Luminous Words

PR Proposal

Prepared for Jules Canterbury

Love-Struck frozen smoothies

What’s the plan?

Phase One

  • Who? Leonie Roberts of Luminous Words PR to work with Jules Canterbury of Love-Struck frozen smoothies to provide the following PR services.
  • What? Research and write a thought leadership piece, and pitch it to HR/ CSR publications, and towards business media.
  • Why? To boost the corporate market for Love-Struck.
  • How? By showing how corporates can magnify the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility by treating their employees well, and Love-Struck provides the solution through their hassle-free happiness, stealthy healthy frozen smoothies.
  • Who is the target audience? C-suite of medium sized corporate organisations eg insurance companies or banks, seeking to capitalise on CSR benefits to boost their ‘triple bottom line’.
  • Who is the end user? The harassed, time-pressed, health-conscious, gym-going employee seeking healthy options at work to boost their productivity during the afternoon slump without resorting to unhealthy snacks.
  • What is the key message? Supplying Love-Struck frozen smoothies to employees as part of corporates’ employee benefits/ wellness/ gifting programs will boost brand reputation, maximise commitment to positive values (internal and external), build trust and loyalty, boost employee wellbeing, and drive employee engagement, retention, and productivity.
  • Brand messages to include:
    • No prep, no mess.
    • Frozen and ready to blend.
    • Award-winning frozen smoothies (delivered) directly to customers.
    • Naturally fantastic.
    • Hassle-free happiness.
    • B-Corp certification – signifies commitment to do and be good via healthy, delicious food and drink which is ethically sourced, expertly mixed and conveniently priced.
  • Which publications will be targeted? Further research to be done in this area, but possible publications to target include:
    • HR Director Magazine – www.thehrdirector.com (UK) – most respected independent resource for HR directors.
    • People Management magazine – www.peoplemanagement.co.uk (UK) – UK’s biggest HR mag – cover news, opinion, insight.
    • HR Aspects magazine – www.hraspectsmagazine.co.uk (UK) – in-depth news, employee wellbeing and engagement.
    • Workforce Magazine (UK) – www.workforce.com – news, blogs and stories, impact of business difficulties, events and trends.
    • HR Grapevine magazine – www.hrgrapevine.com (UK).
    • IFA Magazine – ifamagazine.com – targeted at financial advisers, planners and wealth managers.
    • HR Magazine – www.hrmagazine.co.uk.
  • Which broadcast outlets could be considered for interviews?
    • Heart West – westcountry.news@heart.co.uk (826,000 broadcast audience) – covers the west of England
    • BBC Points West – pointswest@bbc.co.uk (Bath, Bristol, Swindon, Gloucester, Taunton, Wiltshire.
    • Today Programme – Radio 4 current affairs, weekdays 6-9, Saturdays 7-9 (6, 710,000 broadcast audience)
  • What is the desired result? To obtain orders from corporate customers.
  • What will a positive result look like? Any corporate customer placing an order for 10 boxes or more; any corporate customer becoming a repeat customer.
  • What else would constitute a positive result? A corporate customer agreeing to provide a case study at a later date.
  • When? Asap.

Why thought leadership?

What is thought leadership?

Thought leadership is original thinking that helps brands to engage top decision-makers. It often supports broader commercial and marketing goals for the delivering brand, and for those they want to partner with.

Thought leadership should:

  • Have a clear marketing rationale.
  • Have evidence to support it.
  • Add to the conversation.
  • Make audiences think.
  • Represent quality, not noise.

What are the benefits of strong thought leadership?

When customers view your company as a thought leader, they:

  • Show a preference for your brand over that of your competitors.
  • Become more willing to meet and engage in dialogue with your company.
  • Consider your company first when selecting a partner for a business opportunity.

What makes a suitable topic for a thought leadership piece?

Thought leadership should focus on a topic where a company has something fresh and compelling to say on a subject on which they have a truly expert voice, and in an area where they can engage and inspire their audience.

Good thought leadership demands great storytelling

The target audience is looking for unique insights, backed up by credible reasoning.

They need nuggets of information which provide actionable insight and business value.

Skillful storytelling brings the message to life.

Strong and empathetic reasoning explains ‘so what?’

Three images above from a thought leadership campaign for Welsh Government to launch their Race Equality Action Plan.

What I’ll do for Love-Struck

Timeline and pricing

THE ‘WHY’

  1. Research the benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility for medium sized corporates.
  2. Seek evidence to demonstrate that improving employee wellbeing favourably impacts an organisation’s bottom line.
  3. Research media articles on this topic.
  4. Collate information.

