As an Essex food and drink PR agency, we have seen many of our clients detrimentally affected by the pandemic. Lockdown has been tough on all of us, but for the hospitality industry, it was devastating. Even for those of you who are placed elsewhere within the food and drink sector, it is unlikely you were untouched. After a tough year, many of you may be searching for ways to get back on your feet. If this is the case, PR is definitely the way to go!
At VerriBerri, our PR team have a wealth of experience working with brands within the food and drink sector. Our portfolio covers a wide range of businesses, both in the UK and worldwide. Each day, we help our clients launch successful communications campaigns, helping to put them on the map.
How Does PR Work?
PR is all about managing the public perception of your brand and building relationships with your consumers. This form of marketing gives companies a platform to make noise within their industry. When well executed, public relations will generate positive word of mouth, resulting in a higher revenue.
As an Essex food and drink PR agency, it is our job to liaise with certain sources and seek these exposure opportunities. These sources each have their own established followings and are trusted by their audience. This makes them the perfect platform for building your visibility.
Public relations can take form in a number of ways. Below are a few examples to give you a better idea:
- Press Releases
- Articles in Publications (Local or Mainstream Press)
- Radio, TV, and Podcast Appearances
- Influencer Marketing
What Is the Best Course of Action for Me?
When it comes to PR, there is no one size fits all approach. Every food and drink brand are going to target a different demographic and therefore, will each have different needs. It is important these attributes are identified before creating a communications strategy.
A good place to start is in establishing what it is that you want to achieve from your PR. Are you looking to achieve customer acquisition, retention or maybe a mixture of both? Once this is known, our Essex food and drink PR agency can get to work on generating a complimentary proposal. This will give you a better idea of what we recommend, and where to go with your campaign.
The Benefits of Using an Agency for Your PR
Lower Costs
As a business, it is only natural that you want to cut costs where possible. When it comes to PR, however, outsourcing this task to professionals is actually far more cost-effective than doing it yourself.
What many businesses overlook is just how pricy it can be to land your brand in a high-quality publication. If you approach these sources directly, there is usually a hefty charge involved. When you go via an established and trusted agency, however, many of these opportunities are completely free. Although there are costs involved with hiring a PR firm, these are minimal in comparison to attempting public relations alone.
Contacts
In addition to being expensive, it is also extremely difficult for brands to carry out their own PR. The entire process heavily relies on who you know, whether this be journalists, directors or even influencers. Therefore, you are likely to find things near impossible if you haven’t already established relationships.
As an Essex food and drink PR agency, we have spent years building the trusted name we now have for ourselves. Each day, our team nurture the connections we have constructed, opening the door to many exclusive opportunities for our clients. This has proven invaluable for many of the food and drinks brands we work with.
Crisis Management
As PR professionals, we know how to handle a crisis. Businesses run into issues each and every day and more often than not, this can attract negative news stories. You may have heard the saying ‘bad press is good press’ and whilst this isn’t completely incorrect, it certainly isn’t what you should be aiming for.
Should your brand find themselves in hot water, our team of experts are trained to help you deal with this. Our unbeatable connections allow us to have better control over what journalists publish. Moreover, should a crisis have already been reported on, we can help you come unstuck by managing the fallout. We can aid you in structuring public responses and even overshadow these detrimental stories with positive ones. No matter the situation, we can help you handle things effectively.
Our PR Guarantee
When it comes to press opportunities, this of course heavily involves liaising with journalists. As creators, these individuals have a level of authority over the stories they publish. This means that sometimes, articles may be dropped, and this cannot unfortunately be avoided. The PR terrain can be hard to traverse and is certainly unpredictable. Traditionally, when these leads are lost, most PR firms will write these off, meaning you are at a loss. This is where our Essex food and drink PR agency are different!
At VerriBerri, we pride ourselves on our amazing customer service and put a heavy focus on nurturing our outstanding reputation. We care about our clients and would never want to leave anyone dissatisfied with our service. It is for this reason that we provide a PR guarantee to protect you against the unpredictability of journalists.
Contact Our Essex Food and Drink PR Agency
If, like many, you are now putting time into recovering your business after the pandemic, public relations are the way to go. Our Essex food and drink PR agency encourages each of our clients to see marketing and PR for what it is – an investment!
If you would like to know more about the VerriBerri team, we would love to have a chat! Helping companies flourish is what we do best, and we are particularly keen to get involved with aiding those who were heavily affected last year. To get in touch, click here!