Skuna Sauna Bristol Pop‑Up: Making Waves in the South West
Skuna Sauna offer a unique immersive sauna experience, offering a space to unwind on the water, a floating moment of heat, calm and connection. An experience that brings people together through wellbeing and the simple joy of slowing down.
Key challenges
Having established the Skuna Sauna business in Canary Wharf, Skuna Boats to deliver a sellout pop-up event in Bristol over the 16 days of operation from 20th November- 14h December.
With only 20 November to 14 December for operation, visibility and demand needed to grow quickly. Skuna required immediate awareness, sustained buzz and strong word‑of‑mouth to sell out the limited session availability.
A core ambition was not just to run a successful pop‑up but to lay the foundation for a permanent Bristol site. This meant building meaningful regional relationships with organisations, charities and community groups, quickly and credibly.
The work
Purplefish delivered a strategic regional campaign built around PR, influencer partnerships and community engagement.
We developed a narrative that aligned Skuna Sauna with Bristol’s thriving wellness and lifestyle culture, presenting it as a must‑visit winter experience and bringing a Scandinavian‑inspired concept into the local consciousness.
We produced and pitched three targeted press releases, launch, business-focused and post-sell-out, securing 16 pieces of editorial coverage. Titles included Bristol Post, Bristol 24/7, Yahoo UK, MSN UK, Visit Bristol and Insider, achieving a combined reach of more than 986 million.
We hosted a media and influencer event aboard the sauna boats, giving creators first-hand experience and enabling them to produce authentic high-quality content. This included lifestyle, fitness and wellbeing influencers, generating reels, stories, reviews and click‑through interest that shaped early booking behaviour.
Alongside driving media and consumer awareness, we identified key stakeholder targets across the city, including local organisations, charities and community groups, and proactively engaged them to build meaningful regional connections. This included arranging and facilitating meetings between stakeholders and the Skuna Sauna senior team, helping establish trust, explore partnership opportunities and embed Skuna Sauna within Bristol’s cultural and wellbeing landscape.
The impact
The results were immediate: the entire pop‑up sold out within its first week.
Established new regional stakeholder relationships, including connections with local organisations, charities and community groups, supporting Skuna Sauna’s long‑term ambition for a permanent Bristol presence and strengthening its integration into the city’s wellness and cultural ecosystem.
More than 150 Google reviews followed, almost a third five‑star showcasing strong customer advocacy.
Positive media sentiment and influencer momentum pushed the experience to the top of Bristol’s winter must‑do list.
Media overage secrued across Bristol Post, Bristol 24/7, Yahoo UK, MSN UK and more, reaching over 986 million.
A packed media and influencer event generated high‑quality content shared with a combined audience of 306,000+
Testimonial
“Purplefish played a pivotal role in making our Bristol pop‑up a sell-out success. It’s regional expertise, strong media connections, and creative influencer engagement ensured Skuna Sauna became a must‑visit experience, leading to a completely sold‑out pop‑up event.
“The team’s proactive approach and seamless organisation delivered outstanding coverage and amplified our brand visibility across Bristol and the wider South West. Crucially, through Purplefish’s advocacy and extensive networks across business, community and media, Skuna Sauna has also been well positioned for future growth and long‑term success.”
Stuart ‘Tommo’ Thomson, CEO and Founder, Skuna Sauna