Navy Army Air Force Institutes (NAAFI), a not for profit organisation, has been dedicated to serving the armed forces since its formation in 1920 and continues to provide home comforts and convenience to the Services and their families through catering, retail and leisure facilities, no matter where in the world they are serving.
In late 2009, Ptarmigan Bell Pottinger was appointed by NAAFI to deliver a public relations strategy that would generate awareness to commemorate the 90th anniversary of this great British institution. Despite knowledge of the name, there existed very little media and general public awareness of NAAFI and its work. Coverage had been limited to military trade press titles with a lot of negative sentiment in the messages being conveyed over a number of years. The engagement of a PR agency was to help dispel some of the myths surrounding NAAFI and focus on the many positive achievements of the organisation.
PBP worked with the client to develop a full year of activity around the 90th anniversary and turn this into a cause for celebration. Specific points of emphasis were:
- The launch of NAAFI Break Tea and a 50p donation from every sale to Help for Heroes
- Development of case studies
- The fact that 550 NAAFI personnel have given their lives during service
The focus points was brought to life by sustained media relations and an active event programme designed to stimulate engagement with consumers and remind them of NAAFI and its work.
PBP was also responsible for managing consumer and trade campaigns and developing a PR strategy to mark the launch of NAAFI Break Tea, making the famous ‘char’ which has helped the Armed Forces through numerous conflicts available to the public for the first time in its distinguished history.
NAAFI Break Tea
Strategy and ImplementationThe first stage of implementing the PR strategy was to develop a series of key messages. The main objective was to illustrate NAAFI’s history and how NAAFI serves the Services. The key messages were produced to reflect the modern role of NAAFI, its proud history, services, its people and its own heroes.A media audit was carried out on the national press to ascertain awareness levels of NAAFI. A comprehensive press pack was produced and circulated to all relevant contacts.PBP was also briefed by NAAFI to launch its new NAAFI Break range, a varied range of products designed to give serving Forces personnel a comforting taste of home, including those on the front line in Afghanistan. The key product in the range was NAAFI Break Tea. The full range includes coffee, soft drinks, buns, pies, pastries, sausage rolls and bacon butties. Deskside meetings were arranged with key consumer contacts on the national dailies and consumer press. Media information packs, together with branded merchandise, product samples of NAAFI Break Tea and packaging were provided by the PR team in a series of brief face-to-face meetings.A launch release and photography was issued. The focus was i) the availability of this strong, quality blend tea on British high streets for the first time and ii) a donation of 50 pence from every sale to military charity Help For Heroes.Interviews were arranged with BBC and commercial radio stations. Reg Curtis, CEO of NAAFI was briefed on key messages to convey during the interviews.Samples of tea were sent to consumer journalists along with a press pack detailing the history of NAAFI and key dates in the 90 year history. NAAFI key rings and branded china mugs were also provided to the media.
On-going Media LiaisonThroughout 2010, PBP developed a series of newsworthy stories to achieve widespreadmedia exposure. Whether it was free tea being distributed to frontline troops or the NAAFI canteen worker who retrieved vital documents from a German U-Boat during World War II and helped crack the Enigma Code, these stories helped create maximum exposure for NAAFI. Case studies highlighting NAAFI careers were sold to the national press. The Sun featured Major Lynn Cassidy, former Country Manager in Afghanistan. From a trade perspective, product stories were released to titles such as Soldier Magazine and others in the military trade press. Stories included the availability of new product ranges, such as the launch of new Mothercare and Bodyshop ranges in NAAFI retail outlets in Germany.A radio day was organised featuring celebrity and NAAFI supporter Bernard Cribbins.
EventsA full programme of events was arranged to mark the Year of Celebration. These ranged from a special commemorative event in honour of NAAFI World War 2 hero Tommy Brown – with a presentation of the George Medal to his family – to a themed NAAFI tent at Goodwood Revival, with a team of NAAFI girls interacting with visitors.A sand sculpture artist was commissioned to create a life-size Winston Churchill sculpture which was displayed at beach locations such as Blackpool and Scarborough in sampling events during the summer. This created talkability, as well as a visual news hook. The events created the perfect platform for sampling, tea sales opportunities and donations to Help for Heroes.
