands experimenting with newsjacking, leading to notable successes (like Oreo) but also many public failures where brands appeared insensitive or overly opportunistic. These helped establish unwritten rules and best practices, particularly regarding sensitivity.
- Integration into Marketing Disciplines: Newsjacking became recognized as a specific technique within content marketing, social media marketing, and digital PR, requiring close collaboration between these teams for rapid response.
What to Focus on Today
To attempt newsjacking effectively and ethically in 2025, consider these guidelines:
- Monitor Relentlessly: Use a combination of news alerts, social listening tools (tracking keywords and hashtags), Google Trends, and industry news sources to identify breaking stories relevant to your brand or industry *as they happen*.
- Prioritize Ethics and Sensitivity:** This is paramount. **Avoid newsjacking tragedies, disasters, deaths, violence, or divisive political/social issues.** Ask: Could this be perceived as insensitive or exploitative? If there’s any doubt, refrain.
- Act with Extreme Speed:** Develop internal processes for quick ideation, approval, and execution (content creation, posting). The optimal window is often just hours after news breaks.
- Ensure Genuine Relevance:** Don’t force a connection. Your brand’s angle must be a natural and logical fit with the news story.
- Add Unique Value:** Offer something genuinely useful or insightful – expert commentary, helpful data, practical advice related to the news, a relevant solution, or perhaps appropriate humor (use humor very cautiously). Don’t just repeat the news or push a generic marketing message.
- Align with Brand Voice:** Ensure the tone and message are consistent with your established brand identity and values.
- Choose Appropriate Channels:** Select the best platform(s) for your reaction – a quick tweet, a LinkedIn update, a detailed blog post, an Instagram Story, a pitch to journalists, etc.
- Use Hashtags Wisely:** On social media, incorporate relevant trending hashtags naturally to increase visibility, but avoid spamming irrelevant ones.
- Measure and Learn:** Track the results (media pickups, social engagement, traffic, brand sentiment). Analyze what worked and what didn’t to refine future attempts.
Newsjacking is a high-risk, potentially high-reward tactic that requires careful judgment, speed, creativity, and a strong ethical compass.