Pizza Punks were a well-established brand in Scotland having restaurants in prime locations in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. In 2018 the brand made the decision to open their first Pizza Punks in Northern Ireland, citing Cathedral Quarter as the location for the new restaurant.

The client was clear from the get-go that they wanted the PR and Marketing to be different and disruptive. The team weren’t interested in the run of the mill approach and required innovative ideas for the launch.

The Brief

The Pizza Punks team challenged Rumour Mill with creating a launch event with influencer and celebrity guests that would be the talk of the town. The brand wanted to see a surge in social media followers in real-time on the night. Our task was to ensure we had a guestlist compromising of some of the most notable influencers and personalities in Northern Ireland. The evening had to be worth sharing so it was our job to create an itinerary which encouraged the participants to praise the brand on their channels.

The Outcomes

In April 2018 we managed the VIP launch event for Pizza Punks Belfast. Over the month of March, we planned the event and ensured the guestlist was an eclectic mix of fashion bloggers, foodies, tv personalities and more.

Our approach for the night was to ensure the guests were never bored. More often than not we see restaurants launches which are simply eating the food and leaving. We wanted the evening to be an experience, so the attendees really got to understand the brand.

The guests were split into groups to experience various activities on the night. Cocktail making with the mixologist allowed the guests to see the quirky cocktails being created and have a try themselves. The Instagram station allowed the influencers to capture shots worthy of the grid at the special graffiti wall which was installed by Visual Waste. All parties had the chance to get behind the scenes and ‘punk’ up their own pizza. This resulted in some amazing shots of the guests throwing the dough in the air and having a ball. The evening culminated in some of the drink’s sponsors having a Q&A with the guests, allowing them to know the best combo’s for pizza with drinks.

The evening saw a huge surge in social media followers with 2,000 + followers gained on the Pizza Punks Belfast Instagram channel over the course of the event. The restaurant subsequently experienced a surge in bookings with key demographics wanting a slice of the action.

Accolades

SILVER WINNER – CIPR Best Low Budget Campaign 2018– Pizza Punks