BRIEF

Our brief was to work closely with top chef, Stephen Jeffers and maximise awareness of his move to a new, prime site in Bangor, Co Down. Our work also involved the provision of business consultancy.

RESPONSE

We introduced Stephen to many of NI’s top food and features’ writers, and encouraged them to sample his food first hand.  We also positioned him as a commentator on foodie issues within local radio programmes and top trade mags.

RESULTS

Stephen’s move to Belfast’s Skipper Street from Grace Neills, which he and his wife, LIsa had owned for a number of years attracted significant publicity.  Our follow-up work which involved them buying premises in Bangor and opening a new bistro-type restaurant in Grays Hill also attracted major interest from journalists.  In addition we generated a significant number of high profile reviews and listings which had an immediate knock on effect on customer numbers.

We were introduced to Premier through an existing client .

Our brief was to help profile their successes in Ireland and help position them as they targeted new territories.

RESPONSE

We developed a multi channel profile building campaign aimed at highlighting Premier’s excellent track record in delivering commercial electrical installations consistently on time and within budget.

Meanwhile we brought in leading brand consultants, TRIPLICATE, to develop a new corporate identity and some basic marketing collateral befitting an organisation with aspirations to becoming  European market leader.

During our time working closely with Premier we have delivered a number of high impact editorial features in daily newspapers, specialist magazines, radio and TV.  We have also provided ongoing marketing advice and worked on their behalf with Invest NI and managed their web content.

RESULTS

Premier is now firmly established and recognised as being the market leader for commercial electrical installations in the UK and Ireland and is well on its way to being recognised as such on a European scale. It opened its first European office in Munich in 2011 and plans to open a London office in 2012.

BRIEF

Ballyrashane Co-op was founded more than a century ago and is the oldest creamery in Northern Ireland. It employs more than 150 people, has a turnover of almost £70m and its products are exported to countries including Germany, Belgium, Cyprus, Malta, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Jamaica.

Our role  was to support the business in rolling out a potentially controversial green energy initiative to produce electricity from organic dairy waste. While there were many strong environmental reasons why this was a sound project, management were concerned that a lack of understanding of the process and plans amongst the local community and decision-makers could scupper the project. Timely, accurate and careful messaging was important as was getting the right people on side.

RESPONSE

SERIOUS conducted a comprehensive stakeholder- mapping exercise which identified all interested parties and graded them in terms of priority. This list included members of the co-op, staff, retailers, Invest NI, local neighbours, local councillors and MLAs.

We produced several pieces of marketing collateral which were used in face-to-face presentations with individuals and groups and also in mail-outs. These pieces clearly identifed the benefts behind the proposed scheme and reinforced Ballyrashane’s credentials as a reputable and trustworthy organisation. SERIOUS assisted in a number of presentations to local decision-makers and facilitated meetings with two Government Ministers in order to ensure adequate understanding of the technology behind the project.

Once our stakeholder engagement programme was complete we rolled out an indepth media relations / publicity programme which resulted in significant coverage within Ireland’s business and trade press as well as local TV and radio.

RESULTS

The project was granted approval by the DoE’s Planning Service in line with the company’s targeted timelines and we secured the support of all major stakeholders.

We were engaged to help co ordinate and publicise a re-brand of Key Consulting. Senior management in this top executive recruitment firm wanted top mark their tenth anniversary by generating fresh interest in their brand.

RESPONSE

We agreed we should play up the brand equity that lay in the family name of those who ran the business, both of whom had strong reputations in the marketplace. Principal, Gerry Gilpin is an ex-Irish rugby international.

We worked with Triplicate to help create the brand personality (including a strap line of Better People Better Business) and then set to work publicising the good news using a range of communication channels including a re-vamped website, direct mail, e-marketing and publicity in local business supplements and journals.

RESULTS

Our marketing activity generated considerable ‘noise’ in the marketplace, with strong coverage in daily newspapers and business journals.  The new website, developed by SERIOUS, also had strong levels of visitors in the months following.

BRIEF
We were asked to partner top brand agency, Triplicate, for the launch of a new concept for city centre living being developed by leading property developer, Alan Fraser.

The initiative, called Never Monday, initially comprises proposals for a set of 48 ‘mini’ apartments in the heart of Belfast city centre as part of a mixed use scheme.

RESPONSE

Our Never Monday picture shoot in Belfast’s Cornmarket caused quite a stir – tourists were even shooting video!

Our publicity programme was geared around the promotion of Northern Ireland’s first pop up apartment at Gloucester Street where potential purchasers of Never Monday apartments at Montgomery Street could get a life size feel for what’s on offer at the luxury turnkey apartments which kick off at under £80k.

RESULTS

The press and media launch, which was supported by clever guerilla marketing, social media and above the line activity attracted major coverage in Northern Ireland’s daily newspapers as well as BBC and Daybreak TV and Downtown Radio / Cool FM.

The activity also generated strong levels of  awareness of and interest in the scheme which shows Serious PR really works!

BRIEF

Launch a novel new portable inflatable seat booster which was developed by a mother from Northern Ireland who was concerned at the number of children travelling in cars without proper restraint – especially on impromptu journeys and while on holidays.

