Rowe’s Bakery
“The team at Absolute assists me across a broad spectrum of marketing activities and I feel secure in their ability to represent Rowe’s to a wide range of clients, colleagues and third parties. We’ve noticed a significant benefit from PR over the course of what has been Rowe’s most successful period to date, and have now come to the conclusion that we could not live without it.”
Rowe’s Bakery
Paul Pearce, Former Director of Marketing
The Process
What
Raise brand awareness and drive sales
How
Media relations, awards, social media
Where
Local, regional, national trade
When
2008-2013
The Challenge
To support Rowe’s ambition to be a national consumer brand by raising the profile of the company among key buyers at national multiples and driving footfall to its 20+ high street bakeries in Devon and Cornwall.
Our Solution
Absolute provided strategic, creative marketing and PR activities to ensure Rowe’s stood out in a highly competitive marketplace. We proactively identified and fed editorial opportunities to targeted publications to maintain the brand’s profile and generated creative mini-campaigns with third parties such as a Cornish language day and local student sculpture competition. We piggybacked major issues such as the pasty tax protests, maximised extisting sponsorship deals to get best value and created a crisis communication plan to ensure Rowe’s remained on-message in emergencies. In addition, Absolute managed Rowe’s facebook account, engaging directly with consumers, and contributed regular website copy.
What We Achieved
Absolute secured regular regional coverage of new shop openings, community news stories and product launches as well as national trade coverage of business stories. We also wrote two winning national award entries and ensured Rowe’s had a share of the voice around key issues such as the pasty’s PGI status and pasty tax. In the period we worked with Rowe’s, the family business opened several new bakeries, including branded concessions within Asda superstores, and was the first bakery to secure a high-profile partnership with Levi Roots, producing Reggae Reggae Chicken Pasties and Levi Roots Ginger Cake.