 Food for Thought: Media Masterclass
Robyn Glynne-Percy, The Drum, 23.05.2008
PR is an important part of the marketing mix for the food and drinks sectors, as providers - from global brands to neighbourhood restaurants – endeavour to reach their target markets in an increasingly complex media environment. In this article we’ve demonstrated how PR initiatives can be used to help food and drinks organisations get quality media coverage and ultimately help achieve business objectives.
Press Office An agency should act as your press office, generating newsworthy press releases, commissioning photography, reacting to media enquiries and ‘selling in’ stories. A PR agency should have very good contacts, be talking to the media on a daily basis and should know your target publications (print, broadcast and online) intimately.
Corporate PR A corporate PR programme was devised to rebuild the reputation and communicate key messages about Scotland’s iconic drinks brand, Drambuie. Public perception of Drambuie changed from one of secrecy and lack of understanding to support for the new strategy.
Consumer PR Examples of successful campaigns in consumer media include:
- Packages: Loch Fyne Hotel and Loch Fyne Oysters. Bringing together two of our clients, we created the Aphrodisiac Package, linking into the Loch Fyne Food Fair in May. The news release and subsequent follow-up generated strong coverage in media including The Times, Sunday Times Ecosse and Daily Record.
- Competitions and reader offers: Competitions are a very effective way of getting key messages across, increasing the database and driving increased sales around a specific product or service. Promotions we have set up range from a simple ‘3 courses for 2 offer’ at Kinnaird ’s restaurant in The Scotsman, to a VIP experience for 10 people at The Three Sisters to winning a two night stay at a Crerar Hotel through STV’s Five Thirty Show.
- Local/community PR: Particularly for food and drinks outlets, reaching the local market is very important and many of the above activities can be combined to create an effective local campaign. Sponsorship or partnerships can also be useful to raise the profile, for example Rufflets Country House in St Andrews launched a Children’s Dinner Menu competition, working in partnership with local primary schools.
TRADE PR Coverage in the trade press is particularly useful to launch new products,
for example, Ian Macleod’s new whisky, Smokehead. Between trade and consumer
coverage over 30 features appeared (providing 15 x ROI) and all 19,000 products from the original bottling sold out in four months.
Events The agency can oversee the organisation of an event or simply invite media
contacts and secure coverage for it. Titles such as Meetings & Incentive Travel will often cover an unusual event as a case study whilst Scottish Field, The Drum and Insider may take captioned photos of guests for their ‘social’ pages.
Issues and crisis management Think of a crisis communications plan as an insurance policy - it makes business sense to have it just in case!. A ‘crisis’ can be anything from an employee injury, fire, financial difficulties to a health and safety issue that might affect the general public, your employees and/or your business’ reputation.
How will I know if the campaign is working? We produce a detailed plan of PR activity at the outset, setting targets to achieve over the year, reviewing these targets and providing a quarterly evaluation report detailing all the activity undertaken and the level of return on investment.
Profile Plus is a niche leisure and lifestyle PR agency, specialising in PR for the food
and drink, travel and hospitality sectors. Clients include Drambuie, easyJet, Sheraton
Grand Hotel & Spa, Westin Turnberry Resort, Ian Macleod Distillers, Loch Fyne Oysters,
Wilde Thyme, Harvey Miller Wine & Spirits Agencies and Glengoyne Distillery.
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