Smeg

Mission

Since winning the Smeg UK account, back in 2015, the agency was keen to execute a series of high-end food events in order to reinforce the luxury kitchen appliance brand’s Italian cooking heritage.

Smeg is all about home cooking, family feasting and quality produced food so by allowing journalists and influencers the chance to fine dine and see a first-class meal produced using Smeg appliances would be key to reinforcing these key brand messages.

The mission was to use these events to not only educate press and influencers on Smeg’s rich Italian food heritage but to secure top-tier editorial coverage in magazines, newspapers, online and on social media.

Method

The first of the supper clubs Little Red Rooster organised was Dine In The Sky, which took place in 2016. The agency knew that this inaugural event would need to be both high-end but with a playful twist to reflect Smeg’s true personality. What better than a dining platform that was suspended 100ft in the air above London’s south bank? Guests would not only be strapped in and suspended but treated to a smorgasbord of delectable Italian treats from world renowned chef Tom Aiken. In total, 20 VIP journalists attended the first supper club with attendees including: The Independent, The Times, The Telegraph and Delicious Magazine.

Second up in the series was an intimate affair in Marlow. Located just outside of London, the agency, was able to secure two hours with celebrity chef Tom Kerridge. The test kitchen at his famous fine-dining pub The Hand & Flowers was reserved specifically for Little Red Rooster to invite 20 top-tier foodie press and influencers. Using Smeg appliances, both large and small, Mr Kerridge cooked up a storm and demonstrated the cooking benefits of each product in real-time. Journalists from The Sunday Times The Dish, Cosmopolitan, Country and Townhouse and Olive, to name but a few, were able to join us across the two sittings.

By 2018, the iconic Italian kitchen manufacturer had opened its three-story flagship shop on Regent Street. This meant the agency could use this space for multiple luxury supper clubs going forward. The highlight of these being a Christmas feast for interiors and foodie press in the auditorium under the shop. 15 journalists attended on the December evening and had a four-course festive menu cooked in front of their eyes by Smeg’s in-house home economist. This would also act as the perfect opportunity to sweep up any last-minute Christmas gift guide placements.

For each of the events, Little Red Rooster rattled through is diverse black book of press and social media contacts to confirm a healthy mix of technology, national, interiors, food and design journalists. Each attendee was followed up with after the event to ensure editorial coverage appeared in a timely manner, this was key to show return for the client.

Little Red Rooster liaised closely with Smeg UK’s in-house team of food experts as well as the celebrity chefs for the first two events to tailor a menu that would ooze the brand’s Italian heritage and personality. Where possible, Smeg’s own produced Montecoppe parmesan cheese, balsamic jelly and wine was introduced to the food selection to reinforce the brand’s love for Italian produce.

Boom

The supper club events were a delicious triumph! In total, across the three dining experiences, 55 journalists represented a smorgasbord of top tier outlets, including: ELLE Decoration, BBC Good Food, The Observer Magazine, The Mail on Sunday, Wallpaper*, Grand Designs, T3, Stuff, WIRED and GQ (and that is just for starters).

Every single one of the attendees produced at least one piece of editorial coverage. These came in the form of shopping pages in food magazines, interior design shoot/case studies, online appliance round-ups, in-depth technology reviews and larger brand profile features. The agency even secured fashion placements in Cosmopolitan and Glamour! The supper club series was invaluable in positioning Smeg as a luxury Italian brand that deserved coverage in these quality titles. Long lasting relationships were particularly forged with journalists from food magazines and national newspaper supplements, the holy grail for Smeg.