Last year

Our launch campaign in 2011 on Parker 5^th Technology and its first collection – Ingenuity – achieved extensive editorial coverage in key targets such as FT How to spend it, Telegraph Ultratravel, pocket-lint.com, Live, T3 and Stuff. This year, we were briefed to continue promoting the launch.  Old news you might say, however, it challenged us to brainstorm new angles for a not-so-new launch. We got to work and identified a key advantage of the pen technology: its resistance to temperature and pressure-induced leaks (which can happen with a fountain pen) as a strong story angle for the travel media…it won’t leak on the plane!

This epiphany inspired us to create a specific PR activity capitalising on this particular element. We are currently focusing on targeting key national travel press such as The Sunday Times, Financial Times and London Evening Standard with a creative mailer of travel essentials including the all-important pen to trial on-board their next flight with accompanying notepad, a book of their choice and some tinned sweets. As a result, Parker is encouraging other markets (including Japan, Russia and USA) to follow Focus PR as “industry experts” and do the same.

We’re shortlisted in the Best Automotive Campaign category of the CIPR Excellence Awards and in the Automotive category of the EMEA SABRE Awards.

We were appointed by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars at the end of 2010 to raise the brand’s profile in targeted lifestyle media in 2011, the year which marked the centenary of the Spirit of Ecstasy figurine, which first began to adorn the bonnet of every Rolls-Royce on 6 February 1911. The ultimate goal: to modernise the brand and drive sales of its two current models, Phantom and Ghost.

Arguably the most famous luxury automotive brand in the world, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars does not advertise, but receives strong editorial within automotive and business media, generated by its internal press office. However, by the end of 2010 its exposure to consumer lifestyle media – and opportunity to reach new customers – was negligible.

The client presented Focus PR with two key objectives:
1. Centenary drive: To secure widespread lifestyle editorial within national and international media for a stunt to celebrate the centenary of the Spirit of Ecstasy; a procession of 100 cars through the streets of London on Sunday 6 February 2011.
2. Media liaison: To position Rolls-Royce Motor Cars as a contemporary, fashionable brand in the 21st century by securing product-focused editorial coverage for its two models – Ghost and Phantom – without advertising support.

More specifically, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars tasked us with delivering a total of 44 pieces of editorial feature coverage in print; any editorial focusing on events or brand partnerships was considered a separate project and not counted as part of this KPI. News hooks were therefore limited.

We developed a two-pronged strategic response to the challenges:
1. Centenary drive: The stunt saw 100 Rolls-Royces, from 1911 to current day, drive in procession through central London, past such sites as the birthplace of Charles Rolls in Mayfair, the original and current home of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars London, as well as key London roads and landmarks including Hyde Park Corner, Regent Street, Big Ben and the London Eye. Focus PR was tasked to amplify the centenary drive, and deliver on the client’s objective to “have the world believe London has been taken over by Rolls-Royces”.

We began by holding a preliminary drive to pinpoint where to position three photographers strategically along the drive route. The goal was to capture the procession of cars against key London landmarks, to ignite international media interest and generate editorial pick-up. We interspersed new models with old, creating a contrast to ensure the resulting photography emphasised the brand’s progressive modernity – and the new models available to potential customers – versus its longstanding British heritage.

A member of Focus PR was located in a Rolls-Royce at the front of the procession to inform the photographers of our progression along the route (where no road closures were in place), ensuring every key photo opportunity was captured. The rest of the team was on-hand to syndicate the photography with pre-drafted captions to national and international picture desks the moment the procession had passed each photographer. This was supported by journalists from the Financial Times, CNBC, Centurion, Canary Wharf magazine and BA First Life participating in the drive, and an extensive live interview secured by Focus PR for Rolls-Royce CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös with Sky News. Additionally, we ensured the Sky TV newsroom sent a Sky News crew to film in situ opposite Big Ben for a live commentary of the parade, and an immediate follow up news flash after the CEO interview.

2. Media liaison: Rolls-Royce presented Focus PR with a very precise, exclusive list of target media within which to secure editorial coverage, to directly target potential Rolls-Royce customers. The über-targeted approach limited opportunities for reaching the KPI, and so the emphasis of our lifestyle PR campaign was on devising creative, diverse reasons for media to connect with the Rolls-Royce brand.

These included:

• Tours of the Rolls-Royce facility in Goodwood where journalists were provided with a 360° experience of the people and expertise that go into producing the world’s most luxury cars
• Interviews with the faces behind the Rolls-Royce brand, including engineers, interior and exterior designers and the CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös
• Phantom and 102EX Phantom Experimental Electric comparative test drives
• Inclusion of Phantom and Ghost in luxury fashion shoots
• Elaborate and engaging drive stories, with loans set up in the UK, France and LA

Each feature was secured as a result of direct one-on-one sell-in with target journalists, including highly influential freelance journalists in the luxury sector.

As far as results are concerned, the centenary drive saw 43 pieces of national and international editorial coverage achieved, with a total circulation of over 161million, in titles including The Sunday Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph, Metro, Sky News, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, New York Times, bbc.co.uk, usatoday.com, msn.com and India Times.

In terms of the general media liaison campaign, between January and December 2011 we over-delivered on editorial coverage by 14 pieces, securing a total of 58 with a total circulation of over 261million. The calibre of editorial secured was outstanding, with each piece 100% relevant to the Rolls-Royce target consumer and demonstrating the modernity of such a historic British brand.

Editorial coverage was secured in, among others, FT How to Spend It, FT Wealth, City A.M., The Sunday Telegraph, GQ, Country and Town House, Canary Wharf, International Life, Sphere, Vertu, Glass Magazine, Meze, International Life, Quintessentially, The Player, Vertu, PrivatAir, Canary Wharf, City Life, International Life, The Field, The Rake, Centurion, Business Quarter, The National, Pomp Magazine, Savile Row, FT.com, Telegraph.co.uk, VanityFair.co.uk and GQ.com.

10 journalists test-drove the Phantom Experimental Electric, including Jamie Theakston for Tatler.

Focus PR supported a record year for the marque: 3,538 cars were delivered to customers in 2011, up 31 per cent on previous year’s 2,711. 2011 also recorded highest annual sales in the 107-year history of Rolls-Royce (the previous best was 3,347 cars sold in 1978). There was an increase in sales across both Ghost and Phantom model families, reaffirming
Rolls-Royce’s position at the pinnacle of the ultra luxury segment.

January saw us launching Europe’s first e-boutique specialising in demin, Sojeans.co.uk.  Hosted by the Parisian founders, Raphael and Sebastian, we thought the only way to celebrate was to head down to one of London’s coolest French themed bars for a good ol’ game of petanque!

We invited some of fashion’s coolest journalists and bloggers to come along to our Parisian paradise to see some of the 75 brands available on the site and indulge in provincial patisseries and delicious cocktails. With prices to suit all pockets and styles, Sojeans.co.uk really does cater for everyone, including those who do not even know what they are looking for with their exclusive SOSELECT tool.

SOSELECT is an industry first which allows shoppers to input their measurements for a tailored selection of jeans to suit their individual style. Using an algorithmic process it constructs a completely personalised jeans profile that recommends the appropriate cut, colours and brands that are best for you.

So if you are looking for a new pair of jeans to fend off the cold snap, head to Sojeans.co.uk and find your perfect style!