The festive season in Kenya is a period of high economic activity, end year sales, corporate events, and saturated news cycles. For PR professionals and brand owners, successfully distributing press releases to Kenyan media during this time requires a focused, strategic approach that deviates from the norm.

Navigating the unique challenges of media scheduling and journalist workloads ensures your story gets the visibility it deserves. Here are six essential things to consider if you wan to secure media coverage in Kenya during the festive season:

Content Calendars Close Early: Plan Early

The most critical takeaway for PR success during the festive period is advance planning. Kenyan journalists, writers, and editorial teams finalize their content well ahead of time. Other than news desks which need fresh content all through the year, feature editors often work on a pipeline that is completed weeks before the publication date, allowing them to take deserved time off.

The Reality: A pitch sent in mid-December for a Christmas-related story is likely already too late. Most journalists and editors have already planned, interviewed and closes content calendars by this time.

Actionable Tip: Begin pitching your festive season stories, announcements, and events to key media contacts in early November. Target long-form or magazine-style content placements first, as these have the longest lead times. For news content, you can pitch, up until December but ensure it is extremely timely and topical to grab attention.

Non-Festive Topics Face Low Visibility

At the time of publishing this article, it is the first week of December, 2025 and major news outlets have already pivoted to festive-themed stories, including news.

The last two weeks of December are notorious for a dramatic drop in public and editorial interest in non-festive content. Anything outside the scope of holidays or end-of-year reviews, risks low visibility. This is not the time to launch a serious industry report and pitch the same to journalists.

Risk Assessment: Let’s say you just launched a new B2B software or a niche financial policy report. These might secure some publication, but its reach (the number of people who actually read it) will likely be minimal compared to other times of the year.

High Demand for Festive-Themed Content is an Opportunity

While generic holiday content is abundant, journalists are always hungry for original, well-researched, or niche angles related to the festive season. This scarcity creates a powerful opportunity for your brand to gain press freely with a brilliant idea. Often, editors receive recycled pitches which are likely to lead to audience fatigue. Any unique festive pitch is likely to attract a lot of attention.

Strategy: Don’t just announce a holiday sale or an end year event. Pitch a story based on original data from your company, such as:

• “Consumer Spending Trends in Nairobi: 3 Sectors Kenyans are Prioritizing This Christmas.” (If you’re in e-commerce or finance)
• “The Environmental Impact of Festive Packaging: A Call for Sustainable Gifting in Kenya.” (If you’re in manufacturing/sustainability)
• Year-in data or market trends review (if you are in B2B)
• New year projects (perfect for final two weeks of December news cycle)

It’s Event Season for the Media Community: Be Strategic with Invites

The festive season is a packed social and event calendar for journalists. They are often required to cover or even host internal events, sponsored events, and general corporate events within their niches, making their personal time and schedules tight.

Most organizations plan their events around the November- December calendar. And as you can imagine, there are countless invites landing in Journalists’ emails.

Successful Event Pitching: If your press release distribution involves an invitation to a year-end event, it must offer irresistible value that transcends a standard networking opportunity.

• Offer an Exclusive: Promise a one-on-one interview with a high-profile industry leader, available only at your event.
• Provide Unique Content: Ensure the event has a strong news hook, like the launch of a major new report or the announcement of a large social impact initiative.

Pitch Timely, Newsworthy or Data-Driven Stories to Cut Through the Noise

A lot of brands are pitching events and end year sales during this season. On the contrary, journalists prioritize stories that are easy to justify to their editors and that require minimal additional work. Data and statistics make your story stand out. This could be a wonderful time to send your report to newsrooms. However, such data-packed report shoud strictly have a festive angle. The festive season is not the time to launch a general industry report.

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How to Get Featured in Kenyan Media

Timely stories that touch on trending topics tend to also attract attention. These could be opinion pieces or commentary on a national issue.

How to Incorporate Data:

• “Our study shows a 45% increase in retail spending among Kenyans aged 25-35 this December.”
• “Company X or Agency Y urges citizens to take caution when shopping online during the festive season”

This is crucial for earning that coveted slot, as it gives the journalist the ready-made material they need.

Target New Year’s Editorial Calendars for Less Competition

While everyone else is focused on Christmas and end-of-year wrap-ups, savvy PR agencies target the content that runs immediately after the holidays.

The Opportunity: The period from the first week of January onwards often sees editorial teams scrambling to fill pages with forward-looking content (e.g., “Trends for 2026,” “Industry Predictions,” “The Year Ahead”). This time offers significantly less competition for visibility from other brands.

Actionable Tip: Prepare press releases and pitch documents focused on Q1 strategy, annual predictions, industry reports, or new projects before the festive shutdown. Send these pitches to editors in the first week of December with a clear embargo date for January or pitch at the start of the new year. You’ll be their hero when they return in the New Year with empty columns and shows to fill.