Edinburgh PR Agency Helped Newly Launched Restaurant Find all the Right Ingredients to Become a Media Sensation

SUCCESS for the finest restaurants involves a great many factors, including the skill of the chefs, the quality of the produce and the attitude of the front of house staff.

Which means new restaurants face a challenge to  stand out a in a crowded sector.

So when Stefano and Maria Molfino launched their new venture – Rigatoni’s by the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh – they turned to the story telling experts at Holyrood PR to make an instant impact.

Despite working on a modest budget we served up a feast of media coverage for the delighted couple , positioning the new venue as must-visit eatery in the Scottish capital. Featuring in the Scotsman Food and Drink, Scotland on Sunday, The Herald and 5pm.co.uk to name but a few, the PR push:

• Generated at least 15 significant items of coverage in national, regional and online publications.
• Created a whopping 2,218,406 opportunities to see
• Massively raised awareness of the opening with potential new customers
• Delivered outstanding value by reaching almost 2800 potential customers with positive messages for every £1 spent.

Read our separate post explaining the extensive coverage, where it appeared and what made it so valuabl to the hardworking family behind the successful Rigatoni’s restaurants. 

Our agency was recently crowned Scotland’s Most Outstanding Small Public Relations agency – and the Molfino family were delighted to find out exactly why we earned that accolade.

So just how did we rack up the fantastic coverage for Rigatoni’s? Here is our recipe for a successful PR campaign which proclaimed the couple as the new King and Queen of Edinburgh’s restaurant scene.

THE MAGIC INGREDIENT? EXPERIENCE

The finest chefs hone their natural flair by putting in huge amounts of hard work, while learning the innermost secrets of a successful kitchen.

Exactly the same set of principles apply in the world of PR.

Luckily for our clients, Holyrood PR is led by vastly experienced experts who excel in training a new generation of talent in the art of finding and telling powerful business stories that cut through and earn public attention.

Our clients have ranged from global catering giant Sodexo, to Edinburgh dining institution, Maison Bleue restaurant. We have picked up a huge amount of knowledge on what it takes to create a recipe for success.

For Rigatoni’s we listened carefully, dug deep and were able to come up with a story angle that the media could feast on.

MAKE IT MEMORABLE

Not all pizzas are made equally. Not every pasta dish tastes the same. People will keep coming back to restaurants that make themselves unforgettable.

We take the same approach to helping businesses tell their stories – by adding that extra touch that makes them memorable At Rigatonis we quickly identified a story hook to make Rigatoni’s easy to remember.

The Molfino family were already well-known for running the original Rigatoni’s  – a popular, warm and friendly trattoria on the south side of Edinburgh. When they opened the new venue in Tollcross, loyal customers quickly came up with an effective way to differentiate between the two restaurants.

Since the original is opposite the Queen’s Hall and the new venue is a few doors away from the King’s Theatre, diners quickly started referring to Rigatoni’s at the Queens and Rigatonis at the Kings.

We immediately identified that throwaway line as potential nugget of gold that would interest the media, help craft a memorable story line and ensure the Rigatoni’s name lodged in the minds of potential customers.

A COMPELLING MENU

Other than the odd novelty restaurant, it is unlikely any credible dining venue could survive, let alone thrive, by offering just one dish.

The same is true with media storytelling. Journalists, writers and influencers want a menu of options and a range of potential story lines. So as well as proclaiming the couple the new “king and queen” of Italian dining in Edinburgh, we made sure the Rigatoni’s story was bursting with other story flavours.

We described the sleek glass and marble decor of the impressively well appointed new eatery.We explained the family’s proud, award-winning record at their original venue. And we outlined how the new restaurant would offer an entirely different dining experience from its sister venue – with more of a focus on fine dining.

READ THE ORIGINAL MEDIA RELEASE FOR YOURSELF TO SEE HOW OUR POWERFUL STORYTELLING LOOKS IN ACTION

And to top it all off we included information about the Rigatoni’s committment to sourcing the best Italian products and marrying them with the finest locally-sourced produce.

APPEAL TO A BROAD PALATE

Everyone’s taste is different and the best restaurants will offer something to suit every palate.

The same is true with a PR campaign – so we didn’t stop at writing a press releases.

One thing we know is that powerful images are crucial to success in traditional and online media. So we worked with the restaurant to secure a range of attractive photographs, showcasing the food and decor – images that would appeal to journalists and bloggers alike.

Likewise we worked with Stefano and Maria to prepare them for a photo shoot with a respected newspaper photographer, yielding excellent images used by The Scotsman group.

However we didn’t stop there. Our own videographer headed to Rigatoni’s to produce a stunning video showcasing the restaurant, the staff and food in a visual way for potential customers highlighting exactly what they could experience from an evening of fine dining.

The world of media is always changing. So it is important you keep up to speed and your business should be maximising its YouTube (or Vimeo) channel and embedding useful, entertaining and informative videos on its website.

These videos will offer endless value to you as they can be reused on social media and on your website and this is exactly what Rigatoni’s have discovered – in fact they loved the video so much they treated our videographer to one of their delicious pizzas and he confirmed it is well worth heading down for.

Make sure your business has all the right ingredients get the headlines you deserve

The team at Holyrood PR are a passionate bunch and we firmly believe that stories are at the heart of successful businesses. We believe that when those stories are told well to the right audiences it helps businesses become more profitable while making them better places to work.

Across our website you’ll find that we practice exactly what we preach – telling the stories of our clients and our own business every day,  in words, pictures and video, across print, broadcast and social media.

If you’d like to find out how our range of PR services can help you build a more profitable and rewarding business, then give us a call on 0131 561 2244, or get in touch by filling out the simple form below and we’ll get straight back to you: