GAP PR and Marketing took charge of KRO’s account in February 2010 and were faced with a number of challenges. The KRO brand is one of the most well-known in Manchester, with six bars and restaurants around the city and a successful external catering service; however, their marketing and branding efforts were lacking coordination and there was a no effective customer database.
GAP PR’s task was to create and maintain a strong, consistent brand image across print, the web and social media, and to develop KRO’s business through raising the profile of their less well known venues. Growing their customer database, driving traffic to their web and social media sites and introducing loyalty schemes were our key objectives.
One key area was to streamline KRO’s online presence. We developed the content of the KRO website, revamping it to create a clean and easy-to-navigate look which has seen overall monthly visits increase dramatically. This success can also be attributed to our expertise in social media and online marketing, which has been used both to drive traffic to the website and to convert browsers to buyers.
New Facebook ‘Places’ for each KRO site were created to sit alongside a dynamic customized KRO fan page. This allows customers to view offers at each bar and receive news and updates tailored to each location as well as having access to a centralised source of information and table booking facilities on the fan page.
The importance of a strong Facebook presence for a sociable city centre bar chain like KRO cannot be overstated; it increases brand visibility, encourages conversation, and it has been used to achieve measurable and significant results by driving traffic to their website as well as garnering new business through the table booking facility. A Twitter account was set up to further bolster KRO’s online presence and follower numbers have been grown rapidly.
The success of this online strategy can be shown simply by looking at the results; KRO’s customer database has grown massively since we got involved, now with many thousands of verified contact details added through a variety of methods including online sign-up and online table bookings. Efforts put into e-marketing now have a real payoff and a big audience of customers wanting to receive news, offers, and promotions directly from KRO.
We have also produced great results for KRO with more traditional PR work, too. Stories such as KRO’s Guinness World Record for helping to create the world’s largest toast mosaic was part of the HTC Wildfire Experience, a social network campaign designed to bring virtual friends together and make someone’s dreams a reality.
KRO were chosen to be the supplier of the toast, and we secured some great regional and national PR coverage of the event for them, when they featured on the BBC, ITV’s Granada News and in printed publications such as The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Manchester Evening News and the Metro.
If you think GAP PR could help you build your PR and marketing strategy or if you just want an informal chat about social media, drop us a line – we would be happy to help.
