Client: Ochutnej Ořech — a family e-shop selling premium nuts and dried fruit. Turnover of 250M+ CZK (≈ €10M+), 200,000+ orders a year, multiple winner of the ShopRoku Quality Award on Heureka. Three generations, founded in 1996.
When war breaks out, most companies wait. We got to work. Late February 2026 — the United States and Israel launch a military operation against Iran. Iran responds by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important shipping route for oil and food commodities. Maritime traffic collapses, shipping insurance premiums jump by 1,100%, and the prices of pistachios, cashews and other commodities go through the roof.
On 11 March — two weeks into the conflict — we started tracking how it was affecting the transport of key commodities. We mapped the impact on commodity markets, prices and supply chains. At that very moment — entirely independently — Petr Voves from Ochutnej Ořech wrote to us. We'd had the same idea.
Petr got in touch with his suppliers and obtained information no journalist or analyst could ever simply look up. Real purchase prices. Supply shortages. The timeline for the price rises. And we knew this was exactly the moment when the story of a single family e-shop could speak for the whole market.
Within 24 hours we had a finished press release with all the supporting materials. Within a few days a report ran in the prime-time news on Czech Television — ČT Události. Over the next two weeks Ochutnej Ořech appeared on Seznam Zprávy, iDNES, Forbes.sk and other outlets. Without a single crown spent on advertising space. Without a "sponsored content" label. As a trusted expert source.
Where it started
Ochutnej Ořech is no newcomer. A family business operating since 1996, turnover of over 250M CZK (≈ €10M+), 200,000 orders a year, multiple winner of the ShopRoku Quality Award on Heureka. And yet — in the media, its competitors were the better-known name.
Whenever food prices, supply chains or e-commerce trends made the news, the media called the competition. Not because Ochutnej Ořech had nothing to say, but because there was no relationship between the company and the newsrooms.
If you want to get into the media through paid advertising, the going rates look like this:
| Outlet | Price of a paid PR article | Note |
|---|---|---|
| iDNES.cz | 99,000 CZK/day (≈ €4,000) | MAFRA rate card |
| Seznam Zprávy | from 50,000 CZK (≈ €2,000) | Premium rate card |
| Česká televize | CANNOT BE BOUGHT | Prohibited by law |
| Czech Crunch | 100,000 CZK (≈ €4,000) | Native article |
| Respekt | 25,000 CZK/week (≈ €1,000) | Online advertising |
| Forbes.sk | 90,000 CZK (≈ €3,600) | AdVoice format |
| Peníze.cz / FinMag | 25,000–150,000 CZK (≈ €1,000–6,000) | NextPage Media |
The total? Just for the placements where you can put a price on it, we're talking 400,000 to 600,000 CZK (≈ €16,000 to €24,000). And that's without counting Czech Television, where you simply can't buy advertising space for any amount of money. On top of that — every paid article carries a "sponsored content" or "PR" label. Readers see it. And trust drops.
You can't buy advertising on ČT24. The only way in is to be so relevant that they call you themselves.
What we did: 5 phases, 5 days, 0 CZK on media
Phase 1 — Newsjacking: catch the wave (11 March 2026)
Newsjacking is the art of betting on the right story at the right moment. The war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz isn't just a geopolitical event — it's a story that directly touches ordinary consumers: food prices, the availability of favourite ingredients, the future of entire product categories.
On the morning of 11 March, we at LK Media started our own research — mapping the impact on commodity markets, price movements and supply chains. And on that same day Petr Voves reached out with exactly the same idea. For the media, an insight from someone who buys ingredients from all over the world every day is invaluable — he's precisely the kind of expert newsrooms are after. A practitioner who can get straight on the phone with suppliers and deliver information no one else can dig up.
Phase 2 — Data, not guesswork (11–12 March 2026)
We communicated with Petr over WhatsApp, in voice messages, in real time. No emails left sitting until morning. When you need to catch a news wave, every hour counts.
Petr's key contribution? He went straight to his suppliers and brought back real purchase prices, information on supply shortages and the timeline for the price rises. Data no journalist could find in any database, because it isn't there.
By the next day we had assembled a press release built on hard data:
- 147 ships stranded in the Persian Gulf — a collapse in maritime transport
- A 99% drop in transit through the Strait of Hormuz
- An 1,100% rise in insurance premiums (from $625K to $7.5M per ship)
- A 26% jump in pistachio prices in India in a single week
- 3 RASFF notifications for aflatoxins in Iranian pistachios — a health risk
- Quotes from both Petrs (father and son) — a generational view of the market
No one else in the Czech Republic had this data. Ochutnej Ořech has connections all over the world, sees the real prices on the commodity exchanges and understands logistics. For journalists, this was information they couldn't get from any press agency.
Journalists don't need PR. They need data, expert sources and stories. Give them that — and they'll repay you a hundredfold.
Phase 3 — Personalised distribution (12–13 March 2026)
A mass email to 200 journalists? That's exactly what we don't do. Before every campaign we carefully go through a shortlist of journalists from the top Czech and Slovak outlets. For each one we studied their previous articles, the topics they cover and their writing style. And then we wrote them a tailored email.
