A right royal PR launch boosts sales for Steiff

A bear worthy of Her Majesty

To mark what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday, the prestigious German heritage brand Steiff, widely known as the inventor of the Teddy bear, launched a limited-edition commemorative bear to celebrate Her Late Majesty, exclusively available via reseller Galerista. 

Beautifully crafted and inspired by one of Her Majesty’s most iconic looks, it was a collector’s item with huge appeal. Briefed with driving UK sales of the Royal Teddy bear, the team at Yours Sincerely knew they’d need a clever, creative campaign that captured everything people loved about the late Queen. 

The royal campaign got everyone talking. From Joanna Lumley and Amanda Holden to coverage across virtually every tier-one media title, resulting in more than 2,000 UK sales of the limited edition Teddy bear.

The brief

We were tasked with delivering a fully integrated campaign to maximise sales of Steiff’s newly launched Queen Elizabeth bear.

Success wasn’t measured by awareness, reach or reputation alone. Every piece of activity was designed to drive direct sales, with momentum building towards the 21st April – what would have been Her Late Majesty’s 100th birthday.

Implementing PR and digital strategy

This campaign had all the right elements – a beautifully crafted product, a timely hook, and a heritage brand with strong recognition. But we knew for this to land with UK media, simply announcing the launch of a new Steiff bear (no matter how charming!) wouldn’t be enough.

We needed to create a moment that would get people talking, generate widespread coverage, and ultimately encourage people to purchase this commemorative keepsake.

PR: A tea party worth talking about

To achieve this, we tapped into a shared cultural memory: Her Late Majesty’s much-loved tea party with Paddington Bear during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. 

As a nod to the iconic tea party, we brought together the Steiff Queen Elizabeth bear with one of the oldest editions of Paddington Bear from the original 1970s TV series, housed at the Bear House at Newby Hall, for a reunion tea party.

We captured the event with well-planned, top-quality video and photography, carefully timing the story to create maximum impact. This brought the narrative to life and gave the media a compelling reason to cover the launch.

As well as national print, online and broadcast coverage, targeted outreach to key royal journalists helped amplify the story. This included securing a double-page feature in the Daily Express, and a live feature on ITV’s This Morning on the 21st of April.

Celebrity and influencer endorsement

To extend the reach of the campaign, reinforce media coverage and drive audiences directly towards the purchase journey, we also developed a targeted influencer programme.

This included gifting the Steiff bear to household names such as Joanna Lumley and Alison Hammond, as well as to the royal influencer community, including King Charles’ former Butler. A standout moment came from Amanda Holden, who was so impressed with the Steiff bear that she brought it into Heart Breakfast for live on-air coverage and shared the link to buy on her Instagram Story – a PR dream!

Integrated with Digital

With sales being our main objective, one of the most important elements of the campaign was ensuring we could track how PR activity translated into purchases.

Working closely with the team at Anicca Digital, we created a seamless digital journey to track when media attention led to conversion. Through paid search optimisation, audiences could quickly find the Steiff bear online and move from interest to purchase.

More than 2,000 bears sold during the campaign 

800+ bears sold as a direct result of PR

And subsequently, the coverage also boosted brand awareness and increased recall when people saw digital ads, which led to further purchases.

275+ hits of coverage

The Royal reunion generated coverage across pretty much every national newspaper, including The Times, Daily Mirror and Daily Express, as well as 100+ regional papers, and features in HELLO!, Town & Country, and GB News. 

2bn reach 

Standout moments included a double-page feature in the Daily Express, Amanda Holden showcasing the bear live on Heart Breakfast, coverage on This Morning, and even a mention on Have I Got News For You.

20+ pieces of influencer and celebrity coverage 

Across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, delivering more than 11 million potential reach and driving audiences directly towards purchase.

A Royal success story

This was truly one of the most exciting projects we’ve worked on – from handwritten letters to Buckingham Palace, to gifting the bear to national treasures, and securing standout media moments nationwide.

By combining creative PR storytelling with influencer engagement and digital integration, we were able to turn a royal celebration into a national campaign and deliver measurable and direct sales for Steiff.

How can PR drive your sales?

From national coverage to measurable outcomes, get in touch with the Yours Sincerely team to learn how we can create campaigns that increase visibility and drive sales.