The brief

In May 2021 we received an enquiry through our website from the new owners of Riverside Inn, Cound - the people behind it were the marketing team for Greene King’s Chef & Brewer collection. They wanted to discuss the brand’s biggest refurbishment to date!

With a complete transformation of the Riverside taking place, the team wanted social media, PR, photography and videography to make the pub’s relaunch known far and wide, with the imagery to complement.

Not only that, the pub would need staff - J&PR loves a recruitment drive! 

The community was a key theme of the brief - the Riverside was much loved under the previous owners and it was imperative that the love for the “local pub” remained.

The Chef & Brewer brand focuses on the cosy pub feel that is so well-known (and loved!) in Shropshire, and the marketing team knew a local PR and content creation agency which boasted the knowledge and love for the Shropshire media and community, would be the only option.

The solution

Kirsty, Simon, and Sophie headed up the project and worked on the PR, content creation, and social media management services - there was little noise about the pub prior to J&PR’s campaign so our strategy was to increase brand awareness and make it known that the Riverside Inn was returning with a bang.

We hit the community at all angles - press releases for the media coverage, social media for the personal element and tailored social media posts and paid adverts, running across both Facebook and Instagram, to entice potential team members for the recruitment drive. 

We made use of our Shropshire knowledge and shared the Riverside Inn’s recruitment campaigns in local recruitment and community groups on Facebook - and got General Manager Chris to chat on BBC Radio Shropshire about the jobs available.

As the pub’s refurbishment developed, we kept our audiences in the know. We made use of Facebook Lives to update past and future customers on Riverside's revamp - interviewing Chris, giving tours, introducing team members and answering questions from the public.

A campaign asking the public to nominate a Shropshire hero who they’d like to see officially open the Riverside Inn was also a huge hit - as well as giveaways across Instagram and Facebook for a family meal for four, a romantic overnight stay for two, brunch and bubbly for four or a Sunday lunch for two.

We took over social media - responding to comments, queries and messages regarding the pub to ensure the community felt listened to - and organised pre- and post-launches for the media.

We introduced our partner photographer Ed Bagnall and videography agency 7video to create beautiful images and video for the pub's website and socials, the wider Chef & Brewer marketing, and wider use for the Chef & Brewer brand.

The impact

Thanks to Team J&PR sending weekly analytics for both social media and PR to the team for Chef & Brewer, we were able to have an understanding of our audience and the direction the pub’s popularity was going from the offset… and it was a good direction!

Before Riverside Inn even opened, the pub’s Facebook page had over 2,500 followers and plenty of engagement - Chris’ final live video before opening day amassed nearly 300 likes, over 150 comments and over 6,000 views.

Instagram wasn’t far off - tailored to Instagram’s, and the pub’s, key demographics, the Riverside opened with 875 Instagram followers.

The job was done - the pub was fully booked for weeks following its opening in August, and still thrives today. 

Not only was the Shropshire community happy, but the clients were too. So much so that the  Chef & Brewer Collection team chose J&PR to run a similar campaign for a sister pub opening in Hallow, Worcestershire.

Have you got a hospitality venue you want to shout about? Drop Kirsty an email Kirsty@jandpr.com to have a chat.

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