5 email variants by type of outlet:
- Business desks — hard numbers, macro context, market impact
- Lifestyle media — the family-business story, the human angle
- News desks — the breaking-news angle, geopolitics
- E-commerce sites — the business story, purchasing strategy
- Food & B2B — supply chains, quality, RASFF data
The result? A 53% response rate. Nine journalists out of seventeen responded positively. For comparison — the average success rate of a mass press release in the Czech Republic hovers around 1–2%. Personalisation always works.
The day after the personalised emails, as a safety net we also put the story out via Protext ČTK — from where it was automatically syndicated to Peníze.cz, FinMag, Barrandov.tv and other portals.
Phase 4 — Follow-up and relationship building (days 3–7)
Send an email and wait? That's what everyone does. We worked with three rounds of follow-ups:
- Day 3: A reminder with a fresh data point (updated figures from the exchanges)
- Day 6: A FOMO follow-up — "X outlets have already covered the topic, we have exclusive data"
- Throughout: An instant response to every query, additional quotes, photos on request
If you're dealing with professional journalists and you genuinely put the work into your materials, it often happens that the newsroom starts passing it around internally and comes back for more. The outlet that most often came back to us for additional data was Seznam Zprávy.
Phase 5 — Preparing the client for the media
When Czech Television calls to say a crew is on its way to film, most people panic. Even though Petr Voves has experience speaking on camera and no longer needs our advice, we still run through the essentials. What to wear, what to prepare for, every detail that makes the difference.
The Czech Television crew lead was thrilled with Petr's delivery, and the segment aired live on ČT24. A professional on-camera performance = an invitation next time.
The numbers that speak for themselves
| Date | Outlet | Type of placement |
|---|---|---|
| 13 March 2026 | Protext ČTK | Press release + syndication to 5+ portals |
| 13 March 2026 | Peníze.cz | Syndicated article — finance portal |
| 13 March 2026 | FinMag | Syndicated article — business/finance |
| 13 March 2026 | Forbes.sk | Editorial article — Slovak market |
| 17 March 2026 | iDNES.cz | Editorial article — business section |
| 17 March 2026 | ČT Události | TV report in the main news programme |
| 27 March 2026 | Seznam Zprávy | Editorial article — business (Filip Horáček) |
| 13 April 2026 | Seznam Zprávy | Editorial article — commodities (follow-up) |
And that's not the end of it. In April 2026 talks are under way about further exclusive placements — a profile interview for Czech Crunch and a business interview for iDNES.
What it would have cost as paid advertising
A conservative estimate of the media value of all the placements: 400,000 to 600,000 CZK (≈ €16,000 to €24,000). And that only counts the outlets where the advertising space can be priced.
We're not counting Czech Television — because there, you can't buy advertising space for any amount of money. The law prohibits commercial content on ČT24. The only way in is to be a source so relevant that the newsroom calls you itself.
And there's one more crucial difference: every one of our placements ran as editorial content. Without an "advertising" label. Without the "sponsored content" stigma. Readers see them as trustworthy information from an independent journalist — not as an ad someone paid for.
Media value of 400,000–600,000 CZK (≈ €16,000–24,000). Investment in paid media: 0 CZK. ČT Události? Not for any price.
What this teaches us: 7 principles that work
1. Give the media value, not advertising. Journalists don't need PR copy. They need hard data, expert sources and stories no one else has. Give them an exclusive — and they'll give you space in the prime-time news. That's not a transaction. It's a mutual favour both sides appreciate.
2. Speed is the key. In PR, timing is everything. WhatsApp voice messages, instant responses, no waiting for sign-off. 24 hours from the first spark to a press release out the door. Turn up late and you lose the story.
3. Personalisation beats mass press releases. A 53% response rate versus 1–2% for mass releases. Study the journalist, understand what they cover, and write to them so they can see you've done the work.
4. You can't buy the ČT prime-time news. The only way onto Czech Television is to be a relevant expert source. Digital PR makes that possible. Paid advertising never will.
5. Build relationships, not transactions. After the campaign we have 9 active journalist contacts at the top Czech outlets. Contacts who reach out on their own. Every future campaign will be easier, faster and more effective.
6. Prepare the client for the media. Dress code, on-camera tips, a media briefing, the principle of reciprocity. A professional on-camera performance is an invitation next time. The ČT crew lead wanted Petr on live TV — that doesn't happen by chance.
7. Digital PR isn't advertising. It's building a name. It's not something you drop into a press release and measure for a direct impact on sales. It's an investment in the brand's position — in making sure that next time, journalists think of you automatically instead of going to the competition. That value multiplies with every new article, every new interview.
Conclusion
Ochutnej Ořech isn't just an e-shop selling nuts. It's an expert on importing dried fruit and nuts with something to tell the media. All it took was finding the right moment, the right topic and the right way to present it to the newsrooms.
As Lucie put it once the campaign wrapped: "This is the first step toward journalists remembering Ochutnej Ořech automatically next time — instead of going to the competition."