Zeus visits NEC Spring Fair
Members of the Zeus PR team popped down to the NEC to see at first hand our client's fabulous stand at Spring Fair, the UK’s No.1 trade show for gift and home products.
Madebyzen® showcased its entire home fragrance collection - of aroma diffusers, candles, home fragrance oils and reed diffusers with their bespoke statement stand, which enticed attendees with its enchanting scents and highly innovative product array.
As with previous shows, the brand saw a fantastic response to their presence at Spring Fair. The very latest soon to be launched aroma diffusers and oils, took pride of place alongside best selling, much-loved Madebyzen® favourites such as the Alto. A firm staple in the Planet Zeus offices, we love the fact that the Alto combines the ancient art of aromatherapy with the soothing power of music and light, to bring you a truly indulgent and luxury experience, due to its Bluetooth functionality and a built in speaker, allowing you to enjoy a fabulous and finely crafted fragrance, whilst listening to your favourite music tracks!
Madebyzen®, established in 2001 is one of the UK’s leading home fragrance brands; best known for their luxury ultrasonic aroma diffusers and unique essential and fragrance oil blends, and Zeus PR has supported the brand for many years with product placement in the major lifestyle media.
They have a significant retail presence both here and abroad, with major UK stockists including names such as such as Holland & Barrett, Neal’s Yard, Wholefoods and Planet Organic, together with well-regarded independent stores.
There is a new store in town!
We don’t just work with national brands; we also work with local businesses too! A brand new convenience store and cafe was opening right on our doorstep in Congleton and we were enlisted with organising and managing the grand opening at the end of August.
The new concept, collectively known as the Hüüb Store, features a Londis shop and a contemporary cafe called the Hüüb Cafe. It takes over the former Grove Inn pub on Manchester Road.
The site has been completely redeveloped over the past year to make way for the Londis which will be the retailer’s flagship store for the North West.
On the first floor is the Hüüb Cafe – a premium coffee shop serving a range of hot drinks, smoothies, paninis, cakes and afternoon teas. The spacious area can hold up to 60 covers and in the coming months, will look to extend its opening hours and also serve breakfasts and alcohol.
We had just one week to plan the event which we don’t usually recommend but with the team’s vast experience in store openings, we managed it no problem!
To create a buzz and to provide entertainment, we enlisted Cheshire’s number one local radio station, Silk FM 106.9. Breakfast presenter, Darren Antrobus and his team – not forgetting cheeky Cheshire the cat – set up in the car park and played well-known hits all afternoon, enticing passersby to come and visit the new premises.
We organised a local face painter who brought a wash of colour and smiles to children’s (and adults!) faces, whilst attendees were offered a beautiful array of tasters to sample from the new cafe.
MP Fiona Bruce also came along to officiate proceedings, cutting the ribbon and enjoying afternoon tea with the managing director of the Hüüb Store.
If you’re opening a new store, contact us to find out how we can help make the opening a success!
Festive End to 2016!
Never missing an opportunity for our clients, the Zeus team has been making the most of the festive period to secure extra media coverage and online content for consumer and B2B brands that we manage PR and marketing campaigns for.
From seasonal product placement for our home interior clients such as Madebyzen™ , to attending and publicising events for BMW/MINI/Land Rover /Jaguar motor client Williams Group, and for our many school clients, we have been out and about and hitting the phones to the press hard in the last few weeks before Christmas!
A PR filled Summer!
It certainly was a busy August here at Zeus HQ. We have a number of school and college clients both in the UK and for the international market, and each one does both A-Levels and GCSEs.
For any school, results are the biggest day of the year, so we as a PR company have to shout about it and generate as much publicity as possible.
It all comes down to precise organisation and planning, which begins months in advance. We sit down with each client to identify students who are predicted to do exceptionally well, or who will succeed despite overcoming adversity.
We do roughly 50 press releases in preparation, writing a release for each school/college as a whole celebrating the incredible figures as well as targeted releases for the individual students we have already identified. We then issue them (if the student has done as well as expected) to the local press so that we achieve coverage across various areas.
On top of that we do our very best to secure broadcast coverage wherever possible and this year has been no exception. Abbey College Manchester was featured throughout the day on both Capital Manchester and Key 103 and was filmed for That’s Manchester TV.
This was also our first year with the wonderful, Beech Hall School in Macclesfield and the success of their students was played throughout the day on Silk FM.
The morning of results is always hectic and requires plenty of team support and ultimate organisation.
The journalists have already been called, the contact details have been logged and the bones of each press release are ready, hoping to be filled with some excellent grades.
As each student comes in to collect the grades, the contact at each school and college is on hand to send us the grades and a photo so that we can complete the release and whiz it out to press. Of course, this takes patience and you must remain calm as there are a number of results coming in from different clients all morning.
It is exciting and you can’t help but feel a sense of pride for these individuals who are going on to further their education thanks to the hard work and effort they have put in.
We have had some excellent coverage this year.
Zeus Goes Global!
We are very excited to be now supporting internationally our long standing client, leading UK educational provider Alpha Plus Group.
After working for eight years to share the many successes of their first-class independent schools and sixth form colleges throughout the UK, Zeus will now be working with international partner agencies overseas to spread the message even wider.
Alpha Plus Group has an unrivalled reputation, specialising in helping students from across the world achieve the personal, social and academic growth needed for success at the UK’s top universities, and the facilities for international students at their colleges are second to none. Providing a secure and caring environment for its boarding students, each of Alpha Plus Group's four colleges - based in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Cambridge, offer contemporary, state-of-the art, single en-suite rooms with onsite security 24 hours a day seven days a week.
