Selfridges – World’s Most Expensive Sandwich
Task: Selfridges wanted to publicise the launch of a new sandwich bar in the London department store. They want to differential themselves from the hundreds of sandwich bars in London and maintain their image for selling quality food.
Story: Crosbie Communications came up with the idea of the World’s most expensive sandwich. Selfridges head chef Scott McDonald was given the task of creating the sandwich and used a combination of luxury ingredients including rare Japanese Wagyu beef to produce a sandwich with cost £85. Working with Selfridges PR department and their retained agency ZPR, the story went worldwide and has achieved thousands of mentions. Selfridges sold over 200 of the sandwiches in the following weeks.
Woolworths – Prince Williams and Kate Middleton souvenirs
Task: Woolworths wanted a story which highlighted its range of homeware and household products. The High Street store already well known for selling pik ’n mix sweets, toys and CDs and DVDs has expanded in recent years into household goods.
Story: Working with the in-house PR team, we plumped for the idea of beating rival stores to celebrate the much rumoured about to be announced engagement of Prince William and girlfriend Kate Middleton. It was suggested that Woolworths was ready to put into production a range of commemorative souvenirs, The retailer stated the market for such products could be worth up to £10 million.The story tapped into a wave of interest in the couple and made the front page of the national press and was on main BBC and ITN News channels. The couple later split up but the story helped Woolworths achieve a major projection as a store which sold a wide selection of household products. Middleton.
Heinz – Polish Food launch in UK
Task: Heinz planned a launch in the UK of the “Pudiszki” brand, a Heinz owned company based in Poland. With the influx of 750,000 Polish migrants to the UK Heinz believed their was a major demand for the 13 products and ready meals in the UK.
Story: Crosbie Communications was given the job of ensuring widespread coverage for the announcement. A simple story told of the launch and linked it in with the increase in the number of Poles working in the UK and potential of this untapped market. The story made national press and was picked up by radio and TV. The result was an extremely successful launch and sales of the product rocketing, not just among Poles but among Britons interesting in trying out the products.