Public Admiration, not just Public Relations
We give PR a separate section because we have clients who buy it as a separate function. For us, though, it is joined at the hip with advertising, the one providing the extra credibility of editorial endorsement, the other guaranteeing coverage, content and tone of voice.
A wide breadth of editorial and PR coverage
For too many people (and practitioners) PR begins and ends with media liaison. Clearly it is vital - but so too are exhibitions and awards which take a concept to the people and give it a human face.
Cheaper by the Dozen
Working for several clients in the same sector, can prove extremely good value. For instance, by inviting a journalist to sample several restaurants, we divide the time charged by the number of clients. We have introduced one journalist to eight restaurants, who produced 12 write-ups on them in Square Meal Online and The Times Saturday Knowledge section – all in one year.
Green timeshare in a listed environment
Let's take a client you will be hearing plenty about if you haven't already. The Trelowarren Estate.
Green tourism used to be like organic veg - worthy but a teensy-bit dull. Until Trelowarren showed its vision.
Take the romance of a listed, 1,000-acre estate on the Helford River, in the same family for 600 years. Add the inspiration of eco-principles to rebuild and recycle rather than bulldoze, inject the flexibility of timeshare and you have a unique holiday proposition.
With a budget that has never exceeded £40K, advertising concentrates on the tactical promotion of the timeshare through inspection visits and selective award entry, while PR addresses the eco and economic arguments, demonstrating the concept at sympathetic exhibitions, like the Country Living Fair, and disseminating it through on-site briefings of influential journalists.
Trelowarren has gained coverage worth five and six times the budget, measured by rate-card, in the Saturday and Sunday lifestyle press and magazines. At the same time, national awards like Green Apple and Business in the Community have given it extra profile as a template of hope for properties and estates that would otherwise be sold or broken up. Last year, sales were almost £500,000, capping a first year in which 56% of the initial availability sold out in six months.