Choosing who you work with based on what you enjoy most, goes a long way in delivering successful campaigns. And when The Ollerod came knocking, the decision to help was instantaneous.
After almost 2 years of working alongside the owners, former Michelin-star chef Chris Staines (Foliage at Mandarin Oriental, London) and his partner Silvana Bandini (The Pig Hotel Group), working with this team continues to be a relationship based on action, accuracy, transparency and a focus rooted in growth through creating unforgettable customer experiences. Here’s more about how Fresh Brew Marketing has helped.
Chris and Silvana purchased the then-called Bridge House Hotel, Beaminster, early in 2018 and wanted to kick off a campaign to launch a new look and feel under their ownership with a new vision. With a nod to the beautiful location of the 13th century country house in Dorset, the hotel and restaurant was re-named to The Ollerod, Dorset dialect for cowslip, a flower that grows wild and abundantly in the area. Along with the re-launch, the team required someone to grow not only the new name and design, but more importantly the new vision that the owners had for the business. They were keen to grow awareness of the hotel and restaurant as a friendly, warm, inviting place to be enjoyed by families, couples, business people, or just anyone who wants to pop in for a drink in the lounge bar. Chris’ culinary experience and awards meant that the evolving seasonal menus and dishes on offer in the restaurant attracted a new audience of diners who enjoyed eating spectacular food, while Silvana’s extensive experience in management and operations ensured that customers had the best customer experience, eventually leading The Times to describe the service at The Ollerod as “hospitality with a mile–wide smile”.
Since then, The Ollerod has become an award-winning restaurant with rooms which has garnered a lot of attention from national publications such as The Guardian and the Sunday Times, being named in their top lists of hotels in the UK. They’ve also been recognised as finalists and received awards from The Trencherman’s Guide, Dorset Food & Drink and Dorset Tourism, to name just a few.
The Ollerod offers guests the luxury of dining in their beautiful walled garden in the Summer months, or enjoy a warming drink in the lounge in front of a roaring fire in the Winter. Dishes are prepared using seasonal ingredients, including vegetables and herbs grown in their own kitchen garden.
The Ollerod offers 13 individually-styled hotel bedrooms from cool modern to classic English, all with ensuite bathrooms, organic toiletries and the finest Italian Frette bed linen with an onsite treatment room where guests can book in for anything from a facial to full body massage.
It was important for Fresh Brew Marketing to understand exactly what the team wanted to achieve, and more importantly what they wanted to avoid. This meant clarifying their target market, understanding their advertising and promotional requirements, planning and coordinating an events calendar in line with seasonal menus, defining and building a digital presence through the launch of their new website as well as SEO and SEM activities, building a social media strategy and building a plan to create and coordinate content through flyers, blogs and ongoing product photography.
Getting to grips with critical dates within the hospitality industry meant understanding hospitality, tourism and culinary trends that would directly affect the footfall to the business, as well as online behaviour and engagement. To do that, Fresh Brew Marketing built a Marketing Strategy that included a 12-month action plan that coordinated all marketing messages and activity to ensure consistency throughout enabling a cross-pollination of marketing message. This included understanding existing expectations and impressions about the business, building a course to facilitate an easy transition to the new business ethos and presenting The Ollerod as an approachable venue to dine, stay and relax.
Working remotely, it has been important for Fresh Brew Marketing to stay in regular contact with The Ollerod team, both face-to-face as well via email and telephone to ensure ongoing consistency to deliver on the agreed marketing plan. Regular reviews held on site gauge marketing successes and opportunities for additional exposure.
Fresh Brew Marketing has successfully helped to grow The Ollerod brand with the following statistics being a few highlights of the work so far:
“We feel extremely lucky to have found Katy from Fresh Brew Marketing. She is, by far, the best marketing consultant we have worked with.
Her ability to think out of the box and come up with unique and interesting marketing plans was the main reason we decided to go with Fresh Brew in the first place. From there Katy has actually wowed us. Her organisation and communication is off the charts – she is always 5 steps ahead and well-prepared, bringing new ideas and ways to promote the business.
Even though we only meet face-to-face a few times within the month, Katy is always in contact, keeping us updated, reminding us of when things are due and keeping us informed of all the activity. She is also incredibly flexible and adaptable, and what really sets her apart is that Katy genuinely cares about our business and the success of it.” – Chris & Silvana, The Ollerod.
For more about The Ollerod, visit their website here.
Working with individuals and businesses who are looking to make their mark and stand out in their community is what I love to do. But recently, I had the opportunity to work with a team in the Ukraine who are doing something vastly more important than just standing out. They’re, quite literally, saving people’s lives. Every now and then you come across a customer who needs your help, and recently I was honoured to have been contacted by a humanitarian team in the Ukraine who are just embarking on their own independent, self-governing, self-funding journey.
