| Case Studies |
AIRFORCE NUTRISODA airforce Nutrisoda is a nutrient-enriched sparkling soda, packed with fresh fruit flavors and free of sugar, caffeine, and carbohydrates. airforce Nutrisoda is a healthier alternative to sugary sodas and is a great mixer for cocktails. It is a delicious and refreshing thirst-quencher that also packs in vitamins and minerals. M. Young Communications utilized its restaurant and chef relationships to help airforce Nutrisoda develop accounts in Illinois, New York, California, Minnesota, Louisiana and Arizona. Chefs provided recipes and food pairing suggestions for airforce Nutrisoda flavors, which were featured with a profile of each chef at www.nutrisoda.com. The chefs also featured airforce Nutrisoda on their menus. Participating chefs included Rick Tramonto of RT Lounge in Chicago, Beau MacMillan of Sanctuary on Camelback in Scottsdal, Marc Murphy of Ditch Plains in New York, Scott Boswell of Stanley in New Orleans and Reed Groban of Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale, among others. M. Young Communications, also, conceived and produced an exclusive “chefs’ oasis” day spa retreat in New York City for chefs to enjoy airforce Nutrisoda cocktails and mocktails while being pampered.
ANHEUSER-BUSCH When beer giant Anheuser-Busch wanted a public relations campaign to promote its 2006 holiday beers to food and lifestyle writers, it looked to M. Young Communications to help with the effort. The five-month program included nationwide media outreach and press dinners in New York, Atlanta and Chicago featuring multi-course menus paired with Anheuser-Busch’s holiday beers. Each dinner featured one of Anheuser-Busch’s top brew masters, who discussed the finer points of serving beer from pouring techniques to food pairings to proper glassware.
CONSORZIO BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO Produced in the hills of Tuscany, Brunello di Montalcino is one of Italy’s most revered wines. M. Young Communications has worked with the Consorzio Brunello di Montalcino to produce “Benvenuto Brunello,” a comprehensive walk-around trade and press tasting, designed to introduce the newest vintage of Brunello to the U.S. market. M. Young Communications has managed this program since the launch of Brunello’s exceptional five-star 1997 vintage. M. Young Communications has produced Benvenuto Brunello events in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco. The agency has also arranged for U.S. wine writers to visit Montalcino during its annual Benvenuto Brunello celebration.
POUR: A WINE AND SPIRITS BOUTIQUE Finally, a wine store that really focuses on helping its customers select wines to pair with specific foods! Pour, A Wine and Spirits Boutique, located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, provides displays, graphics and flash cards that help customers select wines for the foods they love to eat, making shopping for wine a mouth-watering experience. Pour offers complimentary wine tastings weekly and features a beautiful line of wine accessories, which make great hostess, bridal shower and thank you gifts. M. Young Communications handled publicity for the opening of Pour generating articles in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time Out New York, New York Magazine and Bergen News.
SHARE: A SECOND HELPING OF LIFE SHARE is a not-for-profit organization that provides educational materials, support services and community outreach to help women with breast and ovarian cancers. When SHARE needed assistance creating a fresh new approach to its annual fund-raiser, the charity came to M. Young Communications for ideas and organizational support. M. Young Communications developed and produced A Second Helping of Life, now an annual walk-around tasting with dishes prepared by New York's top female chefs and featuring a range of with fine wines, spirits and craft beers. Each chef is paired with a celebrity “sous chef”– all women, of course – who help out at the chef’s station and add a special touch of hospitality to the overall event.
ROBERTO CAVALLI VODKA When Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli decided to launch a premium vodka in 2004, his fashion public relations team called on M. Young Communications to handle the all-important food and beverage trade and consumer media launches. Activities included one-on-one media interviews and vodka tastings with Cavalli in his store in Manhattan and a press dinner with Cavalli at the restaurant Bette. The Miami launch featured a large party at The Raleigh Hotel that made the cover of the Miami Herald. Other media coverage also included The New York Times, Bon Appétit magazine, TIME, Beverage Media and Spirits Journal.
