How we launched one of Essex’s biggest restaurants of 2021

Overview

Posh Cockney manages the PR, Marketing and Social Media for Array, a high-end restaurant in Essex. In this case study, we will focus primarily on digital marketing and how we used that to launch the brand. In particular, we will look at social media, email marketing and website development, and how the three work hand in hand.

Our Objective

To create a unique and eye catching social media platform that builds brand awareness and drives footfall into the restaurant. Helping Array become a destination venue for diners.
To build an extensive mailing list that helped to drive bookings through email marketing. To build a brand new website with unique and precise content and great SEO.

Challenges

The client was very reluctant to use paid ads which meant that all growth needed to come from organic posts. Whilst Essex is a large country, it’s just far enough outside of London to make guests not want to travel.
Both the website and mailing list had to be created entirely from scratch.

Our Approach

We knew that content would be key for this client, so we took time to ensure we captured the very best images and videos to promote the launch. We utalised Kem’s celebrity status and event guestlist. The team spent time researching the local areas, demographic and competitors before putting a full plan together.

What we did 

We started by creating a holding page for Array with a sign up to the newsletter for news and updates, this instantly began to collect data of anyone with an interest in the new restaurant.

Our website development team got straight to work on designing a sleek and streamline website.

We knew straightaway that Instagram would be the key platform for Array so this quickly became our main focus for social media. We began by teasing designs of the building along with the logo and the news of the opening. Next, it was time to meet the team! We released images of the Array team one by one, ending on a video of Kem and Nadir. This got followers invested in the story of Array and the people behind it, before the venue was even ready for guests. 

It was essential that the website, Instagram and mailing list were created simultaneously and worked together to build Array’s digital presence. 

The Results

Before the launch event, Array had over 30k followers on Instagram and 4k mailing list subscribers, all egar to hear news of the opening. This meant that when we announced on social media that bookings for the restaurant were open, they took an incredible 5,000 bookings in the first day alone. 

6 months after the opening and array now has a mailing list of over 10k subscribers with an open rate of between 45-50% on every send out which is always followed by a spike in bookings. 

What's next?

We will continue to grow Array’s social media following and guestlist and create engaging content inorder to maintain them. 

The website is updated regularly with landing pages for anyupcoming events, driving users towards the booking platform. 

Our PR team have gained some great press coverage for Array with many articles containing high quality backlinks, improving the page’s SEO.

Our newsletters are always AB tested and the results monitored carefully to ensure we aren’t sending updates too regularly and that out CTAs are clear. 

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Taking Eco to Kingston

Overview

Posh Cockney was brought in to assist Eco on the launch of their second restaurant in Kingston, Surrey. We provided full Marketing and PR services including event planning and social media management.

Our Objective

To build on the success of Eco Clapham and put Eco Kingston firmly on the map. To create a launch event that will help to gain great press coverage as well as build a social media following. To gain new fans of the brand in Kingston and create a strong relationship with the local community.

Challenges

We began working with Eco just 3 weeks before the launch giving us a far shorter run up time than usual. Kingston is slightly outside of London, meaning many of our usual contacts would be unwilling to travel. Eco had very few high quality assets so these all needed to be created from scratch.

Our Approach

After extensive research into Kingston, we quickly began to understand that community is at the heart of everything they do there. For Eco Kingston to be a success, we needed to tap into that community.

 

With a short lead time, it was more important than ever for our PR, Marketing and Social media teams to work seamlessly together, alongside the Eco team.

What we did 

We began by creating assets. To do this we utalised the Clapham locations and took high-quality images of the food that would be on the Eco Kingston menu. The team spent time talking with Sami and Charmaine to ensure they fully understood the Eco story and what the brand means to them. 

A press release was created announcing the opening of Eco Kingston and circulated to all Surrey and London press, along with an invite to the launch event. We also connected with groups on social media such as In Kingston, to further assist us in our PR outreach.

We took over the management of the Eco social media, creating a build up to the launch. We targeted local community groups and Kingston University students in our follow campaigns to build awareness of the opening. 

We began building a mailing list by integrating the Eco booking system without CRM system and adding a subscribe button to the website. Google My Business and Trip Advisor pages were created. 

Next, we needed to plan the opening event. We carefully selected the best date which would ensure the onsite team was ready and there were no other local events happening that would effect our attendance numbers. We arranged entertainment and managed the guest list, inviting local influencers and high profile residents and business owners. We worked closely with the onsite team to ensure the menu was simple enough to cater on mass but gave guests a true taste of Eco.

We invited the Mayor of Kingston, who accepted and kindly gave a great speech and cut the ribbon at the start of the launch event.

