The North's Number One PR Agency
Taking a fully integrated approach to public relations, social media, content marketing, video production and paid, Prohibition’s work delivers web referrals, media exposure, brand awareness and sales.
In 2019, Prohibition won more awards than any other PR agency in the CIPR's history. It also won the prestigious Prolific North’s Best B2C Integrated Campaign Award and the Best PR Agency of the Year for the third time.
Prohibition also won the following:
- PRCA's Best Medium-Sized Agency 2022
- PRCA's Best B2B Campaign 2022
- CIPR's Best use of Digital and Social Media 2021
- CIPR's Regional PR Campaign of the Year 2021
Prohibition delivers high-quality web referrals, media coverage, and revenue directly from clever Integrated PR, social media and content marketing.
The agency is made up of creative PR experts that help brands tell their story no matter what the medium. The team's creativity is driven by strong ideas and a genuine belief in deriving insight from data.
Prohibition's team are equipped with all the skills to provide any brand with the media relations, content marketing or video services needed to achieve strong engagement, sharability and organic search visibility.
We are specialists in media relations but also highly skilled in social media strategy, video and crisis comms. In the last twelve months, the team has produced more than 150 videos for high street brands and B2B companies alike. If you are looking for a content partner that can take your brand to the next level then look no further.
In 2021 it was listed in the top 15 PR agencies in the North and has won more than 30 awards for its media relations campaigns.
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Portfolio
Goldsmiths, Lloyds Pharmacy, Skipton Building Society, Engie, Savills, Barbour, Interflora, Sealy and Watches of Switzerland.
Your Love Story Starts with Goldsmiths
For Christmas Prohibition scripted and produced an outstanding Christmas campaign for the leading quality jeweller, Goldsmiths.
Focusing on the magic and goodwill of Christmas, The Gift of Giving highlights the happiness a meaningful gift can bring to those you love, showcasing Goldsmiths’ jewellery collection. The film was viewed extensively and to date has been watched by more than 175,000 people on YouTube alone and it stood out as being the brand providing a magic moment for all.
Terri-Ann Diet Plan - If I Can, You Can – empowering ‘Real Women’
Prohibition was approached by Terri-Ann Nunns, a busy mum of four from Doncaster, to help transform her fledgeling diet business from a regional start-up, into a national brand appealing to ‘real women’ across the country. With tight budgets, but big ambition, Terri-Ann was looking for a media relations partner that would deliver against her objectives:
• Build some element of brand awareness
• Acquire new customers and increase sales in the UK
• Position the Terri-Ann brand as being trustworthy, accessible, affordable and relatable
Before campaign activity began, we used careful audience auditing and social media listening to properly understand the core demographic. We identified an audience of women aged 25+, that valued honest and direct language, representation of ‘real women’ and were extremely brand loyal.
The solution - our ‘If I Can, You Can’ media relations strategy.
We then launched a carefully scripted case study programme, which incentivised existing customers to share their own inspiring weight loss journeys and strengthen the brand’s reputation.
The full comms strategy was underpinned by seasonal and reactive thought-leadership activity with Terri-Ann at its heart.
Our research discovered our audience were more likely to buy from people not brands. This meant both Terri-Ann’s profile, and that of her members were valuable tools to harness.
We created several downloadable guides for potential and existing members, using the media as a platform to offer free, but valuable content.
Social drove 42,809 direct referrals.
Our ‘If I Can, You Can’ strategy showcases how media relations can be used across multiple media in a digitally savvy age to drive genuine business impact.
International Women’s Day – Alison McAnena
As part of International Women’s Day, Emerald Publishing celebrated with the help of Prohibition in creating a video focusing on female talent in academia. Showcasing the works of women who have first-hand experience of what life is really like in the academic world, Katy Shaw, Helen Beddow and Alison McAnena explained how they’re making a change for the better through shaping the experiences of the next generation.
Interflora's Best Birthday
The birthday surprise of a lifetime
To celebrate the best day to have a birthday, we decided to give one lucky member of the public, born on the 28th July, the birthday surprise of a lifetime – in this case, 29 year-old Disney fan and children's party organiser, Katy Carmichael.
Organised secretly in conjunction with her close friend, Sarah, Katy well and truly had a birthday to remember, as she visited the city's West Quay Shopping Centre in Southampton. The events began as Katy came across a giant mystery box, filled with birthday balloons. She was then surprised with a 'guerrilla' fairy tale song-and-dance flash-mob. However the biggest surprise of all came when Katy's fiancé – a serving Marine – turned up in a magical horse-drawn pumpkin carriage and whisked Katy and her family and friends off for a special afternoon tea fit for a princess!
