Annual calendar launch earns newspaper and TV coverage for Danilo
The return of the famed Sir Cliff Richard Calendar has led Danilo to trumpet the success of its latest media campaign as the Peter Pan of pop hit national newspapers and TV.
The 40th edition of the annual licensed calendar, for 2025, is complete with a pic of Sir Cliff in the pool despite his vow a couple of years back to give up on topless shots, and was featured on ITV’s Lorraine show yesterday morning, August 12, following an online article in the Daily Mail on Friday, August 9, with a prominent showing in the print edition the following day.
The 83-year-old pop veteran has made a date with fans since 1985, with his calendar regularly featuring in Danilo’s top 10 – his 2024 version came fourth in the publisher’s overall bestsellers chart, and second in the music list, behind Taylor Swift in the number one slot for both, and the year before it was third overall, while the 2022 product came fourth.
The licensed greeting card and calendar company’s MD Daniel Prince said the “carefully orchestrated PR strategy” had garnered significant media attention, “leading to a surge in both brand visibility and sales”.
Daniel added: “By aligning the online article with the weekend print feature, along with social media postings, and Monday’s TV appearance, we ensured sustained visibility for the calendar across different audience segments – this approach kept the product in the public eye over several days, maximising its exposure and impact.”
Daniel added that Danilo’s media campaign for the 2025 Cliff Richard calendar shows how leveraging the power of strategic PR can compute into sales.
“By securing high-profile coverage across online, print, social media and television platforms, we’ve seen a big spike in online traffic and a significant increase in Cliff Richard calendar sales,” said Daniel. “This campaign serves as a model for how to effectively combine timing, media, and social engagement to achieve outstanding results in today’s competitive market.”
He explained that a key element was the careful coordination of the PR campaign with the arrival of the stock at the company’s Waltham Abbey warehouse, so fans can buy it immediately “capitalising on the heightened interest generated by the media buzz”.
Now into his 66th year in showbiz, over five million of the licensed Sir Cliff calendars have been sold over the previous 39 editions, notching up sales worth more than £40million, outselling licensed calendars from the likes of Elvis, Kylie, Madonna, and One Direction.
This year’s shots for the A3 calendar were taken by Robin Williams at Cliff’s Barbados home and aboard a cruise liner, including him posing by elephant statues in his garden, with a cocktail, and in the boutique on the ship, as well as the pool pic showing his bare shoulders.
Danilo also has a square collector’s edition for pre-order, a slim calendar and slim diary, as well as various greeting cards, including personalised and sound designs.
