Professional services PR is often about demonstrating specialist expertise with a tone of voice which balances gravitas and knowledge with warmth and personality.
Working with leading law firm, Thrings, our integrated, strategic campaign for the agricultural and food producing sector is one example of how businesses whose success is based on relationships can show, not tell, that they are specialists in the world they work in.
Background
Polymedia supports national law firm Thrings with firmwide strategy and communications, but the relationship first began when the firm opened its office at Romsey, Hampshire.
The team based there has agriculture as one of its key specialisms and is made up of experienced solicitors who work closely with farmers and landowners on food production and diversification projects. The firm is a panel member of the National Farmers Union (NFU) and is renowned as a leader in the sector nationally.
As part of a wider strategy, Polymedia was asked to devise a campaign that would position lawyers in the farming and food producing community in Hampshire.
The concept
The objective was to find a way to place key team members alongside the kinds of businesses they worked with and wanted to work with. Thrings had an existing series of articles called ‘Thrings Meets’ for which lawyers interviewed business owners and others in a Q&A format.
Polymedia built upon this concept to create ‘Thrings Eats’, a much more narrative focused series of articles designed to go beyond the previous format and get ‘under the skin’ of food producers with engaging lifestyle content.
To add community benefit and strategic purpose, the pieces were produced in support of the Countryside Education Trust, a charity that provides residential education for young people, often from inner cities, to learn about rural life.
As part of a wider strategy, Polymedia was asked to devise a campaign that would position lawyers in the farming and food producing community in Hampshire.
The campaign
Crucial to the campaign was that it was about positioning, showing members of the Thrings team immersed in the world of food and agriculture. Thrings Eats placed food-producing businesses and their owners front and centre.
The lawyers, assisted by Polymedia, visited each business and spent time getting to know the subjects, talking to them about the history of the business, challenges faced along the way and their future plans.
The campaign continued throughout the pandemic with interviews conducted over Zoom capturing the difficulties faced by the farmers and entrepreneurs, who in many cases had to change their business models overnight, for example by moving to home delivery.
There are now around 30 Thrings Eats articles on a wide range of food-related businesses, from former Formula One champion turned buffalo farmer Jody Scheckter’s farm at Laverstoke, to a gin distillery on the banks of the River Test, to producers of salami, cheese, biscotti, beef, mint and much more.
The campaign also features farmers and landowners who have diversified into new revenue streams, such as the production of energy through biogas. The articles are shared through Thrings’ digital channels and appear in monthly lifestyle magazine Hampshire Life, widely read by the target audiences.
The results
Combined with professional photography, the resulting features are warm, personable and engaging, as well as achieving the strategic aim of positioning Thrings at the heart of rural communities.
The campaign has driven levels of awareness of the Thrings offering, led to the creation of a digital Thrings Eats portal, and in several cases has led to the firm being instructed. Meanwhile the food producers appreciate the opportunity to share their stories and to reach a wide readership.
An event is now being planned at Thrings to celebrate the county’s wide variety of produce and to further cement relationships between the firm, agriculture and food businesses.
