New £3million Eco-Friendly Garden Centre

Challenge

The new flagship garden centre was to bring an unrivalled horticultural destination to East Sussex.

With strong media contacts in East Sussex and previous experience managing successful launch events, PRG was the ideal marketing agency for the task.

Solution

We came up with the idea of organising an official ribbon-cutting ceremony with a horticultural twist.

First we drafted personal invitations for Hillier to send to Pevensey and Westham MP and Minister of State for Climate Change, Gregory Barker, and Polegate Town Mayor, Cllr Tim Voyce, to cut the ribbon. We also invited other local dignitaries with a formal letter – which they responded to very well!

Chairman Robert Hillier opened the event with a welcome speech and was then joined by Mr Barker and Cllr Tim Voyce for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and a tour of the garden centre.

We promoted the event to local residents through PR, generating pre-event editorial in local newspapers, and a targeted direct mail campaign, consisting of a four-page newsletter with vouchers to claim at the garden centre.

We personally invited key journalists from local newspapers and horticultural trade magazines to attend the launch event, which encouraged post-event media coverage.

Hillier’s own gardening expert and Managing Director of Hillier Garden Centres, Andrew McIndoe, hosted two sessions of Gardeners’ Question Time with gardening celebrities Richard Jackson and Matthew Biggs. Both sessions lasted over an hour and were well attended by local residents and gardening enthusiasts.

Result

Following our PR and marketing activities surrounding the launch event, sales are reported to have trebled at the new Eastbourne garden centre.