Asahi UK
Devising, delivering and expanding trade comms activities
The challenge. In the fast-moving world of beer and cider, conveying brand, category, and channel insights to busy trade buyers requires a nimble operation. Asahi UK needed a partner that could work quickly, turn around complex briefs without friction, and integrate autonomously with internal experts to identify and translate data into external trade narratives.
The strategy. We operate as a fully integrated extension of Asahi UK’s comms team, working closely with their brand, category, and channel divisions to accelerate operations. Using our trade journalism background, we interrogate internal reports to find the ‘data gold dust’ that matters most to retail, wholesale, and on-trade buyers. Alongside trade PR, we manage their end-to-end advertising pipeline – handling everything from core messaging and graphic design to media buying and placement – keeping the entire process streamlined and cost-effective.
The results
Editorial impact: We have secured hundreds of targeted news, product, and feature placements across core trade titles, driving millions of high-value B2B impressions and measurably increasing trust in the Asahi UK portfolio.
Commercial confidence: Managed a sustained, data-justified increase in Asahi UK’s trade media investment and overall market impact.
Efficiency and process: Made trade media execution frictionless for internal teams by establishing clear, structured processes for both comms and advertising delivery.
Meeting Canary
Crafting a story told around the world
Meeting Canary is an AI meeting assistant tool. You can’t eat it, drink it, and it doesn’t have a barcode, so as a company they sit a little outside our usual FMCG remit. But they’re a creative team that loves a good data story, making this a perfect partnership.
The challenge. With a focused start-up budget they tasked us with mapping the real-world demand for their product. They needed a data-led narrative that could be used across their sales materials to demonstrate necessity, alongside a consumer-facing story to build brand awareness.
The strategy. We devised a tight survey of 1,000 UK office workers to understand their media habits. With just five questions, we identified the most sought-after product features and uncovered the extent of poor meeting behaviours workplaces are rife with.
The gold was found in attitudes to lateness: nearly half of Gen Z respondents believed turning up to a meeting 10 minutes late was just as good as being on time, while only a fifth of Boomers agreed. It was classic generational warfare we knew would fly in consumer media, but we could never have guessed how much. Journalists also loved some of the office slang the survey revealed too.
The results:
Global media reach. 139 organisations covered the release in over 13 languages. Titles included The Guardian, Mail, The Times, The Telegraph, New York Post, El Economist, Kommersant, El Impartial and many others.
Traffic and SEO boost. Generated over 100 high-authority backlinks directed at Meeting Canary in the three weeks following the launch, significantly increasing web traffic and search rankings.
Marketing support. The research revealed that at least two-thirds of respondents found the eight core product features ‘useful’, providing direct, data-backed proof of demand for their future sales decks.
Delice de France
Growing from trade comms to business-wide marketing support
The challenge. What began as a focussed trade comms brief has scaled into a multi-channel marketing operation. As a leading bakery provider – and the number one name in French bread – Delice de France tasked us with helping them engage a broad B2B footprint. This spans retail, cafes, hotels, travel hubs, and the wider foodservice sector through integrated communications, digital, design, and research services.
The strategy. Brunswick North operates as Delice de France’s dedicated trade marketing arm, embedding within their business to support their design function with bespoke customer assets, PoS materials, and marketing collateral.
Beyond creative delivery, we manage industry award submissions, run a targeted trade press office across five distinct commercial sectors, and are developing B2B digital solutions alongside our partners at HoWoCo.
The results:
A 2025 triumph. Earned, prganic trade media coverage provided a 187% ROI for Delice de France in 2025, with an incredible +364% in retail trust captured for those who saw their coverage.
2026 plan well underway. Secured key partnerships with major industry titles, organised three high-value customer events, and delivered 13 distinct design projects to support both specific customer accounts and wider business operations.
Watch this space. Moving into the second half of the 2026 schedule, development is well underway on a series of digital and commercial projects designed to further cement their category leadership.
Tobacco & Vapes Bill
Decoding, demystifying and reporting from the front line
The challenge. With the Tobacco & Vapes Bill looming large in the minds of retailers and brands, a multinational market leader tasked us with uncovering how store owners are feeling, what they’re doing to prepare, and exactly what support they needed from manufacturers to navigate the changes.
The strategy. We structured and chaired two Focus Groups in London and Birmingham attended by a dozen leading independent retailers. We recorded, analysed and reported their feedback concerning the operational, financial and cultural impact the bill would have.
The results:
Frontline risks uncovered. The sessions revealed significant concerns for staff safety. Retailers anticipate their teams being put in the unenviable position of enforcing a complex, rolling age limit to a customer base that won’t understand.
Competitive insights. WE delivered specific ‘coal face’ insights regarding the precise tools and resources retailers need, providing the client with a strategic edge in tailoring their support.
BellaVita
Unlocking the high-growth fragrance opportunity
The challenge: As retailers began eyeing up the fast-growing fragrance category, with brands like BellaVita, Yodeyma, and Arma actively vying for limited shelf space, the market became increasingly competitive. BellaVita needed to uncover raw retailer sentiment to differentiate their proposition and support their expansion into the convenience sector.
The strategy: We designed and executed a targeted telephone research survey to decode the trade’s exact needs. Our research answered critical commercial questions: What do retailers actually want from fragrance suppliers? Where is the highest-margin opportunity? Which store and digital marketing materials drive rotation? And who do they currently view as the category leader?
The results:
Commercial opportunity revealed. 81% of retailers say they would be “likely” to stock these brands in the future, with the average independent stockist we spoke to making £98 a week from them.
Route for success. Strategic insights reported back to the BellaVita leadership team to support convenience launch and stand apart from competitors.