The Challenge:

Family-owned Balgone Estate in East Lothian is a mainly arable farm growing wheat, barley and oilseed rape and for the first time this year, pumpkins! Planted during lockdown, the client was keen to establish Balgone Estate as a destination for pumpkin picking in the run up to Halloween.

Balgone Estate needed to capture attention and communicate a clear point of differentiation over more established pumpkin picking destinations.

Additionally, with Covid-19 restrictions in place, it was important to position the attraction as a safe place to visit.

The Solution:

Represent developed a highly-focused PR and social media campaign that showcased the young talent behind the initiative – the farmer’s son and his friend.

This captured the media’s attention and the public’s appetite for a good news story.  Additional activity included:

• A new website showcasing the produce and attractions
• A PR campaign to raise awareness of Balgone Pumpkins
• An influencer programme to promote Balgone Pumpkins as the go to destination for a fun day out
• A social media campaign focused on the countryside setting, produce and the people behind Balgone to build up a loyal following
• A specific Covid-19 campaign to raise awareness of the safety measures in place and a call for people to support local businesses throughout the pandemic

“Represent understood our commercial objectives and created a PR and digital campaign that delivered exceptional results.  They were proactive, creative & responsive and helped us achieve so much more than we thought possible in year one. Their media contacts were impressive and we look forward to working with Represent again in 2021.”

– James Grant Suttie, owner of Balgone Estate