Katy said: "I just couldn't believe what was happening to me. I was planning a quiet day, and was meeting my friend for a coffee. However, that soon changed and before I knew it I was surrounded by dancing princes and princesses, and was sitting in a horse drawn carriage with my closest friends and my husband-to-be. Thanks to Interflora, this really has been the best birthday ever!"
Yorkshire Water at the Great Yorkshire Show
Prohibition was briefed to raise awareness of Yorkshire Water’s ‘plastic-free’ pledge amongst consumers and policymakers at the Great Yorkshire Show – an annual agricultural show attended by 130,000 visitors each year. The pledge is aimed at taking one million plastic bottles out of circulation over the next three years, and underlines Yorkshire Water’s environmental commitment.
- Prohibition developed the ‘taste test’ campaign; visitors to the Yorkshire Water stand could take part in a ‘blind challenge’ to compare mineral water with Yorkshire tap water, and tell us which they prefer.
- Over the course of the day, a tally would be kept detailing how many people prefer mineral water, and how many prefer Yorkshire Water.
- The stand was pre-promoted through social media in the week proceeding the show
- In addition, visitors were encouraged to bring their refillable water bottles to the show and fill up from the Yorkshire on Tap facility, rather than buying bottled mineral water.
- All activity was filmed, and was released post-event as an engaging awareness video, presenting the results (which would hopefully be in Yorkshire Water’s favour!) of the taste test challenge, and highlighting the ‘refill’ campaign message. The video was promoted through paid social media advertising in order to reach key audiences.
Outcome
- Over the course of the day, Yorkshire Water had thousands of people visit its stand and take part in the taste test
- In total, 80% of participants said they preferred the taste of Yorkshire Water
- Plastic bottle use was down at the Show, thanks to Yorkshire Water providing free refills
CEWE's My Inspiring Moment
CEWE is one of Europe’s largest photo printing companies. Prohibition was briefed to drive brand awareness for the company in the UK, and deliver an integrated PR and social media campaign, which had two clear objectives: build brand awareness and educate audiences in the UK on what CEWE offers; acquire new customers and increase sales in the UK.
Keen to cut through the marketing noise at Christmas and engage with both audiences, Prohibition developed a campaign that would capture hearts and minds, without focusing on the festive season per se.
Using comprehensive social media listening, we discovered that a huge issue being discussed by both audiences was the ubiquity of smartphones and the moments photography used to capture, getting lost in a digital deluge, leaving people feeling overloaded and miserable.
This insight was used as inspiration to launch the ‘My Inspiring Moments’ campaign, which explored the impact of taking so many meaningless photos was having on individuals and their attitude to photography.
The campaign had multiple strands including;
- A photography competition, which encouraged people to share photos that inspired them.
- Mid-tier Influencers were used to raise awareness of the competition
- We also teamed up with a leading celebrity authority in photography, Julian Calverley, to give the campaign gravitas and heightened exposure.
- The full campaign was promoted by a video, featuring our celebrity photographer
- The narrative was centred on the research, and the need to re-discover meaning in photography, whilst raising awareness of the competition.
- The winning images were then published in a photobook and calendar, curated by Julian, with proceeds being donated to Mind charity.
The CEWE Inspiring Moments campaign utilised multiple comms channels to successfully achieve the brand’s objectives – to build brand awareness of CEWE in the UK and to help CEWE to acquire new customers and sales. The campaign helped CEWE reach 125 million people and delivered real ROI for the business helping to increase orders by 36.6%. The campaign generated a direct ROI of £11.60 for every £1 spent, making it a highly successful campaign and beating all expected KPIs.
Crombie and The Dapper Chapper
We worked with The Dapper Chapper to overhaul Crombie’s brand image and broaden its product appeal.
The campaign saw sales increase for the brand and brand reach being boosted significantly.
- 9% increase in like-for-like sales
- 43k microsite visits
- Social media engagement up 88%
Mappin & Webb Influencer Relations
An influencer campaign launching Mappin and Webb’s One Carat Collection to a new, younger, affluent audience.
We partnered with leading luxury lifestyle influencer Lydia Millen.
- 460,000 views on YouTube alone
- 32% increase in branded search
- £6.57 topline ROI
Pirates of the Caribbean
We let Captain Jack Sparrow loose on the streets of Leeds to promote our client The Light's newest pop up bar.
Taking Fentimans to OOH
A sophisticated B2B campaign, targeting white-collar roles within key hospitality brands – in order to drive data capture and leads for soft drinks brand, Fentimans.
