In May 2018, the Helsingborg Concert Hall published a press release “Hate mail… that made us change a concert!”. That, in turn, led to Fredrik Österling, Concert Hall Manager, being interviewed by the media for weeks.
Mynewsdesk spoke to Fredrik Österling and Mira Jalamo, Press Officer, on the importance of taking a stand, how to find stories and use Mynewsdesk to make your voice heard.
It all started with the Helsingborg Concert Hall receiving a letter from an anonymous person who expressed their displeasure about them collaborating with LGBTQ composers. The sender of the message thought it was so terrible, they intended to visit the concert hall no longer.
In response to this hate letter, Fredrik Österling and tenor soloist Rickard Söderberg chose to set up a new show. The result was the “Bögtåget” (The Fag Train) symphony, which premiered last year on May 26th.
We had a concert with an audience we’ve never seen before. – Fredrik Österling
After that, they published a press release via Mynewsdesk. What was the result?
“It went bang!” said Fredrik Österling. “I was interviewed for weeks by the media in Latin America, USA, BBC, Africa, and Asia.”
“That a symphony orchestra normally associated with serious men in tuxedos would respond in such a way to a hate mail created a surge,” he explained. “And we got a lot of love back.”
The story is everything
Regardless of how skilled you are at working with public relations and communication, according to Mira Jalamo, the story you want to tell is the alpha and omega.
It’s essential that the business or organization dares to push the boundaries a little and take a stand on specific issues. That, in turn, can lead to others writing about you. However, you rarely go far without having worked closely with your story from the start, she advised.
Helsingborg Concert Hall won this year’s Nordic Digital PR Awards in the category Digital Storyteller. The prize was awarded to the company that best set an example in 2018 for good storytelling and high digital presence.
The Jury’s Motivation:
Helsingborg Concert Hall’s strength is their ability to find creative angles on relevant and informative content. Not only do they achieve impressive results in the media, but they are also faithful to their values and are not afraid to take a stand. Working actively with storytelling, they successfully gain their target group’s interest. In addition, they are good at optimizing their communication efforts in social media in order to maximize the reach of their message.
