Barbara Llewellyn Catering & Event Planning
About the Client
What Barbara Llewellyn started as a one person home catering operation in 1986 is now a business with a full-time staff and nearly 12,000 square feet of commercial space. Known for its style, creativity and commitment to excellence, Barbara Llewellyn Catering and Event Planning has worked with thousands of clients ranging from businesses to individuals and is one of the fastest growing private businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Objectives
Like most companies in the hospitality industry, Barbara Llewellyn Catering and Event Planning was looking for ways to increase mid-week and off-season revenues and to book higher margin engagements. It was also looking to let people know about the company’s commitment to environmental and philanthropic efforts and to make more effective use of an online newsletter.
Results
Galvin Communications worked with Barbara Llewellyn to develop a newsletter template and a strategy for communicating with clients, prospects and vendors. The first edition of the newsletter had an excellent open rate (45%) and laid a foundation for future communications.
Locally, Barbara and her fast-growing business were featured in the Oakland Tribune. She contributed to Edible East Bay, a high end publication dedicated to local and sustainable food, and we helped place her article, “Secrets for a successful corporate event,” in the East Bay Business Times. She was also included in an article about planning a wine country event in Smart Meetings, a magazine for meeting planners.
We secured a guest appearance for Barbara on “The View from The Bay (KGO-TV ABC 7),” in which she discussed event planning and demonstrated one of her recipes. As a result, she was invited back for a second appearance. She also appeared on-air as a guest of KGO Radio’s “Dining Around with Gene Burns (810 AM),” the number one food radio program in the Bay Area.
In other capacities, we provided Barbara with recommendations for leveraging her positive press coverage and arranged for a professional “Welcome” video that describes her business philosophy and serves as an introduction for prospective clients who are looking for a top-notch catering and event planning firm. The video is posted on her website.