Challenge
Fentimans is the leading premium carbonated soft drink brand in the ‘out-of-home’ (OOH) channel, but to realise its long-term growth, it must win new business among key national OOH-branded casual dining and hotel groups. In 2021, the brand approached Prohibition PR to help activate a B2B campaign to target key buyers within the hospitality and retail sector – to increase brand awareness and nudge them over the line.
Solution
Prohibition proposed employing an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy - designed to generate leads and build relationships. Using tactics from this model, the aim was to drive audiences down the sales funnel to ensure marketing attention was being pooled in the right areas. Additionally, Prohibition proposed a sophisticated LinkedIn strategy, which aimed to drive data capture, and allow Fentimans to target key decision makers within their key prospects list.
Impact
Key prospects have engaged with the campaign, by either downloading the report or requesting a meeting with Fentimans – including; Nando’s, Pizza Express, Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Greene King. The campaign was bold – as this went beyond anything that Fentimans had done before.
Launch a new Carvela store for Kurt Geiger
In May 2021, luxury women’s shoe and accessory brand, Carvela (owned by the Kurt Geiger Group) opened its first boutique outside of London in the Victoria Quarter, and also launched a brand-new consumer website. In addition, the Leeds Kurt Geiger store relocated to a new, larger space within the shopping arcade. Prohibition was briefed to launch the new Carvela store, and the relocated Kurt Geiger stores to a Leeds-focused consumer audience.
Challenge
Prohibition considered the current climate (at the time of launching the UK was emerging from one of many lockdowns) and took the decision that a traditional ‘in-store launch’ was not appropriate with the COVID 19 restrictions in place. As such, a more targeted approach would be taken, providing more personal, one-on-one experiences for opinion formers, influencers and journalists.
Solution
Careful campaign sequencing was essential in order to achieve the brand’s objectives. Targeted media relations took place first in order to drive top of the funnel brand awareness. This was then followed up with a programme of influencer relations in order to engage more niche and targeted audiences through word of mouth (and also gather unique content).
Impact
Business results included an increase in footfall during launch week across both stores and increase in brand share of voice during launch week by 28%. The campaign was a different take on influencer relations, closely aligning with the company’s brand values on a local level. It was delivered on a small budget (when compared with the brand’s other worldwide launches), yet delivered strong results, all while maintaining both Carvela and Kurt Geiger’s premium positioning.
The cure and the cause: surviving and thriving
Objectives
• Drive quality leads from senior level sales professionals of Med Device companies throughout Europe
• Achieve a campaign ROI of at least 8:1
• Position Huthwaite International as the leading authority on training and skills development, and build credibility in the Med Device sector
• Generate positive brand awareness for Huthwaite International among the Med Device audience
The core audience for the campaign was very niche and hard-to-reach.
Huthwaite International is a global leader in skills development, specialising in senior-level sales training. Medical Devices was identified as a key market.
Prohibition conducted focus groups with Huthwaite clients operating in the sector in order to grasp the nuances in this fast-changing industry.
While Med Device sales is a highly-skilled sector, professionals are increasingly struggling to meet their quota, a worrying trend caused by sales techniques failing to adapt in line with the evolving buying behaviours. However, this was an issue rarely talked about.
We decided to focus our strategy on meaningfully engaging with Huthwaite’s core audience by addressing this head-on, providing valuable advice, empowering them to survive and thrive in the future.
We conducted social listening into the behaviours of this niche audience, revealing the core channels where Med Device sales professionals seek content and advice.
We created a four-stranded strategy to effectively engage; a detailed advice-led white paper hosted on a ‘lead generation’ landing page containing new information related to their pain points, holistic PR tackling the issues, delivered through a series of features, profiling pieces and press releases, social amplification on LinkedIn, and a keynote from Huthwaite’s CEO to launch the paper to hundreds of delegates.
Reviews
the project
Digital Strategy for Textile Products Manufacturing Company
“Prohibition did an excellent job at taking a comprehensive look at our social media activity.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the PR and communications manager for Camira Fabrics, a textile manufacturer.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
We needed help with our social media strategy. We struggled with Instagram and our paid campaigns to ensure we reached the right audience and created the right content. We were active on many social media platforms, and we wanted to understand where we were going wrong and what we needed to be better at.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Prohibition did a full audit of everything we were doing on Instagram and LinkedIn. It was a strategic overview and a one-off project to give insight into what we were doing on social media. They also gave us tips and suggestions for making them work and what they could do for us.
What is the team composition?
We worked with Chris (Founder), Emily (Senior Account Manager), and Tyler (Public Relations Apprentice).
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
They ran a lot of webinars and seminars covering different PR topics, and I attended quite a few of those in the past. When we needed help with our social, they were at the top of our minds.
How much have you invested in them?
