”Agencies tend to either be strategic or great at dealing with reactive needs and it’s quite rare to find an agency that can excel at both. But Midnight finds that balance, getting their hands around the big strategic issues, while having the agility and result-driven mindset to land the reactive pieces too.
Carol RheadHead of Marketing, Compass B&I
The challenge
How Midnight positioned Compass Group’s Eurest as the UK’s most progressive workplace caterer.
When Eurest, the UK’s leading workplace caterer – and part of food service giant Compass Group’s portfolio of brands – asked us to shine a light on its innovative and ground-breaking activity, we jumped at the chance.
Historically, the workplace canteen hasn’t conjured up the most positive thoughts about food quality and experience. The impact of the pandemic on office working and a heightened sense of the need for healthy, nutritious meals accelerated Eurest’s ambitions to lead the market and raise the bar for tasty and nutritious options to support well-being.
But here’s where it gets interesting. The reality of Eurest’s business was in direct contrast to industry preconceptions. Eurest has one of the most progressive stances in the sector with a dual focus on understanding the impact of nutrition on health and productivity, as well as sustainability. Specifically reducing food waste, championing plant-based and plant-forward dishes and sourcing British produce wherever possible.
A goal of changing the image of a whole industry, two enticing pillars on which to hang campaign activity and an ambitious commercial objective to increase revenue through new business? Sounds like a recipe for an award-winning campaign. We were in.
©Frasershot Ltd
How Midnight met the challenge
An ambitious challenge with an ambitious target deserves serious thought before running headlong into PR activity. Our brief was to position Eurest to champion the pillars of workforce wellbeing and sustainability. So, like a true PR partner, we invested our time in getting into Eurest’s business and touring its fabulous facilities to really understand its offering in the market. With experience on the ground, our team then went to work investing time and effort in research and campaign planning, comprising research into trends, competitor auditing and stakeholder interviews.
With multiple prospects and stakeholders to reach, we developed a dynamically targeted campaign designed to educate and inform audiences of Eurest’s approach. Using video, imagery and statistics, we told the story of the company’s drive to improve sustainability across the sector by developing menus more reliant upon home-grown, seasonal British produce. Our team researched and authored whitepapers on workplace nutrition, including perspectives from influential figures to enhance credibility. This helped support the marketing team’s broader activity and delivered valuable content for PR and social media campaigns.
With a challenge like overturning perceptions, it helps to get personal. And we did. Having identified a number of influencers, we needed to focus on changing their perceptions. So we reached out to them in several ways, including inviting them to key events, connecting on LinkedIn, bringing them into discussions and even sending food hampers. The proof was quite literally in the pudding (and the sandwiches, pies, salads, etc.).
We also identified value in pursuing speaking opportunities for key spokespeople and targeted awards around the twin pillars to shine a light on Eurest’s innovative work.
Any campaign that seeks to shift long-held beliefs has to work harder – and that’s where we saw the value of collaborations to further position Eurest on the forefront of thinking on workplace nutrition and wellbeing. We facilitated partnerships with independent third-party consultants, commentators and psychologists who could deliver an impartial view to cut through in the media.
You’d expect us to know our stuff when building media relationships, but we took it to another level on this campaign. In helping journalists understand what the brand was really about, we invited them to events, delivered an effective press office and rolled out a thought leadership campaign targeting catering and facilities management press, as well as HR and business media.
Shifting perception, winning awards, delivering value
We love it when a plan comes together. Our top-line metrics for the 12-month campaign show 338 Eurest brand mentions. To put it into context, we secured 82 items of coverage against our KPI of 48, including high pact pieces such as a four-page profile in industry bible The Caterer and a cover story in FEJ. Engagement across all socials was significantly up and tracking well above industry averages.
With awards a crucial part of the re-positioning strategy, we were delighted to secure five award wins for Eurest in 2022, including the Business & Industry Caterer of the Year Award at the ‘industry Oscars’ the Foodservice Cateys – an award expected to deliver significant commercial benefits.
In May 2022, The Caterer reported that Eurest’s parent company, Compass Group reported revenue about pre-COVID levels for the start of 2022.
Our campaign with Eurest further proved the value of working with a PR partner who can offer a strategic perspective and add significant value to the business. Major campaigns with major objectives require a joined-up approach, so we initiated all-agency days to bring all parties together for quarterly meetings to guarantee alignment. Because Midnight was so embedded within the business, we could also provide continuity when members of the client’s team inevitably moved to other parts of the group.
©Frasershot Ltd
Taking the client on a journey to highlight its positive impact on a whole sector
Our campaign succeeded in positioning Eurest as the UK’s most progressive workplace caterer. In a sign of the value of being a PR partner, we’ve since been asked to support other brands within the Compass Group.
Aside from being a great client to work with in partnership, what we love about our campaign with Eurest is the broader impact of our activity beyond the fabulous results our team achieved.
With businesses looking hard at their supply chains to drive towards Net Zero, Eurest’s positioning as an enabler for others to significantly improve sustainability amplifies positive impact across the workplace catering sector. But that’s not all. The focus on health and workplace wellbeing, particularly the impact of nutrition on mental health, gives Eurest a unique position in the market to continue to lead the conversation.
