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How to deliver a cost-effective PR
campaign 26 February 2009
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Simon Gribbon Head of Communications Leicester
Shire Promotions 14 years in PR
communications 9 years in PR agency role 5 years
at Leicester Shire Promotions Member of
Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR)
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What is PR why is it important? Public
relations is about reputation - the result of
what you do, what you say and what others say
about you Advertising costs a fortune - positive
publicity is not only more effective, its
free! You cant choose whether or not you want
public relations Now is the time to dedicate
resource to PR, not run away from it
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Debunking the myths I cant compete with the
expertise and collective experience that a PR
company can offer. Im shy. How on earth can
I do PR? I really dont feel like wining and
dining people just to get a story
printed. I'll have to get to know so many
publications and people, it will be a full time
job. I have to be able to write well.
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• How do you do it well?
• Define your audiences
• Understand why they think and do what they do
• Be clear about what you would like them to think
  about you
• Involve your employees in your objectives
• Convey your messages in a way that suits your
  audiences i.e. direct mail, telephone, online,
  face-to-face, etc
• See the media as a way of achieving your
  objectives
• Make sure you can measure progress throughout the
  project
• Work out that by doing PR, you can stop spending
  so much on advertising!

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Case studies of local success stories 1.
Bobbys Restaurant, Leicester 2. Leicester
Conferences, University of Leicester 3.
Dickinson Morris, Melton Mowbray
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Bobbys Restaurant Case Study How
Leicesters first Indian vegetarian restaurant
has utilised PR for successful profiling without
even sending out a press release!
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• Located on Belgrave Road, Leicester
• Opened 33 years ago this month
• One of half a dozen original businesses that
  started in the area now known as the Golden
  Mile
• Family business now run by Dharmesh Lakhani,
  the son of the original owner

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Despite never sending out a press release or
paying for advertising, Bobbys has achieved
significant media coverage over the last few
years
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How has this been achieved? Involvement in local
community social and business Demonstrations
and events attendance local school, East
Midlands Food Drink Festival, etc Build
profile and reputation
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Become an opinion former - hold considered,
experiential opinions about key issues affecting
your business/industry e.g. BBC Radio Leicester
interview re local produce Make yourself
available and earn the journalists
trust People are more likely to read a news
story than one marked advertisement. PR
coverage has had a beneficial impact on business
customers mention that theyve seen Bobbys
name in the press
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Bobbys Restaurant Text
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Leicester ConferencesPR Case Study
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PR Case Study
Business Overview

• Leicester Conferences is the dedicated conference
  and events team within the University of
  Leicester
• 50 years experience in hosting conferences,
  meetings and events
• Host day conferences, meetings and events
  year-round
• Host residential conferences and events during
  Spring, summer and winter vacations (22 weeks of
  the year)
• Two main sites City Campus (University Road)
  and Oadby
• Can host events for 10 2000 people (Special
  Olympics 2500!)
• 3 star rated with VisitBritain (Quality in
  Tourism)

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PR Case Study
PR Challenges

• Raise brand awareness Recently launched
  Leicester Conferences sub-brand (2007)
• Attended a national exhibition with new brochure
  launch
• Released editorial prior to event and announced
  champagne launch of the brochure to raise
  awareness and attract visitors to the stand
• Circulated press release at the exhibition
• Distributed small invite flyers to the launch
• Over 400K enquiry value with 200K provisional
  bookings
• Won an MIT MIMA award for best use of marketing
  budget

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PR Case Study
Other Brand Awareness Activities

• Open days invite key potential customers,
  agencies and media press
• Build relationships with media editors invite
  to venue and regularly discuss editorial
  opportunities
• Regular newsletters featuring recent events,
  general news and promotional details to remind
  customers of our offering
• Regular use of online media

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PR Case Study
Successful Campaigns

• Universitys 50th anniversary of being
  granted its Royal Charter
• Used link to our 50 years of providing conference
  facilities
• Produced special newsletter both printed and
  online distribution
• Published press release with some interesting
  facts, details of Leicester Conferences and
  online links to newsletter

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PR Case Study
Successful Campaigns

• TOGs Annual Convention (Terry Wogans Old
  Geezers fan club)
• Objectives
• Raise awareness of venue and ability to host
  successful conferences
• Increase booking potential through national PR
  coverage
• Submit campaign for an award nomination

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PR Case Study
Successful Campaigns

• The return on investment was considerable - PR
  coverage gained from the Leicester Mercury, BBC
  local radio, BBC regional evening news, ITV
  Central evening news and numerous conference
  industry printed and online publications
• Measured web hits with online PR (over 4000 hits
  with myvenues.co.uk)
• Several mentions on Terry Wogans Breakfast Show
• Won an MIT MIMA award for best PR campaign

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Thank you
Tel [phone] Fax [phone]
2053 Email conferences_at_le.ac.uk
Web www.leicesterconferences.co.uk
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Dickinson Morris Brand PR Review

• The Brand
• The Power of PR Regional and national
• Examples of PR coverage
• Evaluation of PR activity

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Dickinson Morris

• DM Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe
• Located in the heart of Melton Mowbray
• The birthplace and heart of the brand
• Established by John Dickinson in 1851
• Establishes heritage and provenance credentials
• Educate consumers about authentic Melton
  Mowbray pork pies
• Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association (MMPPA)
  credentials
• Melton Mowbray Born Raised