The cost was £1,500 (approximately $1,800 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
We started the project in April 2022, and they delivered it in June 2022. We’ll work with them again in the future.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
It was more of a strategy recommendation than an activity, so we don’t track it in metrics. Overall, the internal team responded well to their work. They did a brilliant job, and everything they recommended was helpful. We will put many of the things they suggested into action. It was an excellent experience.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
Project management was brilliant. They met every deadline and stayed on budget — there were no issues. We used Microsoft Teams and emails to communicate.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They were very knowledgeable, particularly in the area of social media. Also, they were accommodating and easy to work with. Prohibition did an excellent job at taking a comprehensive look at our social media activity; they were strong in that field.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, they hit the nail on the head with everything they did for us. In general, I don’t think there was anything they could do better or improve on.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be clear about what you want to achieve.
the project
Animation, Design & SMM for Higher Education Business School
“Their work is fantastic. Everyone loves it.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the marketing manager at Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. The school is 25 years old.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
This academic year we wanted to produce a range of thought leadership articles for the next 25 years. We had another agency working on the project, but we had to let them go because they weren’t performing as we needed.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Prohibition has produced social media image assets and animations for us. Our faculty wrote a series of 20 thought leadership articles, and we needed accompanying images and animations to go with them for social media. They’ve also created seven pillar assets. We initially briefed them and explained we wanted to step away slightly from our brand guidelines to be a bit more interesting since it was a new and exciting project and a big milestone. We told them we wanted to veer towards a specific style of imagery where different images are stitched together.
For the animated video, we’ve provided them with a line of text. The content contractor that we brought in wanted to pick the sentences herself. She took them over to the agency, and they used them to develop the animations for each article. They’ve created all of them with the words from the brief.
Additionally, they’ve produced two launch animations between 1-1.5 minutes. The animations take people on a journey of where we are as a school and where we’re coming from. Over the next few months, we’ll be releasing all of these articles. On the other hand, the individual assets are a mixture of images and animations; there are eight animations, and the rest are images.
We have a specific thought leadership social channel, which we use to promote each article. The main channel is more focused on brand awareness. We’ve done Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Also, we’ve used it internally on our intranet, our external website, and the screens around the building.
What is the team composition?
We mainly deal with the owner. We have a project manager, and three team members are popping in and out. In addition, we have meetings with their graphic designer and creative director, and a few people check in to ensure everything is running smoothly.
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
A few people on our team had been to some webinars they ran during the pandemic lockdown. When this project came to us, another agency was booked for it, but we weren’t happy with their first draft. We remembered Prohibition from the webinars and contacted them. They were happy to help and jumped on it really quickly.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent $25,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in December 2021, and our relationship is ongoing. Currently, they’ve started working on another project. We chose them because they did well on the first one.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We contacted them knowing that they’re specialists in higher education marketing. We gave them a quick deadline and turnaround time, and they jumped in and produced something extraordinary. They’ve delivered perfectly on everything. The feedback from everyone around the school has been great — they say it’s creative and nice to look at. It’s a great change from the usual corporate stuff we produce.
All in all, we’ve seen an increase in engagement in the posts. Also, we have more followers, and the website's thought leadership section has increased in followers as well.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re excellent. Everything runs on time; we have a spreadsheet to see what they’re working towards. If there are issues, we have a lot of two-way communication. We use email and a Teams channel.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Working with people you get along with is key, and they’re really nice people. The team is creative, and they understand higher education and how to reach its audience, which is vital. Moreover, their work is fantastic. Everyone loves it.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, they’re doing a great job.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
If you’re considering working with them, go for it. It’ll be the best decision you ever make. Also, be open with communication and make sure you set your primary goals. They’ll do everything they can to meet them.
the project
Digital Strategy & SMM for Further Education College
“What I really like about Prohibition is that they took the time to understand who we are.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We’re a further education college in England called Calderdale College. The department I work in is the commercial side of the fence. We deliver a lot of government-funded and EU-funded skills development and workforce development programs, and my job title is the sector relationship manager.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
We’re seen locally within our district as just a further education college. We needed to be able to communicate what our full offer is to businesses. This is because we work a lot in other districts and within other local authorities throughout England with businesses, but not a lot within our own area.
We tasked Prohibition with spreading the word in regard to who we are, what we’re all about, and our expertise. A lot of the people I work with all come from the government so we’re very good at policy and strategy. We understand economic regeneration through skills.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We asked Prohibition to come up with a strategy for us for an integrated marketing campaign. We had never done anything like this before so we were being guided by their expertise.
