Client: Stannah
Reframing stairlifts as a design statement through a bold influencer partnership
955K
Total social reach driven by influencer content
2.82m+
Earned media reach generated through influencer-driven coverage
51%
Increase in SoV across the stairlift category
Campaign overview
Stannah partnered with Dame Zandra Rhodes, one of Britain’s most recognisable fashion designers, to launch the premium Stannah 158 stairlift through a creative PR activation designed to challenge long-standing perceptions of mobility products.
At 85, Zandra Rhodes remains a defining figure in fashion and design culture. Her colourful aesthetic, cultural influence and engaged social following provided a unique opportunity to present the stairlift not as a symbol of decline, but as a confident design decision.
Through a carefully planned influencer partnership and editorial storytelling strategy, the campaign positioned accessibility within the language of style, independence and vibrant later life. The result was national media coverage, social amplification through Zandra’s audience, and a measurable shift in how stairlifts were discussed across media and social channels.
The brief
Stannah has spent over 150 years helping people continue enjoying their homes. Yet stairlifts remain burdened by stigma. They are often perceived as purely medical devices, associated with loss of independence rather than enabling it.
The launch of the Stannah 158 provided an opportunity to change this narrative.
The product had been designed as a premium, design-led stairlift with sleek aesthetics and industry-first features intended to blend seamlessly into modern interiors. But design-conscious consumers often delay stairlift adoption because of the category’s clinical image.
The campaign brief was clear:
Launch the Stannah 158 in a way that would reach design-aware audiences
Secure image-led editorial coverage in national, lifestyle and design media
Shift brand perception from medical necessity to design choice
Increase share of voice against key competitors
To succeed, the campaign needed to move beyond traditional mobility messaging and introduce the product to audiences who had never considered stairlifts relevant to them.
Planning for success
The insight was simple
If the barrier to stairlift adoption is perception, then the solution must be cultural.
Bottle proposed partnering with an individual whose personal brand represented style, creativity and independence in later life. Someone whose authority would immediately reframe the category.
Dame Zandra Rhodes was the perfect choice.
For over five decades she has been one of Britain’s most distinctive fashion designers. Her work has dressed royalty, rock icons and global celebrities. At 85 she remains active, creative and unapologetically vibrant.
Importantly, the partnership was authentic. Zandra genuinely needed a stairlift and welcomed the opportunity to install the Stannah 158 in her London home. That authenticity allowed the collaboration to move beyond endorsement into genuine storytelling.
Her engaged Instagram community of over 100,000 followers also represented the exact audience the campaign sought to reach: design-conscious consumers who value creativity and individuality.
This strategic choice unlocked a new media narrative. Rather than pitching a mobility aid, Bottle could pitch a story about design, independence and ageing with style.
Campaign creation
The in-home shoot: the campaign content engine
The centrepiece of the campaign was a photoshoot and editorial interview conducted in Zandra Rhodes’ iconic London residence, often referred to as the “Rainbow Penthouse”.
The Stannah 158 was installed in her home and integrated naturally into the visual storytelling of the space.
This location offered a perfect creative contrast: bold interiors, colourful fashion, and a stairlift positioned not as a compromise but as a seamless part of the environment.
To maximise the impact of the shoot, Bottle PR collaborated with a Getty photographer and produced a suite of visual assets designed to work across multiple channels.
These included:
Editorial photography for national and lifestyle media
Social-first video content including POV reels
Collaborative Instagram content for Zandra’s audience
Behind-the-scenes imagery for ongoing brand storytelling
Having Bottle’s in-house creative team present during the editorial shoot allowed the team to capture additional assets specifically designed for high-performing social formats.
The result was a single shoot that produced a continuous stream of content across PR, social and owned channels.
Channel strategy
The campaign followed a structured channel hierarchy designed to maximise reach and credibility.
Earned media: Priority
High-impact editorial features positioned Zandra and the Stannah 158 within lifestyle and design narratives.
Talent social channels: Amplification
Zandra’s Instagram audience extended the reach beyond Stannah’s existing community and introduced the product to new audiences.
Sector trade media: Extension
Coverage within industry publications reinforced credibility and authority within the mobility sector.
Influencer activation
Content featuring Zandra using the stairlift became the centrepiece of the campaign’s social performance.
Key content formats included:
POV video reel demonstrating Zandra’s experience using the 158
Collaborative Instagram announcement post shared across brand and talent audiences
Behind-the-scenes content from the shoot day
The collaborative announcement post quickly became one of Zandra’s strongest performing posts of the year, an uncommon outcome for branded collaborations.
The post also attracted engagement from members of Zandra’s celebrity network including fashion designers and cultural figures.
This organic engagement significantly extended the campaign’s reach beyond paid distribution.
The results:
The campaign delivered measurable results across media, social engagement and competitive brand visibility.
Influencer performance
955K
Total social reach driven by influencer content
New audiences
unlocked among design-focused consumers
3,214
Engagements across campaign posts
#1
Collaborative Instagram post became one of Zandra’s strongest performing posts of the year
Earned media coverage
3-page
spread in Metro – a first for stairlift coverage in a national newspaper
16
pieces of earned media coverage
2.82M
estimated coverage views
Coverage across lifestyle, design and accessibility titles including:
Design Insider / Independent Living / The Telegraph / THIIS (front cover)
The Telegraph coverage also syndicated to Yahoo and MSN, further extending reach.
SoV Impact
The campaign produced a significant shift in category visibility.
Share of Voice increased from 45% to 68%
Key competitors lost visibility during the campaign period
Stannah emerged as the clear category leader in media coverage
Brand perception shift
Perhaps the most important result was qualitative.
Media coverage and social engagement demonstrated a clear shift in the narrative around stairlifts.
The Stannah 158 was increasingly discussed as:
A design-led product
A symbol of independent living
A natural addition to a stylish home
Rather than reinforcing stereotypes around ageing and mobility
Why the campaign worked
The success of Stannah LiftStyle Icon came from a simple but powerful idea.
When a category suffers from perception challenges, product features alone cannot change the narrative. Cultural relevance must lead the conversation.
By collaborating with Dame Zandra Rhodes, the campaign reframed stairlift ownership as an empowering design decision rather than a reluctant necessity.
The result was:
national media coverage where stairlifts had never appeared
strong social engagement from new audiences
a measurable increase in category share of voice
And perhaps most importantly, a new cultural context for accessibility products.
Don’t just take our word for it..
“Partnering with Dame Zandra Rhodes allowed us to tell a completely different story about stairlifts. The campaign opened doors to design and lifestyle media that had never previously covered the category and helped reposition the Stannah 158 as a product people could feel proud to have in their homes.”
- Stannah Marketing Team
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