FRIDA KAHLO TEQUILA The importer for Roberto Cavalli Vodka was so impressed with the success of the vodka’s public relations launch that M. Young Communications also hired to handle the PR for the launch of Frida Kahlo Tequila, a super-premium tequila made from 100% blue agave. Working with family members of the renowned Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, M. Young Communications arranged media interviews and photo opportunities with key trade and consumer beverage, food and lifestyle press. Media events were held in New York for Mexico’s annual Day of the Dead festivities, in Miami in conjunction with Art Basel and in Los Angeles at a private mansion in Beverly Hills. M. Young Communications arranged for both Frida Kahlo Tequila and Roberto Cavalli Vodka to be represented at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Miami and at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Press coverage included GQ, Ocean Drive Magazine, Gotham Magazine, The New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News, Lincoln Road Magazine and Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
WATERFORD® CONNOISSEUR GOLD COLLECTION™ Serious wine drinkers know the shape and cut of the glassware you use can enhance the overall sensory experience of the wine you are enjoying. In 2006, Waterford®, an international leader in the design and production of fine crystal, launched the Connoisseur Gold Collection™, hand-made, mouth-blown crystal stemware designed to enhance the wine drinking experience. M. Young Communications worked with Waterford® on the product launch of Connoisseur Gold Collection™ and organized a press lunch in New York at A Voce to illustrate the importance of pairing the right shape of glass with the right wine. M. Young Communications also worked with Bloomingdale’s bridal registry program to arrange in-store wine tastings and lectures for registry customers at six locations in New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boca Raton.
WINES FROM SPAIN and GREAT MATCH: WINE & TAPAS Spain is one of the oldest producing wine countries in the world and certainly one of the largest. Yet, until the late 1980s/early 1990s, Spanish wines were still fairly undiscovered in the U.S. market. Today, Spanish wines are among the top wine imports in the U.S. Spain’s indigenous red grape varietals (Tempranillo, Garnacha and Mencia) and white varietals (Albariño, Viura and Verdejo) are now getting their recognition, and the proof is in the bottle. For six years (2000-2006), M. Young Communications served as the PR agency of record for Wines from Spain, arranging numerous interviews, media events and press tours to Spain, generating media coverage in almost every major American newspaper and all epicurean and wine media. Special activities included:
THE JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AWARDS When the James Beard Foundation decided to launch an awards program to recognize the best talent in the food and beverage industry, it looked to M. Young Communications to develop and manage the program. Responsibilities included the recruitment of more than $700,000 in sponsorship underwriting, coordination of awards committees, management of all Awards events and all media communications. The Awards grew from a small event with 700 attendees in 1991 to the most highly coveted honor and the most highly anticipated event in the industry with more than 2000 attendees in 2006. For 16 years, M. Young Communications was the management and communications backbone of The James Beard Foundation Awards.
NEW YORK RESTAURANT WEEK In 1992, the City of New York wanted to welcome delegates attending the Democratic National Convention with a citywide restaurant hospitality initiative, offering a three course lunch for an affordable $19.92. M. Young Communications was recruited to sign up restaurant participants and announce the program to the national press. The result: Restaurants sold out lunch reservations for a week that was traditionally slow in the summer, and New York City was named the #1 dining destination in the U.S. Restaurant Week became an annual event to promote the “quality, variety and hospitality of New York’s restaurants.” A second, winter Restaurant Week was added later to boost business in January. The program continues today and has been copied by London, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and other cities.
LONDON TOURIST BOARD The London Tourist Board tapped M. Young Communications to help create a new image for the city’s dining scene and hot new restaurants. The year-long campaign included the organization of four familiarization trips to London for U.S. journalists to visit and report on restaurants and meet top restaurateurs and chefs. Results included a cover story on London’s dynamic new restaurant scene in Bon Appétit magazine, a major feature in USA Today and numerous other newspaper stories.
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