Matthew

Sea Cadets – My LegaSea

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The communications team at Marine Society and Sea Cadets (MSSC) needed our help to persuade ex Sea Cadets to sign up to a nationwide youth and community impact study called My LegaSea delivered in partnership with academics at Durham University and Goldsmith’s College, London.

My LegaSea canvassed 3,000 former Sea Cadets, serving from 1942 to 2020 and aimed to investigate the long term impacts of Sea Cadet service on the respondent’s long term life prospects, health, well being and career path.

The in-house team were too busy to deliver this work and needed impressive results from a small budget to satisfy stakeholders and funders.

Objectives

  • Reach and influence former Sea Cadets across Britain via local, regional and national media coverage
  • Persuade former cadets to respond to an online legacy survey (My LegaSea)
  • Identify case studies and human interest stories among former cadets to discover the impact sea cadet training can have on life opportunities and career prospects
  • Raise awareness of My LegaSea nationally

Strategy

  • Launched a national search/ call-out for former Sea Cadets specifically targetting every generation since 1942 and the Second World War

  • Developed media angles, including identifying Britain’s oldest living Sea Cadet and marking 80 years since the outbreak of World War II, to engage journalists, editors and producers
  • Set-up interview opportunities and photo calls for My LegaSea lead researcher Anna Spencer and selected ex-cadets
  • Targeted geographical areas that best represented the national Sea Cadet districts structure

Results

  • 35 pieces of media coverage
  • During the six week media campaign – 530 respondents completed the My LegaSea survey online

  • In-depth radio interviews on local BBC Radio stations in Sussex, Norfolk, Lancashire and Cumbria

  • Extensive print, online and social coverage from Northern Ireland to England’s South Coast

  • OTSH – Opportunity to See and Hear reach of 837,434 people – combining estimated online coverage views, print circulation of earned media and the weekly audience figures (*RAJAR) of the BBC Radio stations where coverage was achieved

  • The tone and sentiment of the campaign was 100% positive – there was no negative coverage for My LegaSea

Honeypot Media Ltd spent four days (32 hours) on the campaign for a budget of £1800

Anna Spencer, project manager, My LegaSea (MSSC)

“Matthew worked on the My LegaSea project at a time when we needed strategic press and PR activity to support our national research project. Our brief required national reach, tailored press releases and targeted activity to specific demographics and geographies. He was quick to develop a comprehensive understanding of the needs of our campaign as well as the wider press and PR context in which it sat. Matthew not only responded to our needs, but also added value to our strategy and the approach taken.

Honeypot Media Ltd deliver excellent value for money. Their pricing for work in the voluntary and charitable sector is achievable even for organisations with limited resources. Matthew really makes the most of the allocated hours and creates additional value. He is really approachable, great at communication and prompt at delivery. He also found ways to maximise the brief and exceed targets.”

Thorpeness Hotel & Golf Club – Digital Drive

Thorpeness Hotel and Golf Club, on the Suffolk Heritage Coast, is a leading play-and-stay golf destination in Eastern England and part of The Hotel Folk, a collection of five distinctive independent hotels.

Due to rapid growth in digital media and the emergence of discounted green fee schemes and OTA’s (online travel agents), Thorpeness needed to redefine its target customer and develop new ways of communicating with them.

Matthew was hired to use PR to target the increasing number of digital media outlets and online communities in golf, as well as consolidating Thorpeness’ profile in the traditional golf media.