Post event, we sent a follow-up email to all press, along with images of the launch as well as contacting all influencers and asking them to leave a review of their experience. 

The Results

The launch event was a great success. 20 local influencers attended with +1s with a total following of 225,084. This created a huge buzz on social media for the days following the event.

We gained 7 pieces of press coverage around the opening of Eco Kingston with an estimated readership of 712k and 41k coverage views. 

We made great connections with local community groups and local residents, giving us a far smoother approach for future marketing communications. 

What's next?

Since the launch, we have continued to work closely with Eco creating monthly PR and Marketing plans to help drive footfall into the restaurant. 

We want to build Sami’s profile and the profile of the restaurant group through PR and feature articles. We will maintain the relationships we have created with local journalists and inform them of all upcoming offers and events so they can share with their readers. 

Key Services Supplied

  • Marketing – Traditional and Digital
  • PR – Press releases/Influencer and Press engagement
  • Content Creation – SEO/Photography/Videography/Blog writing
  • Social Media Management
  • Reporting – Weekly/Monthly
  • Email Marketing
  • Strategic Planning
  • Event Management
  • Project Management

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The links between Fashion and Hospitality

The relationship between the fashion industry and the hospitality industry has escaped close scrutiny for some time now. However, it is something that is ever changing and only becoming more apparent with time. As the world of fashion ventures deeper into the hospitality sector, and brands are entering new markets, the synergy between these two parallel industries is enhancing and is becoming undeniably intricate. 

The intertwined relationship between the two has not always been blatant, but it has always existed. Fashion plays a significant role in the hospitality industry. We see its influence in simple things such as a restaurant’s menu design, its interior décor and even the uniform they give their staff. However, now it is much more than that. 

The intersection of these two industries has mainly been propagated by luxury brands. We can see this in the likes of Roberto Cavalli’s ‘Cavalli Club’ in Dubai, Louis Vuitton’s ‘Le Café V’ in New York and Giorgio Armani who is constructing his hotel empire across the globe. Their interest in the hospitality sector is nothing new, and has been around for some times as Ralph Lauren was among the first to start this ‘trend’ back in 2015 when he opened up Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bar in New York. Both the fashion and hospitality industry are likeminded in their aims to create new and dynamic experiences for their customers; and by merging the two industries together customers are left completely satisfied and all temptations are given into. 

The recent growth of this ‘trend’ has come from the consumers themselves. The new generation of Instagram and Tiktok users have been the ones to spur this phenomenon. Millennials and Gen-Z who prioritise the aesthetic of a restaurant over its taste drive brand ideas. Owner’s hope to attract a younger clientele who will promote these Instagram hot-spots. The brand-owned restaurants cater heavily to creating a space and ambience identical to the image their fashion gives off. Tiffany’s Blue Box Café in Harrods is unmistakable as the brands décor is almost entirely their signature colour of Tiffany Blue, immaculately replicating the aesthetic the brand emanates. Brand awareness is important as it’s a working method as people will often go to a recognisable brand as it’s a trusted source and a guaranteed good experience. 

 

Also, faced with post-pandemic blues and online competition from a generation that can get everything they need delivered to their homes, brands have had to think of ways to attract their customers back into their stores. As these two universes blend together to cater for their younger clients they aim to bring the brand alive, for a generation who will most likely be the core customers of these brands in a few years’ time, and they seem to value multi-sensory experiences.

For older and more entrenched customers, the fashion industry has collaborated with hospitality as a way to strengthen their relationship with existing clients. For top clients or influencers, these designers host private events or dinners in their restaurants, as a thank you or an added perk to strengthen and secure their ties. 

Look out for Giorgio Armani’s next Armani Hotel in London, the long awaited and ambitious outcome of years of planning at Admiralty Arch, opposite Buckingham Palace. 

Posh Cockney client Temakinho is another fantastic example of fashion meets food as founder, Linda Maroli, grew up with fashion all around her and this is clear in the menu and decor of Temakinho.

‘’In the early years of Temahkino, I was working both in the restaurant and in Alexander McQueen to pay the bills. Switching between fashion and restaurants gave me the eye for detail needed to fuel the aesthetic power of the Temakinho brand.’’ – Linda Maroli. 


A Mega Year for Posh Cockney

2021 got off to an incredibly tough start for everyone in the hospitality industry. Restaurants and bars across the country were forced to close and in so many cases, the first thing that businesses put on hold was their PR and Marketing with many businesses deeming this unnecessary or now having the time to take this on themselves. 

In January, Posh Cockney had just two part-time members of staff and three clients, 12 months on and those numbers have rocketed. We now have 17 clients, with many more on the horizon, as well as 10 full-time members of staff.