3 days @ £250/ day – £750

THE ‘WHO’

  1. Define the primary audience – C-suite of medium sized corporates. Understand pain points, language to engage target audience.
  2. Research suggested publications. Pick one or two outlets to target. Research pitch process. Research required length, style, language, audience and lead time.
  3. (Optional) Research local radio broadcast outlet. Pitch interview.

2 days @ £250/ day – £500. Additional half day @ £125 if broadcast interview is required.

THE ‘WHAT’

  1. Analyse existing Love-Struck comms.
  2. Analyse brand style guide.
  3. Interview Jules or A.N. Other to understand personal views and messaging.

1 day @ £250/ day – £250.

THE ‘HOW’

  1. Write first draft of thought leadership article, 600-800 words (unless a different length is dictated by alternative requirements of outlet selected).
  2. Ensure article meets objectives:
    • Enhance Love-Struck’s brand profile and reputation.
    • Deliver media coverage.
    • Be an effective conversation starter for sales.
  3. Liaise with Jules and Love-Struck to incorporate 2 x rounds of editing, as required.
  4. Finalise and gain sign off of final article.

2 days writing @ £250/day – £500.

Plus additional time for editing delays, if required.

THE ‘PITCH’

  1. Prepare pitch email.
  2. Pitch to selected publication.
  3. If broadcast interview option is selected, pitch interview. Follow up. Organise time, interview mode and questions to be asked.

Half day @ £125.

If broadcast interview option is selected, additional half day @ £125.

THE ‘DELIVERY’ AND MEASUREMENT

  1. Issue article to selected publication/s.
  2. Measure output: media coverage, downloads, visits, comments etc.
  3. Follow up with selected publication/s.
  4. If broadcast interview option is selected, provide briefing pre-interview and transcript post-interview.

One to two days ad hoc @ £250.

If broadcast interview option is selected, additional half day @ £125.

TOTAL = 2 WEEKS WORK @ £2325

Additional £375 if broadcast (local radio) interview option is selected.

Why me?

“Leonie always takes the time to understand the issue and work out how best to tackle it, working collaboratively and quickly.

“Very happy to recommend.”

Richard Heys, Deputy Director and Deputy Chief Economist, Office for National Statistics

MY BACKGROUND

– I have nearly 25 years experience working in media and communications.

– I have worked in-house and freelance publicising campaigns, launches, policies, stories, thought leadership articles and events for SPAR supermarkets (A.F. Blakemore), UK and Welsh Government, a police force, charities, and private sector businesses.

– I have existing trusted working relationships with journalists working in national, regional, and trade media in multiple subject areas.

– I will use my existing skills and professional experience to give you the best possible chance to gain positive media coverage for your campaign.

– I won’t guarantee you media coverage – earned coverage is exactly that, earned – but my professional skills and experience will give you the best possible chance of obtaining earned media coverage which will publicise your story and boost your reputation.

Important

Note: With unpaid/ earned media, there is NO guarantee that newspapers will cover a news item.

If you want guaranteed coverage, this requires a PAID ADVERTORIAL agreement with the selected media outlet – this will be at ADDITIONAL COST depending on the service booked with the media outlet.

However, I am a media professional with 24 years experience writing, pitching and placing news stories, and ready-made professional relationships with a wide range of journalists and media outlets.

Working with me maximises the chances that your story will be covered by at least one news outlet.

Further testimonials and examples can be seen here.

How it works

Here’s what I need from you:

1. Agree contract terms and schedule a start date.

2. Sign contract.

3. Pay deposit (50%) no later than 48 hours before booked start date.

4. Deliver briefing documents/ communications strategy/ brand statements/ campaign plan/ house style guide no later than one week after start date.

5. Enable me to speak to a spokesperson to determine messaging and personal standpoint, one week after start date.

6. Decide whether to pitch local broadcast (radio) interview as well as pitching to print media, no later than one week after start date.

7. Allocate editing time on day 8 after start date.

8. It interview option is selected, allocate half an hour for interview briefing and short interview, date and time TBC.

9. Agree to deliver a fair assessment of the campaign using internal insights (OUTTAKES) eg number of new leads and new sales meetings post campaign, increase number of orders, increase in customer loyalty, increase in enquiries etc.

10. Pay instalment 2 (25%) no later than day 8.

11. Pay balance (25%) within 7 days of receipt of invoice, on completion of work.

NB. The nature of the work means that the ten days’/ two weeks’ work may not be consecutive days.

For example, there may be a delay between pitching the piece, and delivering the piece to the commissioning media outlet, as response time from the outlet is not within my control.

However, I will commit to completing this work with all speed and with minimum delay with consideration to all aspects of work which are within my control.

Any questions?

Please contact me.