RESPONSE

Our campaign commenced with a market research study into the numbers of school children travelling to and from school without proper car seats.  The survey, which was conducted thoughout Northern Ireland with the support of local Primary Schools,  gave us the springboard to generate a strong news article and position the fledgling company as a thought-leader in road safety.

From there we developed an indepth communications’ plan, comprising high impact publicity, personal profiling and awards’ submissions to help create awareness and build credibility for the brand.

We also assisted the young company in making political representations to lobby for a change in legislation.

RESULTS

Within one year this young business was a market leading, multi-award winning brand and its creator had been established as a regular commentator on entrepreneurship and road safety across a range of media platforms including TV, Radio, Newspapers and Specialist Journals.  Grainne Kelly, BubbleBum’s founder was even featured  on National ITV and BBC Radio Two.  In her testimonial for SERIOUS Grainne remarks how her start up business was able to enjoy real benefit by allocating its limited budget  to PR rather than advertising.  Now, in their second year the business is selling literally world-wide.  This is a true success story.

BRIEF

Promote a residential housing development at Aylesbury Place, Newtownabbey built by Fraser Houses. The homes are turnkey and have a design edge rarely seen in this sector of the market.

APPROACH

You might have seen the latest ‘Bright Side’ ad campaign informing potential buyers the prices on these beautiful homes will not drop beneath the asking price of £149,950. That was a commitment made by the developer.

Our approach centred on communicating the desirability and value for money of the homes. We recruited a number of endorsees (people who had bought homes at Aylesbury) and utilised them in press and media interviews.

We also produced a short film, fronted by leading interior designer, which was uploaded to a number of social media channels.

RESULTS

We secured a number of indepth interviews in daily, Sunday, weekly papers and local radio over a three month period, creating strong levels of enquiries.

BRIEF
Launch a start up company set up by a Tyrone based mumpreneur producing organic baby food.

RESPONSE

This campaign which is still ongoing required an approach that was strategic, creative and clever use of a limited budget.

We used our extensive experience of marketing in the food and drink sector to arrange a series of indepth interviews with the founder of the business to create awareness of the Heavenly Tasty Organics’ brand in advance of the new product launch. Within the first few weeks of engagement we had secured interviews in each of the province’s daily newspapers supported with images of the new product.

These features acted as the perfect lead in to the product launch. In the weeks running up to the launch we worked with a major retailer to deliver a series of high profile launch stories centred on a new supply deal.

RESULTS

For a fledgling business with a limited marketing budget we have delivered a profile with which a marketing leading company would be proud.

Initial sales of the innovative product have been very encouraging with a number of major new supply deals in the bag.

BACKGROUND

The Boat is one of Belfast’s most iconic buildings. Designed by award-winning architect, Barrie Todd, the building occupies a prime position overlooking the recently rejuvenated Belfast waterfront.  The building comprises a mix of retail, office and high-end apartments with spectacular views over the city and beyond.

BRIEF

Our brief was to bring this stunning location to the attention of potential tenants or purchasers.

WHAT WE DID

We developed a comprehensive communications plan, working closely with the developer and the commercial and residential estate agents.  This involved media visits, in-depth editorial  feature profiles and an emarketing campaign.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The development has received extensive television, radio, magazine and press coverage throughout the UK. We even persuaded UTV’s Tina Campbell and Malachy Cush to pay us a visit for a piece that was broadcast on primetime local television. The Belfast Telegraph’s highly respected Property Editor, Helen Carson, described The Boat has having the best views in Belfast and the apartments were recognised as one of the most desirable places to live in Northern Ireland by the same paper.

BRIEF

Pakflatt is a small, independent company which provides innovative election booth solutions for clients throughout the world including Europe, The United States and Canada. The company has offices in L’Derry, Hong Kong and Northern Virginia.  Pakflatt’s success in securing new business in international markets both in Ireland and on a global basis. Our role is to communicate a set of core messages that underpin Pakflatt’s  IP, innovation and ability to deliver in line with client requirements.

RESPONSE

Since our first assignment from Pakflatt in 2004 we have worked to a successful formula of meticulous communication planning, media relations and publicity. For example, prior to the US Presidential election of 2008 we were advised of a major new contract won by Pakflatt to provide voting booths for the Washington Board of Elections.  The impending election, and the considerable media interest in it both at home and abroad, provided us with a major opportunity to promote the small Irish company and help it punch above its weight from a PR perspective.

We decided the story had TV potential, provided it was pitched and timed appropriately, so we engaged two film companies – one in NI and another in Washington – to produce footage for a three  minute short film that could be targeted towards television channels and online outlets.  SERIOUS generated the outline of the film (which became a video news release) and scripted the content.  Careful management enabled us to get footage shot in Washington where our team filmed the Director of the local Board of Elections who endorsed the product. To complement that we shot interviews and footage at Pakflatt’s manufacturing base in L’Derry and provided interview coaching to the company’s founder and CEO.  Two days before the election, having pitched the story to a number of top industry contacts, we released the film and press release to all major news outlets in the UK and online.

RESULTS

The coverage far exceeded even our high expectations, with reports coming across the Atlantic to L’Derry of the contract win within hours of us releasing the information.  The story literally widespread electronic media, press and online coverage on both sides of The Atlantic.