Initially working under the banner of humanitarian group arche noVa; a non-profit- and non-governmental organisation working primarily on the field of humanitarian aid, development cooperation and education and based in the Ukraine, the team were ready to continue on their own, and were in need of a new brand that represented their mission with the political sensitivity and humanitarian independence they strived for.
With their main focus being on water provision, sanitation and hygiene, since the outbreak of the crisis in the area, more than 1.6 million people fled from the embattled areas in the East of the country with over 40,000 people seeking refuge – and that number is estimated to increase in the next few months. The crisis is real, and this local NGO wants to make a difference.
“The ongoing war has destroyed much of the infrastructure. Schools and hospitals have been targets of attacks or cannot be maintained due to the dangerous security situation. The water and sanitation systems are no longer reliable, and in some places no water comes out of the pipes. arche noVa has been in operation in eastern Ukraine since 2016 and is helping people to rebuild.” – arch noVa
And as the team now get ready to set themselves up as a local NGO, the team needed to rebrand themselves with a focus, and a vision that embodied their mission.
The team already had a new business name, and were clear on what outcome they were after, but required someone with marketing know-how to sensitively approach the project to find an objective middle-ground for a new brand under which they can develop their own footprint in the region.
Fresh Brew Marketing worked in partnership with the team in Ukraine to build an identity that would allow them to build their own independent voice and brand.
Due to the sensitive nature of what was trying to be achieved, ensuring a mutual compatibility and understanding of expectation was critical to ensuring a successful outcome. Sufficient time was taken before hand to understand critical value points and messages that the new brand identity had to carry, while at the same time, understanding any potential areas of conflict to avoid.
Several colour palettes were tested until one was decided upon by the team that worked, and represented a lovely correlation between water and earth, while the logo icon, signified by two overlapping hands that signified a collaborative approach to making life on the front line better, carried the critical organisational ethos that organisational entity wanted to impart.
Working completely remotely, with regular conversations both via Skype as well as email, Fresh Brew Marketing ensured that all relevant insights were captured and acted upon, providing timely feedback and thought throughout the entire process. Building a relationship with the team upfront was important to being able to speak confidently and transparently throughout the process.
– Дмитрий Дрижд (Dima), New Way, Ukraine
A new brand look and feel was delivered with a clarified marketing approach to help the team build their own independence and develop their own voice within the sensitive market in which they work. The NEW WAY team is very happy with the results of this collaborative effort and Fresh Brew Marketing’s approach to helping them find a new, exciting direction that truly changes lives. The brand is now being rolled out in accordance with their own timeline and Fresh Brew Marketing wishes Dima, and the team, all the very best as they continue the mammoth task of providing humanitarian aid and welfare in a very sensitive and troubled area.
You may recall a recent photography commission I was entrusted with, of an incredible Dorset farm. So you will also appreciate the joy at receiving the following email from my client.
Karen writes:
“Dearest Katy,
I need my own marketing consultant to put into words how amazing the photo book is!
It is as if you jumped into our brains and captured 17 years of visual memories.
You have the wonderful gift of empathy and technical skill.
I love the way you have given equal importance to both the workings of the farm and to the beauty of the farm.
I really appreciate how you acted on my throw away remarks on what was important to us and captured them visually – the water butt, chalk path, the milk parlour…
Thank you.
Love
Karen“
When the canvas is as beautiful as that farm, capturing it is a mere press of a button. What a joy to be part of this incredible project. Thank you, Karen, for entrusting this into my care. I wish you and David all the very best.
Wonderfully blessed to have received a review from Rachel at Eco Film Productions recently. She writes:
“Katy at Fresh Brew Marketing took my business ideas and helped me turned them into reality.
She has the wonderful ability to ask the right questions, to put the right strategies in place, which will move the business in the right direction.
Katy’s wealth of experience in website management, marketing and social media not only helped with the launch of Eco Film Productions but, together with her finger-on-the-pulse knowledge, it provided us with the essential tools to move forward.
There is nothing Katy can’t turn her hand to. She is practical, business-minded and creative. I can’t wait to see where our journey takes us next.”
Thanks, Rachel! Pleasure was mine! Time to grab another cup of tea together, I think!
In the spirit of great feedback, Dorset-based dog trainer and all-round incredible woman Kay Joy also left Fresh Brew Marketing a sparkling review!
Kay 9 Dog Training provides dog training behavioural courses for dogs of all ages and disciplines and breeds. Working closely with their owners, Kay believes in helping dog owners understand how to get the best from their pet, to develop trust and most of all, to live happy and fulfilled lives.
(She’s certainly made a huge different to us, and our Cocker Spaniel!).
If you’re looking for someone who lives by what she teaches, and gets results every time – someone who doesn’t need to self-promote her awesomeness, but simply delivers value time after time through her actions, then she’s the trainer you need.
Here’s what Kay writes: