PMS International has appointed PR agency Taylor Herring to create and lead a major national marketing campaign.

PMS has put a six figure sum behind marketing this rapidly growing brand, tasking award-winning agency Taylor Herring with leading the Elves Behavin’ Badly campaign.

In 2017 over 2m Elf dolls sold in the run-up to Christmas, making it one of the biggest selling brands of last year. PMS’ new range of Elf products will hit the shelves in October, and many of the UK’s biggest retailers have already confirmed listings, with orders in hand already substantially ahead of last year’s total sales.

Following a huge response to the Elves in national media last November, PMS is investing heavily in marketing its brand with a major PR campaign for the Elves that will include a viral video series, Facebook and Twitter promotions, and a national fan photography competition. A number of high profile publicity stunts will also be rolled out nationwide, with a focus on London.

Paul Beverley, managing director of PMS International, commented: “We are thrilled that the renowned Taylor Herring will be running our Elves Behavin’ Badly Christmas 2018 campaign. We wanted to partner with an edgy agency who will deliver a hard hitting and memorable campaign which will engage consumers at every level, and build upon the sometimes controversial success which we have already had with the Elves. Type ‘Naughty Elves’ into Google and you’ll be confronted with tens of the thousands of very humorous Elf scenes created by consumers across the nation. This highly competitive challenge to the humorous, artistic and creative minds of the population is sure to reach frenzy proportions in the month leading up to Christmas 2018.”

He continued: “We are confident the naughty Elves will rival Christmas campaigns from the likes of John Lewis and others. Elves Behavin’ Badly’s style of festive humour is very ‘now’ and is set to become a campaign to remember in 2018.”