For example, we wanted to set up, what we eventually called, a resilience hub. It’s almost like a repository of support, toolkits, and information for local businesses to be able to dip in and out of by way of establishing us within the district so people didn’t see us as just being about sales and training packages. We wanted to communicate that we are here to help and here to support.
Additionally, the purpose of the resilience hub was to teach us how to best approach an integrated marketing campaign. Prohibition came up with a suite of assets for us including social media ads, strategy, and monthly planners; they came up with everything from a starting standstill point.
Prohibition phased the whole engagement. Their team did an audit as to what they saw when it came to our visibility, social media presence, and what we were. They came back to us after the audit and showed us what they found. Prohibition found that X amount of people were coming to our website but were leaving really quickly. They compared us to our competitors as well as what our competitors were doing. Then their team did phase two which was like a test and learn.
They tested out different methodologies, different ways of communicating, different ways of speaking, different visuals, and different social media platforms. Again, they did a lot of analytics at the end of that stage. Their team came back and presented us with various different methodologies as to what we could go forward with for our actual campaign. Then they launched a campaign for us.
Prohibition ran Google ads and did a lot on all the social media platforms, but not Instagram because we don’t really have an Instagram presence. They produced a video for us as well in addition to infographics and stills. We also did mail campaigns.
We have an in-house marketing team, but they’re very much about student recruitment and apprenticeships, and not necessarily so hot on B2B. Prohibition upskilled us and our marketing team to be able to have a handover and transition period. This helped us to be able to move forward without having to have an external marketing agency do it for us.
What is the team composition?
We worked with Will (Director), who headed it all up, and Ella (B2B Lead & Account Director). Our team also worked with Victoria (Senior Account Director) and a couple of other team members.
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
We were given a pot of money to do this piece of work under another project. It was a government EU-funded program. I put a tender out to commission an external marketing agency and Prohibition bid into that. What really stuck out for us was their professionalism, honesty, and the way they communicated what their skill set was. As part of the procurement exercise, I asked each of the people who were tendering to come up with a solution for us and the shortlist of people had to make a pitch.
From the outset, Prohibition completely and totally got what our problem was and what the potential range of solutions could be for us. With anything, people buy people, and they were lovely people. They were warm, genuine, and down to earth. A couple of the other marketing agencies that pitched weren’t the right fit for us, but Prohibition was engaging.
How much have you invested in them?
It was roughly £89,000 (approximately $123,000 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing engagement started in July 2020 and was supposed to finish in December 2020, but we extended it for an additional month because we enjoyed working with them and what they were doing. Prohibition is still engaged with us even though the contract has run out. They’re still helping us out now on little bits and bats.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Prohibition took a baseline in the audit as to how many people were visiting our website; for example, how many people were viewing and engaging with any social media that we ran. Then, their team looked at what those figures were at the end of December 2020 and January 2021, and it was blinding. It was exponentially huge. We got so many hits it was ridiculous, as did the different social media platforms.
They were generating a heck of a lot of hits to our website. The number of hits was phenomenal and well above industry standards, but they weren’t converting. We needed to understand why they weren’t converting. Ella said she didn’t feel like they had done their job properly. They had hit all of the targets but needed people to convert. They stayed on for another month while they tried to unpick it all for us by looking at lots of different analytics and things like that.
I shared one video they produced for us on my LinkedIn and within the space of a day, I had something like 400 views. That was me cobbling together my own little post, whereas before I’d get about two people looking at my content. When Prohibition was doing it through the company's LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, they discovered we were getting more hits via Facebook.
That’s probably reflective of the fact that a lot of the business landscape in Calderdale and Yorkshire is based predominantly on small companies, with 1–9 employees. Obviously, that demographic of a company is predominantly still using Facebook as a means of engaging and promoting their business as opposed to using things like LinkedIn which we found quite interesting as well.
What I really like about Prohibition is that they took the time to understand who we are. Prohibition almost became part of the team, and we saw them as an extension of our team whilst. They’re supportive and really bought into what we are trying to do and who we are.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
During our contracted time, we had fortnightly catchups, and they produced a monthly planner for us which was always updated. Prohibition uploaded all of the drafts which they sent us a link. We then went on to look at all the social aspects and videos to give our approval, and ask if they could tweak things so it didn’t overwhelm all of our inboxes.
Prohibition used that a lot as well as Teams, and they were very good and on it. If we emailed them, they emailed back straight away and were great at communicating. If they couldn’t come back with an answer right then, they’d get back to us.
What did you find most impressive about them?
