Stefanie Hopkins, owner and PR director of Faith PR, explains why the business should win the marketing and PR category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition.
“If you’re that good at PR and marketing, why don’t you start your own sales business?”
That’s a challenge we have heard from clients over the years – so it’s a challenge we decided to rise to.
Faith PR, a PR and communications agency located in West Yorkshire, recently launched its own independent coffee bar as a joint venture with some neighbouring businesses.
Big Shots café was initially conceived as a benefit for our staff, who are poorly served for lunchtime essentials and afternoon treats as the agency is located outside the town centre. The idea caught on and the café now benefits the local business population and general public.
The café launched in August and has since been visited and applauded as a co-operative by local MPs, press and councillors, as well as the target audience of business owners and employees.
Big Shots also served as a canvas for Faith PR to create the name, brand, promotional video, marketing literature, press release and social media platforms, as well as influencing the actual internal decor and menu.
The café impresses clients and shows them that we are not only a service-orientated business, but that we also invest in, and run a customer-facing business. We talk the talk but we walk the walk as well, and understand the challenges they face. It also provides us with a creative space for client and internal meetings, as well as a test bed for some of our promotional ideas.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
