Boxing clever for DS Smith Packaging

RRP
Crucial To The Marketing Mix

The company had pioneered a number of innovative packaging solutions and is one of the forerunners of Retail Ready Packaging (RRP). With the benefits of RRP  already well known to packaging professionals – carbon, cost and time savings, better use of space on the shelf, faster product identification back of store and brand enhancement with consumers – the challenge for Bray Leino’s B2B & Corporate PR team was to promote RRP to marketers to ensure it was addressed early in the packaging conversation. And on a wider level, DS Smith Packaging wanted a lead on the competition in terms of Share of Voice in the media and to showcase its innovation. 

Leading
the Conversation

The B2B & Corporate PR team identified that thought leadership would form the backbone of the PR campaign. Responding to wider industry issues and showing both empathy and a wealth of experience would be crucial to securing media cut through.  A series of media pitches on RRP issues and benefits were developed and sold in to target media backed up with case studies to showcase innovation, packaging industry trends and commercial benefit. Key spokespeople were also briefed and positioned for interview helping to build individuals and the wider company profile.

The Results?

• In the first six months the PR team increased media coverage levels by 50% exceeding KPIs
• Previously coverage had appeared almost exclusively in packaging trade press but Bray Leino widened this to include marketing, business and key regional titles
• Bray Leino successfully moved the focus of content generation from ‘paid for’ advertorial placements to purely editorial-led coverage in key titles
• Strong thought leadership content was developed positioning DS Smith Packaging as an innovative, forward thinking company and RRP as a crucial part of the marketing mix to be ignored  by marketers at their cost