Project: Launch a luxury Italian hotel to the UK market – short term project

Client: Todi Castle, Umbria

Date: 2008

Task:  To launch Todi Castle with a very limited budget covering just five days’ PR work over three months.

Implementation: We created a press pack, targeted travel, leisure and lifestyle magazines, national press, websites, and in-flight magazines on airlines serving Umbria.

Results: We reached an audience of 12 million, including national and regional press, online and a feature on Umbrian food and an interview with the hotel owner in the Ryanair in-flight magazine.  The high occupancy rates enjoyed in 2009 were directly attributed to this coverage by the owner.

For TodiCastle, we took a luxury hotel to a low cost airline

TodiCastle is a privately owned, luxurious medieval castle set in the heart of the Italian countryside in Umbria.  The owner had a limited budget to spend in the UK and was not sure what PR would be able to do for his business.  So we decided to prove it to him.

We embarked on a very short term PR project, contracted for just five days’ work over three months in 2008 to promote TodiCastle.

The results were outstanding and show how effective targeted PR can be.  In those three months, we created a press pack, we targeted a host of magazines ranging from lifestyle and food titles, national newspapers, including titles such as Sunday Times, The Guardian, and magazines such as Elle and Vogue. We targeted in-flight magazines on Ryanair and Alitalia, and websites such as ivillage and Virgin Media.

Over a period of just three months, our coverage for TodiCastle reached an audience of over 12 million, and included an interview with the owner, Mario, and a feature on Umbrian food in the Ryanair in flight magazine (see right), a feature on Spring breaks in the Daily Telegraph, a mention in an article about historical places to stay in the Metro, and an article about Italian getaways within the travel section of Virgin Media’s website.

The positive effect of this publicity has been long lasting.  For Summer 2009, TodiCastle enjoyed high occupancy rates in a difficult economic environment, and attributes this to KBC’s media successes the previous year.

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