Discover how we secured over 100 links from high-authority, relevant publications, driving key ranking improvements for Millets, the UK’s leading outdoor retailer.
In this case study, we’ll share the tactics we used over the past year to secure media coverage and boost key rankings for the brand. Our strategy combined data-driven hero campaigns with proactive outreach, reactive PR, and targeted product PR.
The Client.
For over 100 years, Millets has been a trusted name in outdoor clothing and equipment, helping families and friends gear up for their next adventure.
From hiking and camping to everyday outdoor activities, Millets has built a reputation for offering high-quality products at great value.
The brand’s target audience ranges from beginners exploring new outdoor hobbies to seasoned adventurers looking for reliable gear, and Millets’ mission is to inspire and educate people of all ages and experience levels to embrace the outdoors, encouraging more time spent in nature and making adventure accessible to everyone.
The Brief.
We first partnered with Millets in 2021 with the goal of securing topically relevant links from top-tier, regional, and niche media to boost organic search performance and increase brand awareness among their target audience, and we’ve worked with the brand on a retained basis since.
And over the past year, our focus has shifted with the seasons — from skiing to climbing to hiking — aligning closely with Millets’ internal team to target key product categories at the right time. This included strategic pushes for products like camping gear, men’s jackets, and outdoor clothing, ensuring we maximised visibility and relevance throughout the year.
The Strategy.
Our strategy for Millets combined data-driven creative campaigns, proactive pieces, product PR, and a robust “always on” reactive approach.
Here’s how each element contributed to driving links, rankings, and brand visibility over the past year:
creative data-led hero campaigns.
In 2024, we launched eight creative, data-driven hero campaigns for Millets, with The Best Outdoor Stargazing Spots being one of the standout successes.
This campaign offered multiple angles, allowing us to create headlines and outreach pieces around topics such as:
- The best places to stargaze across the UK
- The best locations for stargazing groups and events
- The most popular places to see the Northern Lights
- The best nights to stargaze in 2024
- The best times of year to stargaze
- How to take pictures of the stars
The campaign resonated with Millets’ target audience, encouraging more people to get outdoors and experience stargazing. We ensured it was ready for outreach in Q1 as an evergreen piece, allowing us to pitch it throughout the year. To maximise coverage, we also created a calendar of stargazing events — such as the Buck Moon and Super Moon season — to capitalise on key dates. The increased visibility of the aurora borealis this year provided an additional timely hook.
Recently, we tied the campaign to the Geminid meteor shower, securing coverage in the Manchester Evening News and Oxford Mail. To date, this campaign has generated 40 pieces of coverage, including 34 links with an average DR of 63.
proactive PR.
Alongside our hero campaigns, we ran a pre-planned proactive strategy, developing ideas tied to seasonal events and leveraging Millets’ on-site content to drive links.
One successful proactive piece was The Best Pub Walks in the UK, which was initially launched for Father’s Day. While it didn’t gain much traction at the time, its evergreen nature allowed us to re-angle it for different seasons, such as summer and Christmas walks.
This flexible approach has paid off — the campaign has so far secured 11 links and 26 pieces of coverage throughout the year on publications such as the Daily Express and The Sun, as well as regional press across the UK.
product PR.
Product PR has been a key focus, particularly around major sales periods. We’ve worked closely with the Millets team to stay on top of new product launches and deals, ensuring we maximise coverage and drive interest.
For example, in February, Millets slashed the price of Helen Skelton’s jacket — a product tied to one of their brand ambassadors. We secured links in multiple high-profile publications, including OK.
We also ramped up product PR for Black Friday, securing widespread coverage in national, regional, and niche publications such as BBC Countryfile, The Guardian and Horse and Hound.
always on reactive PR.
For all of our clients at Digitaloft, we implement an ‘always on’ reactive PR strategy — and Millets is no exception. This includes newsjacking, jumping on emerging trends, providing expert commentary, and responding to inbound journalist requests.
Thanks to the strong relationships we’ve built with key journalists, they now regularly approach us for data and insight on outdoor-related stories. This ongoing engagement ensures Millets stays top of mind and consistently earns high-value coverage.
The Results.
Our digital PR strategy has delivered outstanding results in 2024, driving significant coverage, high-quality links, and improved search performance.
Here’s a summary of the key outcomes of the activity:
- 169 pieces of coverage earned in 2024
- 108 relevant and high authority links
- Average DR74
- Links on national, regional and niche publications including T3, Live For The Outdoors, BBC Countryfile, The Guardian, The Sun and Devon Live.
We’ve also been tracking keyword movements over a number of keywords that we’re targeting through our strategy and we can see a sample of how our digital PR strategy has impacted rankings below.