LEWIS PR case study: Emma Bridgewater

Case Study

Spot On For 25 Years - a campaign to maximise brand potential and sales around the company’s birthday

Key Facts:

Client: Emma Bridgewater Date: March 1 – August 31, 2010 Campaign: Spot On for 25 Years – Emma Bridgewater

www.emmabridgewater.com

About:

Emma Bridgewater is a leading UK pottery company based in Stoke-onTrent, Staffordshire. It employs a team of 150 skilled workers making more than 5,000 mugs, bowls and plates every day. It is the largest company to make all of its output by hand in Britain.

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Background mma Bridgewater and LEWIS PR developed an integrated social media sales and marketing campaign, primarily using channels such as Facebook and Twitter and the expertise of LEWIS PR’s digital consultants.

The aim was to grow Emma Bridgewater’s fan base as well as tapping into the brand’s existing enthusiasts via online social networking channels. LEWIS approached this by establishing an online community that would share in the brand’s 25th anniversary this year and create an online ‘buzz’.

Emma Bridgewater’s Facebook page and Twitter feed are also used as customer service tools, making them interactive platforms where customers can post questions and receive feedback. This allows for sentiment monitoring and the collection of customer information, which can then be used to adapt the traditional marketing strategy as and when required.

The campaign created a loyal following of more than 2,400 fans and 2,624 Twitter followers so far

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Objectives

he overall objective was to drive online customer engagement in the run-up to and during Emma Bridgewater’s 25th anniversary celebrations and create a new generation of online fans.

A target of increasing online sales by 15 per cent within six months was also established.

Tactics

1. Demonstrate longevity of the brand

Fans were encouraged to show off their Emma Bridgewater pottery collections online. As such, this aspect of the campaign centered on asking fans to post images and comments on Facebook about their favourite Emma Bridgewater designs. This was delivered through a series of competitions and giveaways designed to drive sales and showcase the best product images from the past 25 years.

2. Engage customers

LEWIS PR also launched a Facebook photo competition to find Emma Bridgewater’s quirkiest fan. Customers were asked to submit

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a 25-word profile along with a photograph, which proved highly popular with over 100 entries being submitted.

3. Exclusive social media promotions

Another initiative involved a 25 per cent discount offer on Twitter and Facebook, giving customers tangible benefit as a result of joining and engaging with Emma Bridgewater on the company’s social media platforms.

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Integrated communications

he social media campaign also acted as an extra communications channel for marketing activity in the run up to Emma Bridgewater’s 25th Birthday Celebration.

Emma Bridgewater recently launched a 25th anniversary range of products using both traditional means – TV, radio, newspapers and magazines - and digital methods.

LEWIS PR used the Emma Bridgewater Facebook page to highlight print and broadcast coverage to fans.

Case Study

It was critical to highlight the company’s strong values for reinvigorating British manufacturing

Alongside thought leadership activity, the campaign generated product coverage for the 25th Birthday Silver Collection range

This has proven to be an effective way of creating online debate amongst customers.

For instance, following Emma Bridgewater’s recent appearances on Newsnight and Working Lunch, fans discussed her comments on Twitter and Facebook threads afterwards.

Positioning Emma as a strong British entrepreneur was key to gaining business coverage

Finally, a collection of influential “mummy bloggers” and their children were invited to the Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke to meet staff and see how products are made.

The blogger outreach programme was a great success and generated some superb coverage and commentary in the blogosphere.

As part of our proactive social media approach we organized a mummy blogger & family visit to the Emma Bridgewater factory resulting in extremely positive posts

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Results

Future plans

mma Bridgewater is delighted with how its online audience has grown during the campaign, having built up a Facebook fan base of nearly 2,300 and a Twitter following of over 2,500.

mma Bridgewater is keen to continue using social media to grow fans and followers on Twitter and Facebook. The online customers’ support for and interest in what Emma Bridgewater is doing is not only a valuable public endorsement for the company but also allows us to personally engage with existing and prospective customers.

There have also been over 1,000 individual interactions with Facebook fans since the campaign began – each comment posted has received an average of 15 responses.

Overall, this has contributed to a 42 per cent increase in online sales since the start of the social media campaign in March 2010.

About LEWIS PR

LEWIS PR is a global public relations firm. LEWIS combines the personal service and attention to detail of a boutique PR agency with the unmatched experience level of a global PR firm to deliver the best possible results for its clients. In addition to traditional media relations, LEWIS specializes in social media PR, SEO, digital marketing and creative services. www.lewispr.com Copyright © LEWIS Communications Ltd. 2010 all rights reserved.

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