WHEN IT COMES TO PR AND MARKETING...DON'T FORGET RADIO

How often do you listen to the radio?
 
We’d be willing to bet it’s more than you think.
 
Do you listen on your drive to and from work? We do. As well as when driving to any client meetings we might have.
 
Thinking about it, we listen to the radio for several hours a week without really realising it.
 
If someone were to ask us what our favourite forms of entertainment are though – we probably wouldn’t put radio at the top, as we almost listen to it subconsciously.
 
And we’re sure that’s the same for countless people.
 
These days, while people talk about streaming subscriptions and online news, radio is still very much a powerful tool, and it’s something that can offer your brand some great exposure to a broad audience.

When it comes to PR and marketing then, our message is a simple one:
 
Don’t forget the radio.
 
This is something one of our hotel group clients took advantage of during the recent heatwave.
 
The Coast & Country Hotel Collection, which is made up of more than 30 properties spread throughout iconic British coastal and rural locations, is a subsidiary of another of our clients, Bespoke Hotels, which is the largest independent hotel group in the UK.
 
The Coast & Country Hotel Collection has two properties in Eastbourne on the south coast, and one of them, the Burlington Hotel, recently played host to BBC Radio Sussex’s Saturday breakfast show.

This saw the show’s producers and presenters set up a mobile studio, which was situated in one of the hotel’s meeting spaces, overlooking the seafront.
 
Between 6am and 10am they broadcast a 4-hour programme, which saw the Burlington mentioned throughout, and featured several interviews with hotel staff, including a 10-minute segment with the hotel’s GM, and a chat with the night porter, who’d worked at the hotel for more than 30 years, as well as guests who were full of praise for their hospitality experience.
 
Not only that, but the presenters were actively inviting listeners to come down to the hotel to engage with them – helping to draw in potential F&B custom throughout the morning.
 
Over the course of the week, the station has almost a quarter of a million listeners.
 
That’s a serious audience.
 
And not only did the Burlington benefit from constant coverage throughout the show itself, BBC Radio Sussex also aired a delightful promotional teaser in the week leading up to it, helping to spread awareness of the show, and name dropping the Burlington within it.
 
All in all, it was some great PR for the hotel, whose team were thrilled with the outcome and loved the experience.
 
Here at Pic PR, our PR team is constantly engaging with the media, so if you’d like to promote yourself at a local level and beyond, get in touch and we can talk you through how we can make PR work for you.