jennifer ashe & son
Approached for our expertise in the funeral sector, Jennifer Ashe & Son Funeral Directors came to Eden impressed with how we’d spotlighted and supported business growth for others in their industry.
a.w. lymn
the challenge
A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service appointed Eden PR in 2020, marking the first time the business had worked with a public relations agency in its 113 year history.
We were privileged to be trusted with directing the brand’s narrative in the regional and national media, not only at a momentously busy and pressurised time for the funeral industry in the midst of a global pandemic, but also at a pivotal point in its marketing and communications programme. Having not used PR before, we were keen to swiftly demonstrate the positive impact of our honed and tailored media relations approach.
Before working with Eden, the fifth generation family business had been featured in the regional media and occasionally in the national media but did not have a strategic approach to public messaging in place. Our brief was to ensure A.W. Lymn’s narrative was on the news agenda consistently and unobtrusively – a delicate balance of promoting the business’s stand-out reputation while ensuring all content was sensitively and tastefully packaged.
solution
At the start of our campaign, the pandemic put more pressure on the funeral sector than ever before. A.W. Lymn staff were working round the clock to ensure they maintained the utmost levels of care for their customers. This meant time was tight to produce stand out press relations which added to the informative national narrative about the pandemic. We tackled this by planning ahead with forward features but also news hijacking stories where we knew one of the Directors at A.W. Lymn would be able to enhance the storyline with on-the-ground data and comment on the day.
Much of the initial activity we carried out was relationship building on behalf of the business with our key media contacts in regional TV news and at online news publications.
Key to success was maintaining an acceptable trade-off between exposure for the business and respect for the nature of its work. While A.W. Lymn wants to be seen in the media, it is first and foremost dedicated to ensuring it maintains its century-long reputation for being trustworthy, dignified and above all dedicated to its customers. All content we created started with that trio of values in clear definition.
results
In just 6 months:
- Achieved 87 pieces of media coverage, equating to 14.3 pieces per month on average
- Reached nearly 16m people with A.W. Lymn stories/ company news, averaging a reach of 1.9m per month
- Secured six prime-time broadcast interview slots for A.W. Lymn Directors/ senior team members
- News-hijacked national stories to deliver comment from A.W. Lymn in national news – BBC News, talkRADIO, The Mirror
- Secured regular coverage in leading funeral trade titles – Funeral Service Times, Funeral Service Journal, Funeral Director Monthly.
“To say that we have been impressed by what Eden have brought to our company would be an understatement“.
“The diversity of what they offer is truly remarkable. They have given us advice on potential media problems as well as being able to, at short notice ‘news jack’ items of interest such as the recent avian influenzas and the effect on the A.W. Lymn doves who are kept at the Lymn Rose family home”.
“Another story I should point to is our Long Eaton billboard. Louise, an employee of over 18 years, found her husband (or should I say he found her), through a billboard advertising her funeral home. Eden picked up this story and the result was remarkable. Our name appeared in the local and national press, on local radio and TV and Louise got requests for interviews from as far away as America”.
“As an independent family business we need value for money and it feels like we get this from Eden. The press releases they write are engaging and are well written. Those of you who know A.W. Lymn will know how remarkable this is! We have just signed up for another year and look forward to seeing what Eden make happen in it!”.
– Emma Percival, Marketing Manager at A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service
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