The introduction of the Future Star Programme has been a huge success for the company and has allowed us to offer many of our interns full-time positions within the company. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the highlights of 2021.

Restaurant openings

We love opening new restaurants and this year we have had the privilege of being involved in the opening of three restaurants in 2021.

EGGOLAND, Ritu and Eco Kingston all opened their doors for the first time this year, with a launch party planned, arranged and carried out by the Posh Cockney team.

Learn more about how we launched Eggoland here. 

We are looking forward to opening Em Sherif in January 2021 and relaunching Hamlet Hotel Maidstone in the spring. 

PR

The Posh Cockney PR team have had a phenomenal year, landing coverage in almost every major UK publication including, GQ, Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Evening Standard, Ok! And many more. 

As well as this, Eggoland founder Sohail Ahmad was interviewed on Sky News, GB news, ITV and BBC.

It has been a difficult year for press coverage, with loud news stories taking over the headlines and a huge amount of new restaurants opening in London. But our team have worked hard to build relationships and get our clients seen.

Take a look at some of our client press here. 

Posh Cockney Productions

This year, we have fully integrated Posh Cockney Productions with our PR and Marketing packages. This has allowed us to create incredible content for our clients that perfectly aligns with their upcoming campaigns. 

We are incredibly proud of the images and videos we have produced and look forward to heading into 2022 with the goal to make us the go to agency for outstanding content creation. 

 

New Recruits

We couldn’t do what we do without our team. We are delighted to have been able to welcome so many new team members this year including Alice Jupp as PR Executive, Chanelle Moscardon as Marketing Manager, Judit Rosa and Laura Castelli as Social Media Managers and Athina Antonellou as Influencer Marketing Manager. 

We can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for us. We are ready for the challenges and excited to continue to grow and develop as an agency. 

Our Clients

Olives N Meze, Soho and Clapham – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Productions

Eco, Kingston and Clapham – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Productions

Happy London – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Productions

Temakinho, Soho and Tower Bridge – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Website Creation, Productions

Ritu – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Website Creation, Productions

Hamlet Hotels – PR Management

The Tooth Club – PR Management, Productions

Onyx – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Productions

Republic W4 – PR Management, Productions

The Pepper Tree – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Productions

Array – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Website Creation, Productions

Bosporus – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management

Biscuit Boutique – PR Management

Hospitality Titans – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Productions, Event Management

Jack Solomons Club – PR Management

Sophie’s Steakhouse – PR Management

Fulwell 93 – Event Management

Em Sherif – PR, Marketing, Social Media Management, Website Creation

Want to see your name on that list in 2022?

Get in Touch Today

christmasize brand

Should you "Christmasize" your brand?

With the holiday season now upon us, everybody has red, green and white lens sunglasses on, filtering everything they see in the name of the holiday spirit. This is where the “Christmasize” idea comes from. But what do we mean by this?

When we say “Christmasize” your mind probably goes straight to standard practices like making all product packaging red or adding miniature Christmas trees and Santa Clauses into all of your social media graphics. That’s one way to think about it, but there are other ways that you can bring the holiday spirit into your business and products.

Christmasized displays

christmasize brand display

One of the most successful ways that companies have managed to christmasize their services, especially in London, is by extravagantly decorating their stores. The image above shows the very popular high-end superstore Fortnum and Mason and how it’s decorated as a giant advent calendar. Right on Piccadilly Street this intricate light display provides one of the most sought out picture spots in all of London.

This specific type of festive marketing helps companies gain more recognition through social media posts and the hundreds of articles that are written every year comparing their Christmas decorations. In essence, by turning your store into a Christmas paradise, you can gain free advertising for going viral.

By doing this, companies get people talking about them and that talk tends to last for some time. Around the holidays, consumers always expect great things from businesses. They love to compare Christmas decorations, which goes hand-in-hand with people posting their opinions on the internet.

For example, the Selfridges’ Christmas display in 2019 was one of the most talked about displays around the world. Many companies in other countries even tried to imitate this famous storefront, but to no avail. This gave rise to memes that went viral on social media, like the one pictured below, which compared Selfridges to a nation-wide technology store in Greece. All of this attention skyrocketed Selfridges’ sales and popularity.

christmasize display meme

Festive products

Another important aspect of Christmas is the introduction of limited edition seasonal products that everyone anticipates leading up to the holiday. This is a great example of Christmas marketing that increases brand loyalty over time. These products are a staple for every holiday season, such as what Starbucks sells every year. Served in the iconic red Christmas cups, Starbucks’ seasonal drinks are one of the most-sought out Christmassy products on the market, with everyone wanting a taste of the Gingerbread Latte.

christmasize brand

Want to know more about how you can Christmasize your brand this December? Get in touch with Posh Cockney today.