A Nottingham-based PR and events agency is marking its fifth year of trading, completing a major project with retailer Tesco, for its long-standing client Vision Express.

Vision Express has worked with the Tonic Communications since the agency launched in summer 2013. Since then, together the all-female client-agency collaboration has been recognised in over 20 industry award schemes, from the likes of Marketing Week, Retail Week, the PRCA, CIPR and The Drum.

In late 2017, Vision Express announced its acquisition of Tesco’s optical outlets, which numbered over 200 across the UK. The optician enlisted the support of The Tonic to support the acquisition announcement to national media, and subsequently plan and deliver PR events to launch the rebranded stores, in line with an intensive refurbishment schedule that saw around 12 outlets open every week between January and June 2018.

The Tonic’s strategic approach was to cluster stores by regional area - and media patch - and identify one store per cluster to hold a PR event at, with a special guest arranged to officially open it. A total of 45 MPs and Mayors were engaged to participate in the celebrations, alongside a similar number of ambassadors from Vision Express’ charity partners- the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust, Stroke Association, International Glaucoma Association and Macular Society. Customers who had compelling stories to tell from a condition being detected via an eye test were also invited to join the opening events, plus high profile individuals, such as Olympian Bryan Steel and Paralympian Darren Harris.

Taking responsibility for project and event management, The Tonic handled every element from briefing guests, to booking photographers, liaising with stores, onsite event handling, and developing and pitching media stories. When the project completed in June it had delivered: 123 opening events across the UK, from Cornwall to Inverness, at an average rate of 10 events per week

Jenny Wye, senior PR manager at Vision Express, said, “This project was crucial to the business and involved engaging stakeholders across both Tesco and Vision Express, working within tight timescales and managing many moving parts. The Tonic team dealt effortlessly with the challenges inherent in such a large, intensive project - including a snowstorm that brought the UK to a standstill. They worked seamlessly with our in-house team and executed a rolling programme of nationwide events and PR activity to an extremely high standard, exceeding KPIs and delivering an impressive volume of positive, on-brand coverage.”

The Tonic Communications, which comprises a ten-strong team of consultants, has supported Vision Express for the past five years with services spanning media relations, case study placement, corporate communications, store openings and events, CSR initiatives and campaign-led activity educating the public about the importance of eye health.

Kelly Hill, co-director of The Tonic, said, “We launched our agency amid a challenging climate for start-ups and facing the statistic that 8 out of 10 businesses fail in the first 18 months.  It was invaluable to have Vision Express as our founding client, and we’re thrilled to have remained their retained PR agency of choice five years down the line. We’ve been on an incredible journey together, delivering award-winning campaigns, and we’re looking forward to building on that success in the future.”

The Tonic Communications operates from a suite in the renovated former BZR building in the heart of Nottingham’s Lace Market, and has a North East office in Newcastle city centre. It specialises in supporting brands operating in retail, health and wellbeing, education and transport, with clients including the University of Northumbria, Go North East, Memory Health, Clicksco and ASTRiiD.