Newsjacking is a growing publicity tactic and well worth knowing about.   It’s literally the hijacking of news.  You inject your company’s ideas or angles into breaking news, riding the interest in that news story, to generate media coverage for your brand.

A prominent example of this is when officials at the London Olympics mixed up the Korean flags, and optometrist Specsavers moved in with their slogan: “Should have gone with Specsavers”.

News is breaking all the time, and for stories that might have a link or relevance with your company, there’s a point at which you have a unique opportunity to ride the popularity of a breaking story to benefit your company.

Now, the popularity dies down pretty quickly, but the impact of seizing the story early to benefit your company can be well worth it.

Take a look at a visual representation of this phenomenon with our newsjacking timeline.

The trick to outstanding newsjacking is to get in as quickly as possible. When Kate Winslet was staying with Sir Richard Branson last year at his private retreat, lightning set the home on fire and Kate rescued Branson’s elderly mother from the blaze. The story naturally attracted media attention and interest.  So the London Fire Brigade saw it as an opportunity and within in few hours, ran a story on their website offering the actress a chance to train with their firefighters. With little effort, they had unprecedented media exposure and interest in their work.

However, you don’t just have to sit back and wait for a story to fall into your lap… You can make the news yourself as Red Bull proved last year with their partnership with skydiver Felix Baumgartner.  Red Bull’s space diving project saw Felix Baumgartner fly 39 kilometers into the stratosphere over New Mexico and then parachute to Earth, breaking the sound barrier and several other world records in none other than a Red Bull space suit and helmet. With the whole world watching, could you possibly ask for better publicity?

And in a final and brilliant example, when the 33 Chilean miners emerged into the sunlight after spending 69 days trapped underground, each donned a brand new pair of Oakley Radar sunglasses, resulting in press coverage that analysts value at over $40 million.  Newsjacked indeed.