As a team, they gel. They work brilliantly together and have a heck of a lot of fun together. They like each other and that absolutely shines through. That’s exactly what we’d want and what we need. It feels like there wasn’t any hierarchy within their structure and team. Will was on the calls and was managing the project but we could tell with the interactions between them that it wasn’t hierarchical. What really impressed me more than anything is them as people, a team, and as a company.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, not from my perspective. We are really happy, and my director was really happy with them too. Prohibition produced their final report as well which was exceedingly helpful and gave us all of the stats and analytics. They put into context what is the industry standard and what’s not, and where we fit within all of that. It was extremely helpful.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Trust them. They know what they’re doing. Take them on board as well because they’ll fly. Different people have different ways of working. Be open and honest because we really liked that they were like part of our team. Other businesses may not like that and may want them more at arm's length. Trust them because they’re really good. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think that.
the project
PR for Breastfeeding Product Company
“They generated seven pages of coverage for us, which is the best result we've seen from any PR agency.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the UK marketing manager for Lansinoh Laboratories UK. We specialize in products for breastfeeding moms.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
They manage our PR efforts in the UK. Trying to capture media support, they help us position ourselves as an industry-leading breastfeeding brand.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Over time, their objective was to increase awareness and coverage in key trade and consumer media. They organize product placements, support hub campaign development and activation, and secure comment opportunities.
What is the team composition?
We worked with an account director and two account executives.
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
We found them through a Google search of local PR agencies. They pitched several ideas and their suggestions were much better than any other agency that pitched us.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about £50,000 (approximately $70,000 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with them in May 2020 and our partnership is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Overall, we’re happy with their services. We tracked their performance by measuring the amount of press coverage we received. They generated seven pages of coverage for us, which is the best result we've seen from any PR agency.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
They were very good at meeting deadlines. They also responded quickly to emails. We have very open conversations with them, so they’re very responsive to feedback. Generally, we’re really happy with their work, but if something wasn’t working properly, we would tell them and they would rectify the situation to make sure we have a smooth working relationship.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They understood our brief and our business needs.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They don’t need to change anything to improve our partnership.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
If you’re looking for a new partner, make sure you find a PR agency that understands what you’re trying to achieve.
the project
Media Coverage & PR for Digital Marketing Agency
"They always have good ideas."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CEO of Search Laboratory, a digital marketing agency.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
We do social media and have in-house PR capabilities, but we needed more of a dedicated specialist to come in and help the profile of the business across a few different areas.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We went to them with a top-level brief of what we wanted to achieve, and they came back to us with a plan. Prohibition is getting us coverage and media opportunities across a range of publications including local, industry, and national media.
What is the team composition?
We have an account manager. We also work with some junior teammates and the managing director.
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
They’re a local company and I’d heard good things about them. One of their founders is active in social media and blogging.
How much have you invested with them?
The retainer is £3,400 per month (approximately $4,500 USD)
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working with them in about November 2018, and our engagement is ongoing. It’s in the process of wrapping up.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The measure of success for me is the quality and frequency of placements, which has been exceptional. We’ve worked with other PR agencies in the past, and Prohibition has secured more national and radio coverage than anyone we’ve worked with previously.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
I get nothing but glowing reviews from our marketing team who deals with Prohibition directly. I’ve never heard anything bad said about them. We went to their office initially when we were discussing the opportunity, and they’ve also been to our office.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They always have good ideas. They’re constantly coming to us with different ways of doing things, within the scope of our brief, which we wouldn’t have thought of doing ourselves.
It was a pretty difficult brief and it could’ve led to confrontation, but Prohibition has handled the whole thing impeccably. I haven’t heard any grumblings from anyone, and they’ve gone above and beyond what we could’ve done ourselves.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I have no suggestions.
the project
PR Services for Specialist Health & Social Care Organization
“We’ve seen a lot of positive things coming out of our work with Prohibition.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the marketing manager at Exemplar Health Care. We have 32 nursing homes across England and support adults living with complex needs.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
We needed to boost our profile on a local level and also within the health and social care sectors. We wanted to position ourselves as a specialist provider with in-house expertise.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We have a monthly retainer with them. They do our PR when we open a new home and are recruiting for jobs. They also do some stakeholder mapping so that we can start to build those contacts.
Prohibition does some features in the sector press with any kind of social care and health market themes. They help us to identify and secure those opportunities, and then they work with our in-house teams to write them.
They also do some local and national stories about what we’re doing as an organization and in our homes as well. For example, one of our residents recently did a challenge fundraising for the NHS, and we did a bit of local PR around that.
What is the team composition?
There are a couple of people we’re in contact with: Fiona (PR Account Director), who is our account manager, and then Marta (Senior Account Executive), who does the more day-to-day writing and communicating with us.
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
I started in this role at the beginning of March, and we’ve obviously been on lockdown, so I wasn’t really involved in how my company chose Prohibition.
