Background:

MuscleFood.com is a popular online food retailer known for delivering quality, protein rich meats in bulk at affordable prices. When the company first launched the focus was on reaching gym goers and fitness enthusiasts who loved the brand's ethos of lean, protein rich meat at a price they could afford. But the brand quickly became popular with parents and cash-strapped consumers who realised they could save considerable sums by buying in bulk.

While there were no major seasonal peaks for the brand - customers shop for meat all year round - they were able to create a real buzz at Christmas with the MuscleFood Christmas Hampers.

The range of hampers were packed with all the meat a family would need over the festive period and were priced to sit as a competitive alternative to shopping at the supermarket. There was enough meat to cover Christmas Day breakfast, Christmas dinner and with leftovers to feed a family for a few days after.

Our challenge was to generate significant awareness and engagement around the brand’s Christmas meat hamper - both among its loyal, budget-conscious customer base and a wider audience unfamiliar with the brand. 

The campaign also needed to support organic growth by earning high-quality backlinks from authoritative media outlets. These SEO driven outcomes were important for increasing search visibility and for establishing credibility and trust in a competitive market.

Strategy:

Seasonal stories offer an obvious news hook and that, combined with the ongoing cost of living crisis, gave us a very natural focus for our PR strategy.

We wanted to emphasise MuscleFood’s money saving credentials, while at the same time highlighting the quality of the products and the convenience of ordering from the brand - the hamper was delivered fresh to the door. We also wanted to tap into issues concerning shoppers at the time - topics including food waste and the rising cost of food which was making items unaffordable for some families.

The target audience was wide - we wanted to reach those shopping for Christmas on a budget, feeding lots of friends and family or those who simply wanted the convenience of quality meat products delivered fresh to their door. 

Our approach was fourfold:

• Sampling: We arranged for samples to be sent to personal finance, money save, and lifestyle journalists challenging them to cook up Christmas dinner on a budget. 
• Case studies: - we created a case study with a money save influencer challenging her to cook up Christmas dinner for her family on a budget and make use of the leftovers for other meals. This was all prepped in early autumn with a full breakdown of prices to illustrate how cost effective the hamper was..
• Giveaways: We offered the hamper as a competition prize to target titles as a way of increasing brand awareness of the product.
• Media relations / link building: We generated Christmas related food stories which tied in with the brand ethos of value. The purpose was to build links and keep MuscleFood in the media in the run up to Christmas. Among the stories created:
  
  • Fridge vs Cupboard: Where do these festive food items really belong?
  • The right dates and times to do your Christmas food shop - revealed
  • How to make your food stretch over Xmas

Planning for the Christmas campaign began late summer, sourcing the right influencer for the case study and full hamper briefings from the MuscleFood team. Competitions were arranged during September and October to land from November onwards. Throughout November and December the case study was interviewed and drafted and all remaining content created. 

Coverage began landing on 1st November with the first competition and ran right through until 27th December with coverage on what to do with Christmas leftovers. 

Results:

While preparation for the Christmas campaign began in late summer, all coverage was strategically timed to land from 1st November onwards - maximising brand awareness and aligning with the launch of the hampers on site.

Christmas is an extremely competitive period for both traditional and online food retailers, but we successfully cut through the noise. By getting MuscleFood in front of the right journalists, we ensured the brand was seen by both potential and existing customers.

Coverage was secured through a mix of competitions and giveaways, product reviews and sampling with key UK journalists, a money-saving case study, and targeted link-building Christmas content.

Here are some of our coverage highlights: 

• The Telegraph - product review / round up, 2 x nofollow links, DR 92
• The Mirror - product review, 4 x follow links, DR 90
• The Sun - Christmas case study, 1 x nofollow link, DR 90
• The Daily Star - Christmas competition, with the competition also across socials including X, Instagram and Pinterest, DR 83
• Huffington Post - general Christmas content, 1 x follow link, DR 87
• MoneyMagpie - product review / round up, 1 x follow, 1 x nofollow link, DR 69
• The Telegraph - product review / round up, 2 x nofollow links, DR 92

Coverage for the Christmas campaign exceeded expectations, proving there’s strong demand for well-executed money-saving stories - and that the right seasonal angle can cut through the noise and generate real buzz around a brand.

It also highlighted the value of early planning and clear objectives, both of which were key to delivering standout PR results and a happy client.