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Brand Positioning
Melton Mowbray is at the heart of the DM brand

• The audience
• Affluent
• Educated
• Middle England

• The product
• Authenticity
• Premium
• Finest, fresh uncured pork
• Special blend of salt and pepper
• Bow-sided shape
• Natural bone stock jelly

• The birthplace
• Melton Mowbray, Leics
• Character
• Tradition

• The heritage
• Family
• 150 years of experience
• Real
• Oldest remaining pork pie baker in town centre
• Tourist attraction

the heritage the birthplace the product the
audience provenance
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Tourism Links

• Gourmet Trail In partnership with Leicester
  Promotions, Dickinson Morris hosted a tour of
  Melton Mowbray for national food and travel
  journalists in March 2007
• Installation of touch screen Visitor Information
  Point in the demonstration area at Ye Olde Pork
  Pie Shoppe
• Development of tourism links for the DM website
• Presentations at Group Travel AGM and Coach
  Tourism Council
• Mail shots to coach operators
• Attendance at tourism shows eg Excursions 2009

Excursions 2009 Show
Pie making demonstrations at Ye Olde Pork Pie
Shoppe
Coach Tourism Council May 07
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Consumer PR 2008 Best Value Powerful tool for
DM

• Emphasis on building national consumer awareness
• Media product sampling and shop visits are key to
  success
• Womens glossy magazines, national and regional
  print
• TV and radio media targeted
• Tactical use of national awards to build third
  party endorsement
• Celebrity endorsement samples sent to known
  pork pie lovers
• Sir Roger Moore, Terry Wogan, Joanna Lumley,
  John Inverdale

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Awards update........ Quality Recognition

• Awards are a great endorsement of product quality
  both to consumer and trade.........and generate
  great PR!
• Winner of award for Favourite Local Food at
  Good Housekeeping Food Awards 2008
• Winner of Q award in the pies pasties category
  in 2007 6pk Mini shortlisted in 2008
• Great Taste Awards (one star) for Large, 6pk
  Mini pies and Rutland sausages
• Finalist in The Grocer Branded Excellence awards
  2008 and 2009 (announced February)

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2008 Activity - Truly English Press
Competitions local level activity

• DM teamed up with Stapleford Hall Hotel and
  Belvoir Castle to offer consumers the chance to
  win a Truly English Experience in the Vale of
  Belvoir
• Regional newspaper and radio competitions
• Combined audience reach of 600k

Country Living Aug 08
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Consumer Press Highlights

• The ultimate pork pie company! Heat magazine
• If youre in need of the ultimate comfort food
  - Yours magazine
• Traditional, nicely coloured crust Prima Top
  5
• Review in Sunday Telegraph

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Consumer Press Highlights
Country Kitchen magazine Dec 08
The Independent Aug 08
Choice magazine Dec 08
Waitrose Food Illustrated Dec 08
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Prime Time TV Coverage ....... Punching above our
Weight!

• BBC1 The One Show visited the shoppe! Watched by
  4.7 million viewers
• Terry Wogan tucked in and we reach 8.1 million
  listeners
• Loose Women took a slice of the pietwice!
• Coverage on ITV This Morning
• ITV Central News
• Hairy Bikers BBC2
• The Paul OGrady Show 2.5 million viewers
• UKTV Food Market Kitchen 2nd in taste test

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Online Opportunities Developed

• Pork pie lovers unite on Facebook
• Channel 4 Bite online
• You Tube video reaches 1,976 viewers
• Online competitions targeted - About my
  generation
• DM website achieved highest hits!

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2008 PR Campaign Evaluation Results

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Award Winning PR Campaign

• The Dickinson Morris PR campaign won two awards
  in the annual CIPR Pride Awards for its campaign
  Creating a premium position for Dickinson
  Morris!

Gold Best Use of Media Relations
Silver Consumer Relations
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2009 PR Campaign...... Well Continue to Punch
above our Weight!

• Key messages
• Unique aspects of Melton Mowbray Pork Pies
• Premium, quality, taste, authenticity
• PGI and provenance
• Demonstrating demand and support for regional
  food
• Ensure that consumers understand the local region
• Bakers since 1851 / last remaining baker of MMPPs
  in the heart of the town

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Dickinson Morris
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How do you build a relationship with a national
journalist? QA with Simon Calder, travel
editor of The Independent newspaper
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How much do you know? Interactive session How
can we use PR to help customers make an Inspired
Choice?
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Top ten PR tips for tourism businesses Make
sure your product is ready Apply for Enjoy
England Excellence Awards Importance of customer
testimonials Latest tourism news on
Leicestershire industry website National and
global opportunities via EMT and VisitBritain
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Top ten PR tips for tourism businesses Newsworth
y press releases for appropriate media Identify
outstanding photo opportunities Press releases
write for the reader, not the journalist Develop
a relationship with the local media Public
speaking
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Questions? Simon Gribbon Head of
Communications Leicester Shire Promotions T 0116
225 4001 M 07990 583371 E simon.gribbon_at_l-p-l.co
m W www.goleicestershire.com 7-9 Every Street,
Town Hall Square, Leicester LE1 6AG