How much have you invested with them?
We spend just over £3,000 (approximately $3,700 USD) per month.
What is the status of this engagement?
My company began working with Prohibition in January 2020, and it’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
It’s been really positive. Compared to the PR agency that we used last time, we've gotten a lot more coverage, especially in the sector press. We’re getting approached to write features for a wide range of magazines and titles. Also, due to the local PR, newspapers are coming to us now and asking for stories.
For example, in March, we had around 22 pieces of coverage; in April, we had 10, and May, 11. Obviously, it’s been tinted a bit with COVID-19, so it’s been a bit more reactive than we would like it to be. However, we’ve seen a lot of positive things coming out of our work with Prohibition.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re really efficient at getting back to us and keeping open communication. We have a call with them every two weeks to go through our plans for the next couple of months, and we then agree to timescales between us. They’re always efficient at sticking to those and coming back to us as needed. We communicate via email and phone calls.
What did you find most impressive about them?
From my perspective, the account management is really proactive in finding new opportunities. They seem to have really good contacts with the media. They also provide advice; we’ve had a few crisis communications that they support us with.
Are there any areas they could improve?
The only thing is that we’re still working together around our writing style guide. Obviously, we want our writing to be person-centered and fit with our style. They’ve pretty much nailed it, so that’s something we’re still working through.
Any advice for potential customers?
Be really clear about who your audience is and what your goals and outcomes need to be from the partnership.
the project
Short Film Productions for Water Utility Company
"Their team was professional, friendly, and listened to us."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of partnerships for Yorkshire Water. We’re a water utility company that supplies water to 5 million customers.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
We needed an innovative and exciting way to conduct upcoming presentations for an external party. We wanted to bring our business to life in a warm, colorful way.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Prohibition pulled together a team that listened to our ideas. Their team not only facilitated discussions but also built on our ideas. They then reflected on the ideas and brought back a baseline for us to review. Their team produced a storyboard that allows us to conceptualize our ideas and bring them to life in a couple of short films.
What is the team composition?
We had a primary contact and a backup contact. We also met some of their other team members.
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
A different part of our business recommended them. We met and decided to work together on this project.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together between March – June 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We received positive feedback internally for the quality of the films and how they brought our ideas to life. We asked people who weren't involved in the project to watch our presentation rehearsals and critique them. One of those people said the films were world-class and asked to work with Prohibition on a future project.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
We had formal and informal meetings regularly. They were very clear on what they required from us, such as feedback, as well as on timelines and cost estimates. Prohibition did well with governance.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We felt supported throughout the process. It was clear what they needed from us and what we expected from them.
They had technical knowledge and skills. Their team was professional, friendly, and listened to us.
They weren’t afraid to challenge us and add different ideas. Prohibition provided excellent customer service, and we connected well with them.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, nothing comes to mind.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
The best way to approach any project is to be proactive and plan as thoroughly as possible.
the project
PR for Mattress Company
“They’re more of an extension of our marketing team as opposed to an external agency.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the senior channel marketing coordinator for a mattress company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
We needed help from a PR agency.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We work cooperatively with Prohibition to create global campaigns for brand exposure, product placement, and other kinds of activations. We bounce ideas off of one another. We have a lot of creative sessions, and we formulate plans for each quarter based on those.
Prohibition also does day-to-day tasks, such as managing our social media channels and writing blog posts and press releases.
What is the team composition?
We’ve had five people regularly working on our account. It’s a well-oiled machine; everybody has their individual roles, and we all work really well together.
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
My company started the partnership with them just before I came on board.
How much have you invested with them?
My company has spent between $200,000–$999,999.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in 2014, and it’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Prohibition sends us monthly, quarterly, and yearly reviews and reports. These reports detail any activity that we agreed upon or that’s sporadic.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re very organized and efficient. The communication is very strong. They’re more of an extension of our marketing team as opposed to an external agency. The process of starting new projects and managing ongoing projects is quite slick. They’re very responsive to us.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Prohibition is always one step ahead of the game. They often come to us with new ideas, trends, and things we should be doing. This isn’t just in terms of people’s behavior, but also asset-related trends. They’re quite innovative and forward-thinking.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We have the type of relationship where if there are any issues, it’s well-received. It’s a collaborative approach.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Prohibition covers all bases. They’re great people to work with. They always have the client at the forefront of their mind. I definitely recommend using them.
the project
PR & Digital Marketing for Protective Clothing Manufacturer
“They offer a better value-added service than we have had with other agencies.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the marketing manager of ProGARM, a protective clothing manufacturer.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
We needed help with PR and digital marketing.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Prohibition has been helping us get coverage in the regional press and the industry-specific press here in the UK, getting more of our content out in front of our end users and potential customers. We encourage Prohibition's team to get into new publications with specific audiences. They manage the general press schedule for us. They communicate with publications and see when certain topics are coming up and place content as part of that. When we do broader campaigns, we sometimes give them the brief, and they manage that campaign themselves from a timeline perspective.