Churchill sand sculpture
PBP found an operational 1940s original NAAFI wagon and a couple of enthusiastic volunteers to play the role of authentic NAAFI girls. We enlisted their services and invited them to various events to provide impact and talkability with consumers.
NAAFI Girls
Other events included:
- The Army v Navy annual rugby match at Twickenham
- The Royal International Air Tattoo
- Remembrance Sunday March (at the Cenotaph in London)
- Scarborough Seafest
- Blackpool Promenade
- Pensioner reunions in London, Nottingham and Salisbury
- Launch of commemorative NAAFI 90th Celebratory Book at head office in Darlington
- Supporting the Help for Heroes Bike Ride
- Visits to schools to educate children about NAAFI and to tell the story of the history of the organisation
NAAFI Communications Officer Lee Coleman visits schools
For Remembrance Sunday, PBP arranged for NAAFI tea, cups, milk and sugar to be provided to the Salvation Army free of charge. They then provided the tea to veterans and their families, raising money for charity. A number of key personnel from NAAFI participated in the Remembrance Sunday march and Sky News conducted a live interview with Colonel Kevin Pembroke of NAAFI. The NAAFI 90th Celebratory Book had contributions from HRH The Queen (NAAFI Patron, David Cameron, David Beckham, Ross Kemp, Gary Lineker and many others.
ResultsCoverage ranged from military press to international blogs, to national print and broadcast media, grocery trade press, regional print and broadcast media and consumer magazines (food and drink and lifestyle magazines). There were 95 pieces of tracked media coverage (through Precise) from April to December 2010. Media coverage from the launch of NAAFI Break Tea secured hits in The Express, The Independent, The Telegraph, Metro, Daily Mail, The Sun, The Mirror, The Times, The Daily Sport and The People.
The Times press cutting 17/04/2010
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The Mirror press cutting 03/04/2010
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The Daily Mail press cutting 14/04/2010
Broadcast coverage was achieved on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4 plus a number of interviews and news features on regional BBC Radio Stations.Trade coverage achieved in The Grocer and military titles Soldier and Sixth Sense.
The Grocer press cutting 27/03/2010
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The Soldier press cutting October 2010
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Sixth Sense press cutting 16/12/2010
Regional press coverage was achieved in over 35 regional daily publications. Online coverage (BBC Online, Sky News) and 40+ separate blog mentions including wondersoftea.com, trubru, gobbledegeek, defencefocus, kongfutea, independentminds, militarymagazines and BBC blogs. In total, there were 95 pieces of tracked press coverage with a PR value of £700,605K.
Qualitative resultsQualitative results of the strategy included enquiries into availability of the tea from all over the UK (The tea was initially only available in limited SPAR stores). Requests also came from the USA and Australia. NAAFI were invited to sell NAAFI Break Tea at the Goodwood Revival in 2011, following the success of the 2010 event, which was presence only and no sales. There was a 14 fold increase in NAAFI Break Tea in the first year of sale. In addition to these successes, letters of support for the cause were received from HRH The Queen, David Beckham, Bernard Cribbins, Lorraine Kelly, Dame Kelly Holmes, TV Chef James Martin, Ross Kemp, Gary Lineker and Prime Minister David Cameron.“NAAFI is rich in history and is quite rightly regarded as a British Institution by those who have reason to be grateful for its services. The key thing for us was to find an agency who understood that heritage and who could relate our 90 year achievements to today’s audience. Ptarmigan have demonstrated that they ‘get it’ and have really made an effort to understand just what NAAFI means to people, so much so that they are as passionate about our service as we are. This has led to some great events which have helped re-establish NAAFI in the hearts and minds of the British public.”Andrew Smart, Marketing Director NAAFI
This case study won in the category of PR strategy at the Drum Marketing Awards
