Here are some of our success stories.
Secret Sales: Trade press covers remarkable growth of ecommerce fashion marketplace
"flannel have been amazing, and working with them has driven great results. I would not hesitate to recommend them.”
- CHRIS GRIFFIN, CEO OF SECRET SALES
Over the course of a 16 month PR campaign, ecommerce fashion marketplace Secret Sales saw 150 quality pieces of press coverage, featuring in 30 retail and fashion trade and business magazines across four countries - the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
News stories, features, opinion articles, speaking slots, industry reports and award entries drove awareness of the Secret Sales platform among 40 journalists and over one million readers.
flannel provided blanket coverage across the UK retail and fashion trade press, and introduced Secret Sales to key European titles, assisting the company on its journey to become the largest non full price marketplace for fashion and beauty worldwide.
Helped by adding PR into the mix, the number of brands partnering with Secret Sales grew from 450 to over 1,600.
Curalate: Taking social shopping technology stratospheric
“Claire & co: really great work on generating all this ink and spreading the word.”
- APU GUPTA, CEO OF CURALATE
Curalate received blanket coverage in the retail business press over 2.5 years.
A combination of news stories, podcasts, opinion articles examining industry themes, research projects and award wins positioned the company as a top social commerce technology specialist.
Our job was to take US company Curalate’s pioneering work with high street names and independent retailers and raise awareness among journalists in the UK.
Almost 200 articles heavily supported new business activity and the customer success team in the UK.
Press coverage peaked when 13 publications ran news of QVC launching a social shopping function.
During the campaign, Curalate was crowned Most Disruptive Retail Technology in 2017 and Online Technology Vendor of the Year in 2019 at the Retail Systems magazine awards.
The company was ultimately acquired by ratings and reviews technology giant Bazaarvoice. flannel also helped launch Bazaarvoice in the UK - see our case study below.
Adobe Scene7: Rich media fame
“flannel has dramatically improved our UK PR coverage and positioning.”
- MAX CHILDS, FORMER ADOBE SCENE7 SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER EMEA
We helped Adobe Scene7 become the ‘go to’ rich media technology company among the UK’s top retailers.
150 pieces of press coverage over two years saw the company regularly called on by journalists as an expert commentator on the progress of rich media in e-commerce, writing for titles including Internet Retailing, Retail Technology and Drapers.
Editorial coverage in fashion business magazine Drapers helped Adobe Scene7 win a high street brand as a new client.
OneStock: Attracting new brand clients
“Big high street names have been reading about what we do for others in the press. This coverage is a huge help with our new business efforts.”
- BERTRAND LIESTA, HEAD OF MARKETING AT ONESTOCK
Six months and 43 articles across the retail press later, omnichannel order management specialist OneStock reported new business leads as a result of coverage.
The technology company is working with flannel to raise its profile in the UK. We’ve also helped secure thought leadership articles, an editorial podcast and award win during this time.
OneStock counts Radley, Ted Baker and Whistles among its stable of clients.
Luckycycle: Disrupting retail promotions culture
"Our profile in Retail Week magazine prompted three retailers to call us.”
- GÉRAUD DE BORCHGRAVE, MD OF LUCKYCYCLE
Promotions technology company Luckycycle appointed flannel to generate news around its UK launch. We secured a spot in Retail Week magazine’s Start-up of the Week feature.
Luckycycle was showcased online and in print, as well as being included on the widely-read newsletter and Retail Week’s Twitter page.
Three new business leads were reported following the coverage.
Bazaarvoice: From UK unknown to industry pioneer
“flannel helped build our business.”
- JACOB SALAMON, FORMER INTERNATIONAL MARKETING DIRECTOR AT BAZAARVOICE
In just under three years, Bazaarvoice saw 350 pieces of press coverage, reported multiple leads and secured new business as a direct result of press exposure.
Despite having a big presence in the US when we began working with Bazaarvoice, the online ratings and reviews technology company was unknown in the UK and part of a nascent industry - only a handful of retailers and brands had ratings and reviews at the time.
We created stories and ideas, built journalist relationships and helped Bazaarvoice become synonymous with the term social commerce.
Justin Crandall, former UK managing director said this in an email to Bazaarvoice staff a year in to the PR campaign: “The buzz in the market is absolutely huge right now. I can't believe how many people have asked me how we're ramping so quickly and who we're using for PR given all the articles. We keep hearing from people that everywhere they turn, someone is mentioning Bazaarvoice.”
The company is now the largest provider of ratings and reviews services in the UK, counting top retailers such as Boots, Debenhams, Halfords and Homebase among its clients.
Pure: To sale and beyond
"flannel says it how it is, knows exactly how to pitch to journalists and delivers every time.”
- DARREN FELL, FOUNDER OF PURE AND CRUNCH
We worked with Pure for three years leading up to its sale. Already a successful company, it needed a public presence alongside better known, and in some cases, smaller competitors.
Our job was to raise Pure’s profile and help bring in big pieces of new business via well-placed stories and features in the marketing and trade press. £120k worth of leads were reported as a direct result of PR during one 12 month period, including three major brands getting in touch after reading a technology development article.
Pure’s founder won an Entrepreneur of the Year award and journalists called on the company as an industry expert.
Pure’s profile rose considerably among brands wanting email marketing, industry peers and potential investors. The company was acquired by a US technology firm for £3.9 million.
flannel then helped launch the founder’s new venture, online accounting firm Crunch. Darren Fell said of press coverage that put Crunch in the spotlight early on: “The innovation section of Radio 2’s drive time show was the perfect slot to appear in. This three minute interview raised website traffic by 700% and built a pipeline of hundreds of customers.”
SpinMe: Leading the revolution
“We’ve had three new business calls as a result of the awards talk and three furniture retailers contact us after reading about Furniture Village using our technology.”
- DAVID BRINT, CEO of SPINME
We secured a finalist position at the Drapers Digital Awards for online imagery expert SpinMe. Shortlisted as Best Tech Start-up, SpinMe was asked to give a presentation on the benefits of its studio workflow technology and services to an audience of high profile retailers attending a conference on the day of the awards.
SpinMe was approached by three fashion retailers looking to invest in advanced online imagery techniques following the talk.
The company works with brands including Selfridges, Halfords, Schuh and Wiggle.
A separate project, which saw the industry press writing about Furniture Village adding 360 spin photography to its newly-launched website, encouraged a further three retailers to get in touch with SpinMe.