How Joe Public won and delivered a PRCA-nominated B2B PR campaign for Suntory’s Minus 196

As a food and drink PR agency we were absolutely bouncing off the walls when we were appointed by Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I to lead an integrated FMCG B2B communications campaign for its Japanese ready-to-drink brand, Minus 196.

Since winning the brief, we’ve gone on to create and deliver the National Big Freeze – an earned-first campaign that has been shortlisted for Best B2B Campaign at the PRCA UK Awards 2026. It is our first completed campaign and first campaign award nomination since Joe Public launched in February 2026, which makes us incredibly proud.

Minus 196 takes its name from its signature Freeze Crush Technology™, which sees whole fruits frozen with liquid nitrogen at -196°C, crushed into a powder and infused with vodka, soda and shochu.

Our original brief was to build retailer advocacy and shopper demand at the same time, translating the brand’s cultural energy into a commercially focused B2B and trade PR campaign.

The integrated approach connected culture, consumer behaviour and retail relevance, bringing together trade PR, shopper marketing, media, social and out-of-home activity in collaboration with Minus 196’s wider agency roster.

Amy Searle, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Joe Public, said: “We were immediately energised by the opportunity to work with a brand that owns such a distinctive cultural space and has built genuine momentum in the UK market.

“What excited us most was the chance to translate that cultural heat into an earned-first trade campaign that could work across disciplines and move seamlessly into the shopper world. To see the resulting work shortlisted for Best B2B Campaign at the PRCA UK Awards is a brilliant moment for our team.”

Aoife McGuigan, Head of Category Expansion at Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, said of the appointment: “Joe Public immediately understood the scale of the opportunity for Minus 196 and presented a response that felt both strategic and creatively ambitious. Their thinking combined cultural insight with clear commercial understanding, and they brought a level of integration and channel thinking that really stood out.”

Read the original announcement about Joe Public winning the Minus 196 brief here.

Ruth Kieran - CEO & Co-Founder

Ruth has over 25 years’ experience helping consumer brands win with shoppers and retailers across the UK and APAC. Named PR Leader of the Year by PRCA and listed in PR Week’s Power Book for seven consecutive years, her food and drink experience spans Organix, BEAR, Gü, PepsiCo, Ferrero and Britvic. She has also led crisis management for Burton’s Biscuits, Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee and Pets at Home. In 2022 she led the sale of Cirkle, building it into EMEA Creative Agency of the Year. Ruth’s Bio.