‘Hot’ hot weather comms: a mini round up

By Alison HadleyGreat content marketing & campaigns

July’s 40°C heatwave in the UK has been a challenge. How have you coped? Or perhaps you’ve enjoyed the warmer weather? I’ve been a hot sweaty mess, eating ALL the choc ices!! 🥵🍦🍧

Joking aside, it has been interesting to watch how organisations have been communicating with customers about the hot weather.

There has been a real mix of content – from those that have shared something. (Lots of businesses have steered clear of jumping on the ‘summer’s here’ bandwagon. The soaring, scorching temperatures is a complex topic affecting people and our planet in a multitude of ways.)

Here in the UK, we are unprepared for the MET office’s red and amber alerts; we’re not used to the hot weather and we don’t have the infrastructure in place, resulting in transport disruptions and school closures. It has therefore been important for many to communicate the dangers of the hot weather and how to stay safe.

Charities and public sector organisations have been busy sharing instructional infographics and educational messages on how to safeguard people and animals. There have also been environmental messages around climate change.

While others have created clever campaigns to welcome customers into their stores or shared ‘jokey’ content to provide some light-relief.

With this in mind, here’s a mini round up of some of the ‘hot’ hot weather content I’ve seen….

Think of it a resource that you can dip into ahead of the next forecast heatwave.

Stay cool, calm and collected, people! 😎

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Hot weather examples

Click on the following buttons to jump to see the different themed examples, below.

🌏 Educational / public safety 🌏

🍦 FUN AND HUMOROUS 🍦

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Educational and public safety messaging

These social media posts communicate the dangers of the hot weather and ways to stay safe. Organisations have taken care to use the right photograph or graphic to illustrate their message.

NHS

This educational swipeable infographic communicates the signs of heat exhaustion in a simple but effective way and has been well received with over 6,000 likes.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NHS (@nhs)


Bristol Council

Here, the council were careful to select a neutral photograph of the harbourside to illustrate their public safety message. During the summer months, crowds of people enjoy beers/drinks in this area by the Arnolfini and often sit on the ground with their feet dangling over the walls.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bristol City Council (@bristolcouncil)


Dogs Trust

Nice to see positive and light-in-tone language used here to communicate educational tips for dog owners – the ‘paw-fect’ play on words and informal ‘pooches’.

Hedgehog Society

Now that’s one thirsty hedgehog! 🦔🥰

It looks like the Hedgehog Society’s request to make the tweet go viral worked, with almost 24,000 likes. This is a great use of short video content.

Eden Project

A good way of linking evergreen content (or content that has been created to ‘slot in’ to content calendars) to the heatwave, making it timely and relevant.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eden Project | Cornwall, UK (@edenprojectcornwall)


Fun and humorous campaigns/messaging

Brands known for their humour and relaxed tone of voice, like Lidl, have remained true to their identity. It is great to see businesses and charities being creative with their comms.

Iceland

Research by the supermarket reports that (58%) of Brits have gone into a supermarket freezer aisle to cool down when the weather is too hot.

So that’s why this is such a neat idea from one of Iceland’s London store managers: creating a ‘chill out zone’ which features deckchairs and complimentary ice lollies. It probably didn’t cost too much to implement and benefited from PR coverage from the likes of The Mirror, regional press and retail trade publications.

Iceland supermarket creates ‘Chill Out Zone’ to soothe sweltering shoppers

WWT (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust)

The photo and accompanying words are a great match, right?

Couldn’t resist sharing this one, too 😂

Cute animal photos always win!

Lidl

Got to have a giggle at this pun…..

The photo of a bakery is going to likely stand out on people’s news feeds, as they scroll through endless photographs of sunshine-filled landscapes, kids playing in inflatable pools and delectable ice cream shots.

Heard through Hel Reynolds at Comms Creatives.

Kew Gardens

This Instagram post shares a delicious looking ice cream in front of Kew’s instantly recognisable Victorian glasshouse, showcasing ice cream as a fun way to beat the heat as well as other more sensible measures.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kew Gardens (@kewgardens)


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