Community matters – it certainly does for our client Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care. As a family-owned business with a high street branch network across England and Wales, Scrivens places community at the heart of its values.
This is where PR is core to its marketing mission. Not just digital algorithms but building genuine relationships with the communities it serves.
In a business where every penny must count and teams have limited time, PR has to be creative, straightforward and effective. That doesn’t mean spending big money – it means creating campaigns that actually deliver.
Two ideas, two big returns
Two such campaigns for Scrivens are reaping the rewards of Limegreen’s creative, low-budget approach – with communities and media alike: Community Hero and Branch Out With Kindness.
Community Hero was born out of Covid, when Scrivens set out to recognise the unsung heroes who stepped up during the pandemic. Today, customers who give back to their communities – through voluntary work, helping others, or simply being a good friend – are nominated by their local branch and entered into a monthly Community Hero award. They receive a luxury afternoon tea hamper and we get to share their story with local media, who are always looking for inspiring human interest stories.
Branch Out With Kindness is focused on giving a small token of kindness to community groups that could use £100 to their benefit – whether that’s sheet music for a choir, refreshments for a litter-picking group, or plants for a commemorative garden. The same principle applies – giving back in a small way, and recognising the people who make neighbourhoods up and down the country such great places to live, work and play.
Small ideas, real impact
Neither of these is a groundbreaking idea. They’re simple, cost-effective and highly impactful campaigns. And the results speak for themselves – fantastic feedback from recipients, stronger bridges between branch and community and earned media coverage that helps Scrivens build its digital footprint and, ultimately, drive footfall.
Good PR doesn’t always need a big budget. Sometimes it just needs a genuine reason to tell a story and the right people to tell it to.
If you’d like to discuss how Limegreen can support your PR strategy, get in touch: jo@limegreencommunications.com / 07799 662389
