PR as a tool in a competitive industry

The competition in the bar and restaurant industry in Oslo is tough, and ‘survival of the fittest’ applies to a large extent. Therefore, good PR work could be very valuable to give newly established places some extra speed to start off with. That’s something that the bar and restaurant group Selskap & Serveringsgruppen has experienced. 

There are over 1,200 licenced premises in Oslo. It goes without saying that the fight for attention is tough. Both when it comes to customers and media coverage. That makes it important to make use of the channels that are available in a good way, and utilize the different angles that you can, both when it comes to the history, location, interior, events and people behind the various bars and restaurants. 

For Selskap & Serveringsgruppen, the objective was to secure attention in some of the countries biggest newspapers, such as Aftenposten and Dagens Næringsliv, connected to the openings of the new bars and restaurants Justisen, Nedre Løkka Cocktailbar and BA3. It might sound a little ambitious, but with a very rich history to focus on, it was doable after all. 

We kick–started the collaboration with the opening of Justisen. The place in Møllergata which has been a natural gathering place for lawyers, sailors, veterans and everyone in-between for generations. Its history dates back to the 1920s, and the fact that the place would reopen with a new bar and restaurant concept was great news for many. Solid PR work ahead of the opening gave great results, and we made sure we utilized the story as best as we could. So, in addition to contacting daily press and Oslo based media, we also contacted trade press such as the lawyer media Juristen, Advokaten, etc. Media that had journalists and readers who might have been regulars at Justisen back in the days.  

Then the openings of Nedre Løkka Cocktailbar and BA3 followed. The PR recipe was quite similar to Justisen’s, especially for the latter, which opened in the premises of the former gourmet restaurant Bagatelle. For Nedre Løkka, however, we did not have the same historical references to make use of, so we decided to focus on the unique décor and the new pop-up kitchen concept. In addition, it was absolutely essential to compliment the PR stories with good images of the premises ahead of all the openings, in order to give the media a good insight into both interior and concept.