PR Diary – Planning approvals for St David’s, spreading love at Southside, and award nominations!
- PR
February was a busy month for the Umpf team as we worked on several exciting announcements and attended the annual agency away day with our client, Landsec. Plus, exciting news on several award nominations… read on to find out more!
Approval received for Cardiff development
Earlier this month, plans submitted by Landsec for a new city square on the site of the former Debenhams at St David’s Cardiff were approved by Cardiff City Council, making the next step towards an exciting new space in the city centre.
We’ve been supporting Landsec and St David’s on the regional comms throughout the process, so it’s been especially exciting to announce the fantastic news of the approval. Our release generated more than 70 pieces of coverage including regional front pages as well as national mentions in The Sun and Daily Express, reaching more than 65m people.
Stay tuned for more news as the development work progresses.
Spreading The Love with Collectable Free Valentine’s Day Card
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we collaborated with London-based artist, Ruki Chuki, who created a striking mural on the exterior of Southside Shopping Centre, to offer visitors a unique and collectible piece of Valentine’s Day art.
Designed to spread love in the Wandsworth community through creativity, 500 specially designed Valentine’s Day cards were given away for free at the centre. The artwork presented a fresh take on Cupid – reimagined as a confident young woman who embodies a blend of diverse characteristics. With a playful colour palette reflecting the vibrancy of the community, the design symbolised how love transcends boundaries and unites people.
In the lead-up to February 14th, visitors had the opportunity to collect one of the 500 exclusive Valentine’s Day cards at Southside Shopping Centre and share them with friends, family, or loved ones. Additionally, a dedicated arts and crafts station was set up within the centre, inviting guests to personalise their cards and add their own personal touch.
An announcement press release was issued, generating 25 media clippings, including features in London World, This is Local London, Wandsworth Times and Wandsworth Times BID. The initiative saw an overwhelming response, with all 500 cards claimed and a steady stream of visitors engaging in the arts and crafts activities, creating a welcoming atmosphere in the centre in the lead up to Valentine’s Day.
A Shear Success for Luxury Yorkshire Bed Brands
We’ve been busy supporting luxury bedmaker Harrison Spinks on its latest partnership with Yorkshire-based wool bedding brand, Floks. The two Yorkshire brands teamed up to create a premium range of responsibly-sourced wool mattresses – each of which are handmade in Yorkshire and champion the very best of British craftsmanship.
We created a press release about the collaboration and issued the news to key media contacts, securing a fantastic 19 pieces of coverage with a potential reach of over 820K. Coverage highlights included features across online, print, social and newsletters in key trade and business titles, as well as consumer coverage in regional titles Yorkshire Evening Post and Yorkshire Post.
Commemorating Nessa’s Grand Arcade
Back in December, we told you all about our event with St David’s Cardiff to celebrate the finale of Gavin & Stacey.
Alongside the free-to-play, prize-every-time, Barry Island-themed slot machines, we renamed the centre’s iconic Grand Arcade to ‘Nessa’s Grand Arcade’ in honour of the show’s legendary character, Nessa.
The stunt reached none other than actor Ruth Jones, who got in touch with the centre to tell us how much she loved the re-naming. To thank Ruth for her kind words, we had a special version of the plaque commissioned, cast, and sent to Ruth’s agent. Our homage to Nessa lives on in St David’s, and hopefully Ruth Jones’ living room!
Stop, collaborate, and listen
Some of the Umpf shopping centre and outlet retail team ventured to Cardiff last month for two days of collaborative sessions with Landsec and its agency partners. The sessions, hosted at St David’s, were a great opportunity for reflection on 2024’s successes as well as for planning ahead, with ideas overflowing from the room packed with creative minds. We also had a peek behind the scenes at some of the centre developments mentioned above – Cardiff is in for some very exciting arrivals this year, watch this space.
Ps as has become customary, the two-day event included some legendary post-work ‘downtime’. Here’s an accidental phone clip from the karaoke part of the night. Bonus points for naming the song and artist!
Celebration time
The PRMoment Awards shortlist was announced in February, and we’re very excited to be nominated for a total of 12 awards!
Our London team have two nods for our work with Clarks Village, and we’re the most-nominated agency in the north with a whopping ten nominations for our work with Belling, St David’s Cardiff, and Trinity Leeds. The winners are announced in March and April, so stay tuned 🤞🏻 