  • Suffolk Ale and Golf Trail
  • A ‘home club away from home’
  • Digital drive for leading stay and play resort

Objectives

  • To develop and position a truly unique selling point for Thorpeness Hotel and Golf Club and help to develop products to take to market
  • Help Thorpeness break into the UK’s Top-100 Golf Courses rankings
  • Raise the profile of Thorpeness on golf websites, blogs, digital communities and social media networks and increase traffic to the website, generate authoritative back links and enhance SEO activity through online PR
  • Achieve feature length coverage in national golf and travel print media

Strategy

  • Developed the narrative theme “Your Home Club away from home” building on Thorpeness’ heritage as an upscale holiday village and reputation as a remote idyllic retreat
  • Develop and PR bespoke golf break packages including: Suffolk Ale and Golf Trail, Fish and Chips (Golf & Deep Sea Angling), Swings and Strings (golf breaks and Opera tickets for Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten on Aldeburgh Beach), Thorpeness Festival of Golf, Golf for Girls Getaways and the Thorpeness Ladies European Tour Pro-Am

  • Media visits and review opportunities from leading golf travel writers and national travel journalists

  • Editorial planning and news distribution service to maintain a regular flow of positive news stories, interview and comment opportunities and contributions on specialist coverage of the golf travel business

  • The development of integrated digital communications including a bespoke golf blog, Suffolk Coastal and lifestyle tourism content, email marketing campaigns and social media content

Results

  • 263 media hits in print and online – with more than 70% of coverage by online golf communities, websites and blogs

  • DPS (Double Page Spread) features in The London Evening Standard, Golf Monthly, Golf International Magazine, Today’s Golfer, National Club Golfer, Suffolk and Norfolk Life and the EADT (East Anglian Daily Times)
  • Golf Monthly Editor Mike Harris tweeted that the Suffolk Ale and Golf Trail was “his dream trip.”

  • Broadcast Coverage from BBC Look East (TV news) and BBC Radio Suffolk – as a result Thorpeness Head Professional Christine Langford became a regular spokesperson on golf for BBC Suffolk

  • Thorpeness was ranked at #83 in the UK’s Top-100 Golf Courses by National Club Golfer
  • Thorpeness Hotel and Golf Club was featured in the UK Parliamentary Review as a beacon of best practice in a declining UK golf industry

  • Matthew Moore facilitated the introduction that resulted in Thorpeness being awarded the 2021 Logan Trophy (British Mid-Amateur Championship)

Sleeperz Hotels – Breaking new ground

Sleeperz Hotels is a fast growing design-led hotel group with properties in Cardiff, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Dundee.

Its aim is to provide consumers with stylish stays for less.

Honeypot Media was hired in 2011 to promote the opening of a new 98-bedroom design-led hotel in Newcastle city centre.

Objectives

  • Generate high quality media coverage, specifically in hospitality & travel trade press, national consumer travel media and North East business and news outlets

Strategy

  • A six month media relations led campaign featured press releases, photo calls, media show rounds, interviews with Sleeperz CEO David Myers and press trips from The Guardian, The Telegraph, Visit England PR and Marketing
  • Collaborated locally with NGI (NewcastleGateshead Initiative) the destination marketing agency for the city to promote the hotel launch through its B2B and B2C channels

Results

  • More than 70 press cuttings
  • BBC Look North TV regional news package – CEO interview with business editor Iain Reeve
  • Coverage in Caterer & Hotelkeeper (x4), The Times, The Guardian, Hotel Business Magazine, Buying Business Travel, Business Travel Magazine, Travel Trade Gazette, Travel Weekly, Travel and Leisure Magazine, The Journal, Evening Chronicle, Accent Magazine, North East Times, BQ Magazine and the BDaily Business Network

Following the successful campaign, Honeypot Media was appointed to manage PR and social media for the entire Sleeperz Hotel group and now supports its Sales and Marketing team and four hotels in Newcastle, Cardiff, Dundee and Edinburgh.

  • Sleeperz Hotels used Honeypot Media to launch its new Newcastle compact lifestyle hotel

PROQUIP & THE RYDER CUP

ProQuip is the most played golf clothing brand in the history of The Ryder Cup.

Its lightweight rain gear has been chosen by 20 Ryder Cup Teams – European and American – since 1983.

Honeypot Media activated a global PR & Marketing campaign in 2014 to enable ProQuip to benefit commercially from its status as the preferred supplier of weatherwear to the 2014 Ryder Cup Europe team at Gleneagles, Scotland.

ProQuip was the preferred supplier of weatherwear to the 2014 European Ryder Cup Team
Ryder Cup Team Europe wearing ProQuip golf rainwear in 2014 (credit Getty Images/ Ryder Cup Europe/ ProQuip Golf)

Objectives

  • Raise consumer awareness of ProQuip’s status as the preferred supplier of the 2014 European Ryder Cup Team rain suits
  • Drive consumer traffic to www.proquipgolf.com
  • Drive sales of ProQuip’s Ryder Cup collection – through approved retailers and the official Euroshop on www.rydercup.com
  • Inspire interest in & sales of official ProQuip merchandise at The 2014 Ryder Cup merchandise tent at Gleneagles between September 23 – 28, 2014
  • Position ProQuip Golf as the experts in the field of golf weatherwear

RESULTS

  • OTSH (Opportunity to See and Hear): 25,420,452
  • More than 25 million people worldwide (predominantly UK and USA) had the opportunity to see or hear ProQuip’s campaign messages
  • 27 pieces of print and online media coverage – including The Scotsman, BBC Scotland, Today’s Golfer, Golf Monthly, Golf World, Golf WRX, Golf Wire, Golf News, Business Quarter, National Club Golfer and Golf Magic
  • 300% increase in web traffic to www.proquipgolf.com during ‘Ryder Cup’ week
  • 3 x sell through of ProQuip Official Ryder Cup merchandise at the Gleneagles pavilion
  • ProQuip appointed official licensee of the 2016 and 2018 Ryder Cup matches

Campaign Spend

April – September 2014

Advertising – £13,000

PR & Social Media – £10,200

In-kind contributions – £1000 (Visit Scotland)

Total spend – £22,200

Young People’s Charter for Arts and Culture

Media relations and thought leadership campaign to promote a UK first youth arts charter.

NE-Generation was the Legacy Trust UK regional programme for the North East.

Its role was to create a lasting impact from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by funding ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK.

The programme team learned lots about  joining cultural organisations and young people together to harness their creativity and ideas and had the idea of producing the UK’s first-ever ‘Young People’s Charter for Arts and Culture.’

Funding cuts
The campaign coincided with a negative outlook for the arts industry nationally as government cuts and austerity measures hit both the public and private sector hard.

In Newcastle, the city council axed 100% of its funding for the arts and culture – at the exact moment NE-Generation sought to persuade organisations to invest in young people

Campaign Budget: £1,750

Duration: Six Days

The YPCAC aimed to create a blueprint for meaningful collaboration between the cultural sector and young people

Objectives

  • raise awareness of the YPCAC in the regional (North East) and national arts & cultural press – and position it as nationally significant achievement
  • Achieve national profile in specialist publications covering youth work, education and society
  • Highlight the charter as a blueprint for cultural organisations on how best to work with young people

Strategy

  • Thought leadership – programme leader Ben Ayrton was positioned as an expert and disruptor and pitched as an interviewee/ profile subject to culture journalists
  • Narrative of threat – I used the hook of national funding cuts to our advantage positioning the charter as a means of ‘saving the next generation of artists and creatives’ in Britain and promoting the power of collaboration
  • Launch event and media call at The Discovery Museum, Newcastle

Results

  • 33 pieces of media coverage
  • YPCAC was featured large in Arts Industry, Arts Professional, Mailout Magazine, CYPN (Children and Young People Now) and as the subject of a thought leadership feature in The Guardian entitled ‘How to collaborate and really mean it’

  • Covered regionally by 15 newspaper titles and locally by The Journal, Evening Chronicle, Sky Tyne and Wear, BBC Radio Newcastle and the Press Association Community Newswire

What the client said:

“Matthew is the best PR person I have ever worked with.”

Ben Ayrton, Programme Manager – NE-Generation