They also manage our social PPC and account-based marketing, some of which overflows into PR. They put different lead magnets in place so that our paid social ads reach our target audience.
Their main work has been to get more press and brand mentions, as well as doing a bit of link building to help us with our SEO. They also work with us on campaigns that are on interesting content. We do a bit of research with them to gather industry reports, and then we apply that research to data-driven campaigns that help us get more conversion and local industry press coverage.
What is the team composition?
There are 3–4 people from their team that work with us on a regular basis, including account execs, account managers, and an account director.
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
They were already my company’s PR agency when I joined the business. If I remember correctly, the company pitched 3–4 different agencies in our area. Prohibition impressed my company the most.
How much have you invested with them?
My company has spent £62,000 (approximately $81,400 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in 2017, and it’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We measure the amount of coverage we get in different publications each month through a scoring system that we have set up. With publications, we measure the audience size over the course of the year and the respective advertising value of the placements we get. We also track the traffic that we get through referrals and the links through the link building efforts we do on those sites.
The brand scores well on the metrics we put in place; these metrics have started to grow a lot. Existing customers are more aware of us, and the market is generally more receptive to us and views us in a different way than before we started working with Prohibition. We’re now probably the most mentioned brand in terms of our niche product.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
Projects are mainly driven by us; Prohibition’s team is more support. We drive the strategy in the projects, and we outsource bits to them. In terms of project management, they’re pretty good. We normally do one big project each quarter, and, for the most part, it’s been on track and good.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They have been very good at getting a grasp on our technical products and understanding how to put them into simple terms to get publications on board and aware of what we do. They make our products simple and easy to understand.
They’ve also been really strong in terms of helping us build our educational content and getting that into a number of publications. They’re quite creative with the ideas that they bring to the table. Prohibition has been our longest standing agency, and we haven’t had any particular issues with them. They’re very good at demonstrating their value when we do annual and quarterly reviews. It’s been the best agency experience I’ve had here. They offer a better value-added service than we have had with other agencies.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We have a very limited budget in terms of what we can do with them. We feel we do get a lot of value out of the budget we have. There’s nothing I’d have them improve. I’ve always recommended them and said that we had a good experience with them.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
The most success we’ve had with them is when we’ve worked closely with them. The stronger the relationship you can have, the better. Get them involved in early-stage projects and bounce ideas off them. Be confident enough to challenge them on their thoughts and to understand what the thinking process behind what they’re doing is. Have a close relationship with them, and be willing to ask the tough questions.
the project
Social Media Marketing for Shower Pump Manufacturer
"The results distinguish Prohibition from other providers."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the trade & online marketing manager of a shower pump manufacturer that provides products for boosting water performance in homes.
What challenge were you trying to address with Prohibition?
We hired Prohibition to assist with social media marketing.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Initially, we looked at social media to see what was working and what we could improve upon. From there, we moved into a full relationship with their team that includes traditional press release creation, and then they also support us with digital marketing.
The team at Prohibition completes a monthly content plan for our social media. They monitor our social media channel and populate content through the schedule in advance. Their team also assists with Facebook advertising, boosting our posts, and works with our Instagram advertising as well.
How did you come to work with Prohibition?
We went to one of the digital marketing seminars that they hold several times a year. We were quite impressed with what they had to say. From there, we brought them on board for a project to start with, before moving onto a monthly retailer when we could use their support regularly.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our engagement with Prohibition started in 2017.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Each monthly report allows us to see the success of our social media growth. It allows us to see the coverage we’re receiving in trade magazines and our business uptick as well. We can look back over the years and see what their team has done for us. Google Analytics is what we use for tracking success and goals.
How did Prohibition perform from a project management standpoint?
We have monthly meetings with them. After those, they provide a content report summarizing our discussions and next steps. Their team responds to our briefs with an outline plan that we’ll talk through.
Their account management abilities are quite high. They’re quick with responses and are proactive in moving things forward.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The results distinguish Prohibition from other providers. In the past, we’ve worked with several different PR agencies and haven’t had much success with content generation. Prohibition can successfully perform traditional PR services along with digital marketing services.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There’s nothing they need to improve.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Give them a clear brief and outlined budget of what you’d spend in advance. They can prepare a proposal around that. Engage with Prohibition as much as you can. The more we engage with them, we tend to get better results.