Holyrood PR make sure Mackie’s eyes aren’t too big for their bellies
ONE of the most recent clients to join the Holyrood family was sure to get tongues wagging from the very start. See how, together, we created a Scottish PR success story.
We were tasked with helping Mackie’s celebrate its 30th anniversary in making ice cream ahead of the Highland Show.
With a range of products and activities ready to go we were eager to ensure that Mackie’s got as many bites of the cherry as they could from the amazing range of fun and fantastic things going on.
A taste of Doric
It can be easy to forget that Mackie’s are, at heart, a traditional and well established business, what with the meteoric rise in their newest products but they’re still a family farm producing almost everything they need – from green energy to brown cows – by themselves.
What better way to celebrate their Scots heritage than by releasing a series of boards using Doric Scots to advertise their luxury ice cream.
The traditional tongue caught the imagination of the press in Mackie’s highland home and they saw a raft of coverage in local titles like the Ellon Times the Buchanan Observer and Inverurie Herald.
That meant more than 10,973 people in Mackie’s heartland were reached by this single story generating.
“Fit Rare!”
Retro Tubs
With a knack for holding on to staff (Five members who’ve been with them since the beginning of their ice cream adventure!), Mackie’s know how to treat people right.
They made the most of this feel-good story by promoting a series of throwback tubs in the style of the first batches of ice cream they created 30 years ago.
Vintage is very much in style nowadays and this was reflected by some great press attention.
From coverage online and in print in the Herald and the Press & Journal to a whole host of articles in the business press, we were able to reach well over three quarters of a million readers with 806,160 opportunities to see this story and engage with the Mackie’s brand.
A year’s supply of yummy goodness…
Mackie’s of Scotland are well known in their home country but a desire to expand and take on the market south of the border has long been on the agenda.
We took the opportunity of a UK wide competition to announce Mackie’s to our Sassenach friends.
Coverage in no less than 16 publications in England are sure to have made more than a dent on the market and bring the finest of Scottish produce south for the rest of the UK to get their spoons into.
This created a phenomenal 53,160 opportunities to see all over the UK bring Mackie’s to one of their widest audiences ever.
30 flavours for 30 years
30 years in the game and Mackie’s decided it was time to expand the range…and how?!
30 flavours, including new concoctions just for the Royal Highland Show saw the options balloon to customers revelling in the Scottish sun.
From trendy salted caramel to fun banana and Smarties as well as a more refined gin & tonic sorbet, Mackie’s fans were able to pick from their biggest ever selection.
Breakfast Flavours
How do you like your eggs in the morning? With one scoop or two?
Rounding off the new tasty treats were some more unusual flavours of gelato: Maple & Bacon and Black Pudding & Apple.
Mackie’s have always been about creating fun and interesting flavours and these may have just taken the crown for the most unusual.
Debuting, once again, at the Royal Highland Show the Maple & Bacon proved a big hit selling out in just two days!
And it wasn’t just those attending the show that wanted a bite of these great flavours.
Making the most of a summery and fun story we put out before and after releases and secured coverage in some of Scotland’s most renowned newspapers including the Herald and the National.
This meant that Mackie’s ice cream got what all ice cream needs; hundreds and thousands…of opportunities to see the story with 219,146 readers across 8 titles online and in print.
A great campaign – So many bites of the cherry
And what does all this tasty coverage mean for Mackie’s?
Real world reach to new and loyal customers.
A combined total of 2,182,878 opportunities to see meant there were more than sprinkles of coverage getting the brand out there and letting people know about the fun and fantastic work they’re doing.
