For Balsam Hill, the market-leader in realistic artificial Christmas trees and heirloom-quality decorations, the holiday season is a highly competitive space where planning starts earlier every year. As an American online retailer with no physical UK presence outside of Harrods, introducing the brand to UK media meant we needed to get products directly into the hands of key targets, because seeing is believing.
The Strategy
Our approach centered on creating a hard-working, integrated event to foster long-term journalist relationships.
Immersive Face-to-Face Engagement: Fostering relationships with top-tier media through an workshop + dinner event that enabled longer, in-depth conversations, and smaller workshop groups that offered valuable face-to-face time with journalists.
Creating "Luxe" Authority: Positioning the brand as trend-setters, not just followers. We collaborated with an expert on the frontline of interiors to provide data-driven, UK-relevant trends that gave the brand greater credibility and "luxe authority".
Content Generation: Designing the event to serve as a content engine, creating a versatile suite of imagery that could be used across media and social platforms throughout the entire season.
The Results:
The event successfully reached new audiences and gave top-tier media the 'first look' content they needed for the coming season.
Top-Tier Attendance: Secured key journalists from premium lifestyle and interiors titles, including Country Homes & Interiors, Elle Decoration, Living Etc, Good Housekeeping, Stylist, and YOU Magazine.
45% Uplift in Overall Coverage: Achieved a massive 45% increase in coverage during the first year, with over a third (35%) of all coverage directly attributed to the relationships built at the Balsam Hill House event.
Broadened Media Coverage: Tripled coverage in Homes & Gardens (from 3 to 11 pieces) and took Red magazine from 0 to 5 pieces.
Broadcast Feature: Secured a high-impact tree decorating segment on ITV’s This Morning.
The Impact
Long-Term Dividends: The event wasn't just a first-year success; the relationships fostered continued to pay dividends into the second year. We saw a 600% coverage increase with Woman & Home, a 200% increase with House Beautiful, and a 50% increase with Living Etc.
Quality & Conversion: We significantly increased the quality of our placements. For titles like Ideal Home, this meant securing heavier brand features and doubling the amount of direct links we secured
