Earned media, PR and influence for challenger brands, from Manchester

Earning attention that drives demand.

We're a PR, social and influencer agency in Manchester, working across the North West and the UK with challenger brands in food, drink, hospitality, retail, leisure, travel and consumer services, and the franchise groups scaling across them. When you cannot outspend the category leader, we turn earned attention into demand you can measure.

By 'Eck, Boddingtons back on cask for JW Lees
Featured · Stand Out Boddingtons back on cask for JW Lees Relaunched to national acclaim and sold out every week for the entire launch.
Chopstix · Six by Nico · JW Lees · Manchester Pride · Macknade · Zymurgorium · Chapter 2 · LEGOLAND Discovery Centre · SEA LIFE · WeBuyBricks · Kampus

How we help

Five ways we earn the attention that moves your business.

Start with the one costing you most.

1LaunchFrom unknown to sold out

Every market opens once, and the audience you built elsewhere rarely travels with you. We start long before your doors open and carry it through the weeks after, so you open to people who already know who you are.

Proof: Six by Nico had 3,000 reservations in Manchester and almost 5,000 in Liverpool before the doors opened, with covers full from day one.

2Stand OutBe the answer

Search has stopped listing and started answering. We build the stories and moments that make you worth mentioning, then put them where journalists, feeds and AI answers are built from.

Proof: Boddingtons back on cask for JW Lees, landing from CAMRA and the Morning Advertiser to Time Out.

3Prove DemandEvidence, unlock, sell

The buyer wants proof your product will sell before they give you the space. We build visible demand and evidence it as we go, so you hand over a proof pack a buyer can act on.

Proof: a Gemma Collins gin for Zymurgorium won their first major multiple listings with Co-op and Morrisons.

4Be ConsistentFrom scattered to unmistakable

Grow fast and your brand stops looking like one brand. We define the few things you must be known for and build the system that carries them across every site and franchisee.

Proof: Chopstix kept unmistakable from 50 stores to more than 150, with 1.3bn earned reach in twelve months.

5Build AuthorityBecome the voice

The people who get quoted are the findable ones, not the ones who know most. We turn what you know into a position worth quoting and build your platform around it.

Proof: Nicky Wake and Chapter 2, 38 pieces of national coverage against a target of 20, then the investment to launch in Australia and the USA.

Merlin logo in white on a bright purple background
VAPIANO Italian restaurant logo with pasta, pizza, and bar tagline
Salford Shopping Centre logo in white on a blue background
Didsbury Gin logo with black serif lettering on a white background
Cambeo logo with the tagline “be more spontaneous” on a light blue background
Manchester Metropolitan University logo featuring a stylized flower emblem and black text
Sea Life logo with a gold starfish replacing the letter A on a blue background
Savills logo in red on a yellow background
Hotel Indigo logo in navy blue text
Manchester Gin logo on an orange background with geometric patterned panels
Chapter 2 logo on a purple background
Livingston Designer Outlet logo in white on a purple background
LEGOLAND Discovery Centre logo
White underlined "KAMPUS" text on a black background
Zymurgorium logo featuring a bee inside a six-sided emblem with the tagline "Make Every Moment Epic"
Kakira Distillery logo featuring a crowned lion head and white text on a black background
SoberDating logo with a purple heart icon and purple text on a pale pink background
Rudy's Pizza Napoletana logo in black on a white background
Chopstix Noodle Bar logo in white on a red background
Native Places logo in black text on a white background
Black handwritten script reading “Locke” on a white background
Colorful Pop Specs logo featuring a stylized eyeglasses icon and bold multicolored text
White SHORYU logo with a circular gold emblem on a black background
Supersmith logo in white on a bright orange background
Red PRINTWORKS logo text on a white background
Manchester Pride logo in pink and white on a black background
IHG Hotels & Resorts orange logo
UKBG United Kingdom Bartenders Guild logo on a burgundy background
Japan Centre logo with a red circle above the text “JAPAN CENTRE”
Bruco Italian Bar & Kitchen logo in Ancaster
Colorful stylized lowercase logo with turquoise, black, olive, magenta, orange, and yellow curved shapes
Black dog silhouette with the words “black dog ballroom”
Boddingtons beer logo with a yellow pint can illustration on a bright yellow background
Six by Nico logo in white and gold on a dark green background
Stylized gold MHA logo on a white background
Seated man in a suit and sneakers against an orange background with bold text reading “Rebel Accountant” and “Dear HMR.”
WOOD Manchester logo in white and gold on a dark background
Crazy Pedro’s Part-Time Pizza Parlour logo featuring a colorful cartoon blue dog with glasses and a red background
Bearton logo with coordinates 53°09′49.8″N 2°12′18.0″W
MACKNADE FINE FOODS logo in black text on a white background
Freeport Fleetwood logo with blue sailboat graphic and green text
TOFS The Original Factory Shop logo on a navy blue background
Cushman & Wakefield logo in red and white on a dark purple background
Dandara Living logo with stylized D symbol above the company name
J.W. Lees logo in dark green text
Circular black-and-white logo reading “The Cocktail Co.” with the tagline “Ice It. Shake It. Serve It.”
Wondrwall logo in white text on a dark blue geometric background
Lucky cat holding a bowl of ramen with chopsticks, red Japanese-style text above and below

How we work

Intelligence + Ideas + Influence = Impact

Intelligence

We start with your business goals, your audience and what they already care about, before anyone has an idea.

Ideas

Stories your audience wants to hear, built for the press, the feed and the places AI now reads from.

Influence

Media, creators and social working together, so you're seen wherever your buyers already look.

= Impact

Sales, listings, bookings and footfall you can point to.

What makes DATS different?

1

Senior-led, every account.

You get experienced people on your business, not juniors learning on your account. Independent experts who know their craft and know your industry.

2

Audience-first, always.

Most agencies start with what your brand wants to say. We start with what your audience cares about, which is the difference between a press release nobody reads and a campaign that earns coverage, conversation and sales.

3

The DATS Love Languages.

Our own client experience framework. You're matched with your top one or two love languages, the way you feel valued, and we build that into every interaction. It's why our clients stay.

What we believe

Attention you earn beats attention you rent.

Marketing starts with your audience, not your brand.

Long-term beats short-term, every time.

Results matter more than activity.

We are boutique by design.

Tell us what you're building.

Whether you're launching, growing, repositioning or stuck on the next move, start a conversation and we'll tell you straight whether we're the right fit for you.

Start a conversation
Daisy Whitehouse, Founder
daisy@downatthesocial.co.uk