In June 2021, Crown Partnership asked us to work across multiple brands in its portfolio – focussing on Seasoned – to produce a PR strategy with consistent messaging to position the business for post-COVID-19 times with customers returning. We were also asked to provide guidance on internals comms to improve staff engagement.

Introducing Crown Partnership

Crown Partnership, founded 40 years ago, is an independent events, catering and hospitality provider with multiple names, including Seasoned, Bird, Sejuiced and Casa Monte Cristo, under its umbrella. The majority of our work is with Seasoned, an award-winning food and events brand that operates at more than 30 venues across London, including Tower Bridge; Victoria and Albert Museum; Merlin attractions; Somerset House; National Gallery; Royal Museums Greenwich; Southbank Centre; and St Paul’s. Celebrity Michelin-star chef Mark Sargeant is a culinary director for Seasoned.

The challenge

Like so many businesses in the hospitality sector, Crown was massively impacted by Covid. Seasoned was not catering its usual big corporate or private events; it was a difficult time. Reaching potential partners and clients through trade publications was what was required.

Seasoned needed to be able to secure regular coverage to educate, inform and engage. The company has its own in-house marketing team, but no PR specialist, creating an inconsistency in messaging.

We regularly reviewed the conversions to analyse what was working and we produced comprehensive monthly reports, not just on the campaigns, but on the brand’s overall digital performance.

Our in-house digital specialist has monthly calls to discuss campaign performance and make suggestions for improvements or for expansion of a campaign.

What we did

We are proud to have experienced former journalists on our team and this brief was definitely playing to one of our strengths. Crown was keen to secure coverage in sector-leading publication The Caterer, but had rarely previously managed it. By talking to them and pitching the business, we quickly achieved the coverage Crown had sought. We have also achieved regular coverage in other leading trade publications with proactive and reactive releases.

We have an ongoing PR strategy for the business that focuses on its key messages, one of which is sustainability. Seasoned is perfectly placed to lead the charge in the sector towards a more sustainable future and with our fresh pair of eyes on the brand, we have been able to shape the messaging.

Strand has also supported the Crown internal comms team, working together to devise a strategy that focuses on sharing effective messages across the organisation.

The results

Charles Beer, Senior Partner at Crown Partnership, said: “We set some very clear monthly goals about what success looks like and without a doubt that’s been met.

“The scattergun approach we had previously now has got focus, it’s got direction and we’ve got a really clear voice going out to our target audiences – and we’re achieving some great visibility, which is really what we want to do.”

Jackie Harding, Managing Partner for Development at Crown Partnership, said: “The unexpected benefits of working with Strand have been the input and support they’ve given our own marketing team. We have a combination of young and experienced team members, and Strand has been on hand to discuss ideas with them, support, give feedback, which has helped them within their own role develop which eventually helps the business as well.”