The group stands for the Gold Standard in educational provision. By providing first-class learning, the Group enables pupils to achieve their full potential in a challenging and caring environment. Teaching throughout the Group combines the best of traditional and modern methods and provides access to the latest classroom technology.
For more information on the Alpha Plus Group visit
www.alphaplusgroup.co.uk/
2015 saw the opening of DLD College's purpose-built landmark building in the heart of Westminster, London.
Pictured left: Assistant Bursar Victoria Shilling, Group Bursar Alec Thorp, and DLD Principal Rachel Borland.
Driving Media Exposure for Turtle Wax
Zeus worked closely with leading car care brand Turtle Wax to stage a very successful high profile off road press event recently, securing considerable media coverage for this iconic brand.
In line with its “Life Gets Mucky” campaign, Turtle Wax recognises that life is too short to worry about car cleaning. Firm believers that cars exist to be driven, enjoyed and tested by the elements, Turtle Wax has an extensive range of products to clean, restore and protect them, and help make the car and the journey awesome.
Covering every aspect of car care and designed using an intuitive colour coded navigation system, Turtle Wax’s Main Line range has been optimised and harmonised to make it much easier for you to know the appropriate products you need to achieve the best results when cleaning your car, and the press couldn't have been more responsive!
Zeus PR provides the right solution for Perfection
Fashion solutions brand Perfection appoints Zeus PR to deliver a high-energy national PR campaign.
Cheshire-based Perfection specialise in bra and shoe accessories, solving a variety of fashion dilemmas for every occasion.
With Debenhams, M&S, Dorothy Perkins, Topshop, River Island, Evans and New Look on its notable UK distributor list, Perfection has strengthened its brand with newly launched packaging and a comprehensive web platform facilitating a direct to consumer channel.
Zeus PR, which has offices in Cheshire and Manchester, has created a bespoke engagement campaign incorporating consumer and trade PR, blogger outreach and social media management which will aid further growth and success for Perfection.
Anthea Fosti, managing director of Zeus PR, comments: “We are excited to be representing such a creatively ingenious brand. We feel that our targeted PR strategy can promote lasting interest for Perfection, highlighting its affordable and practical offering.”
“Working with the Perfection team is a fantastic opportunity and will complement our existing and ever-growing consumer portfolio”.
For more information on Zeus PR, visit www.zeuspr.co.uk.
Head to, www.perfectionsecrets.com, for details on the product ranges.
Out and about with the Zeus team
It’s been a busy month for the Zeus PR team. From fresher’s fairs to petting Parrots, the team have been out and about for various client events. Ellie and Megan went along to our client Real Stone and Tile’s trade event, for an evening filled with expert talks and product demonstrations, complimented by an array of food and drinks. Megan also showed off her golfing skills, and won a putting challenge and claimed a cosy fleece as her prize.
Next was the Chester Uni Fresher’s Fair, with our client Go Sexual Health. Ellie and Kirsty had a day away from their desks to join the gosh team at the fair. There they helped to raise awareness of the new sexual health service know as ‘gosh’. An enjoyable day was had working with the gosh team, giving out sexual health advice and supplies to the students of Chester University. Kirsty then made the trip to Clitheroe for the grand opening of The Ladies Room. A very lucky VIP competition winner received an exclusive tour of the brand new Salon with a drinks reception and complimentary treatment. Kirsty was also able to sneak her way into the stylist, Iwona’s chair for some sneaky pampering.
Zeus PR Attends Pro Hair Live 2015
The Zeus team has been working closely with celebrity barber and pioneering business leader Joseph Lanzante.
Joseph recently headlined the national hair trade show, Pro Hair Live 2015 at Manchester Central.
The team was present to support the client for a jam-packed weekend, and met with the salon and professional beauty media to discuss a series of upcoming exciting opportunities.
The charismatic stylist took to the stage at the Gents arena to provide demonstrations and advice to up and coming stylists and seasoned hairdressers in the audience.
Zeus has devised a dynamic campaign to support the talented stylist who manages his own training academy (Joseph Lanzante Training Academy) and salon (The Men’s Room) in Clitheroe.
The brief has a key emphasis on a hardworking media liaison strategy focusing on the consumer, business and trade press alongside an engaging social media strategy.
Taking the driving seat for the Williams Group
It’s full speed ahead for the Zeus PR team who are delighted to announce that we have recently been appointed to work with the leading prestige motor-retail business, Williams Group to support their 13 North West based retail centres.
The dynamic brief will see the team work closely with the forward thinking brand to drive customer awareness and interest in the highly anticipated new product launches in 2015 across the BMW, MINI and Land Rover Williams Group Retail Centres.
Working directly with the in-house marketing team, we will be working on a strategy to maximise the exposure for the Williams Group high-profile sponsorship's in the region of Liverpool, Manchester, Bolton, Rochdale and Stockport.
In what is set to be an exciting year for the Williams Group, the brands most notable group sponsorship comes in the form of their involvement with Lancashire County Cricket Club, Everton Football Club and alongside an array of exciting local initiatives.
Anthea Fosti, MD at Zeus PR said: “As an agency the Zeus team are thrilled to be working with one of the most established and dynamic brands in the region.
“We are immensely excited to be working with Aidan Williams, Group Marketing Manager for Williams Group and his highly experienced team to develop a hard working campaign.”