direct to consumer brands

Product PR for Holiday Gift Guides

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Whether your product is beloved or brand new, it will benefit from PR during elevated buying seasons. Yet, not all consumer brands want long-term contracts. That’s exactly why we’re reinventing PR with our Sprint Packages –  Product PR for Holiday Gift Guides.

These PR sprints are a consumer brand’s dream: consistent press coverage during key buying seasons without long-term PR contracts.

We’re breaking all the rules with these packages, and we’re doing it so it’s easy for consumer brands get the coverage they need to grow their brand without long-term contracts.

Our product PR for holiday gift guide sprint packages includes our extremely successful history of placing consumer products in lifestyle publications as diverse as Rolling Stone, Self, Popular Science, Engadget, and even the Today Show. 

FAQ:

What are the Product PR Sprints?

They’re special because they offer micro contracts alongside competitive pricing to give DTC and CPG brands a competitive advantage during the most important consumer buying seasons.

When are the Sprint Seasons?

Our DTC and CPG sprints center around two key buying seasons: holiday (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday) and spring (Easter/Passover/Ramadan, 420, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Pride), with even shorter add-on sprints for mid-winter (New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day) and mid-summer (4th of July, Back to School, Pool/Beach Season).

What’s Included in Product PR Sprints?

We will pitch an unlimited number of products to an unlimited number of lifestyle and consumer magazines that your target customers are reading.

 

These packages are easy for you to implement and give you the lasting results that come from your product appearing in media outlets your customers are reading! The added benefits are countless: SEO, visibility to investors, and best of all – coverage that never goes away. And you can maximize these PR wins with our simple recommendations.

Editors and journalists plan content months in advance (yes, even in the digital world), so it’s never too early to plan for your most important buying seasons.

Request More Information on Product PR Sprints Here

 

 

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Meet Jake Wall of Maison Bloom Cannabis Beverage Brand

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Meet Jake Wall, his passion for innovation is apparent in his latest offering, Maison Bloom, a cannabis beverage brand. Jake’s innovations are fueled by his passion for human-centered design, which are apparent in his consulting firm, Playtpus and as Chief Innovation Officer at cannabis beverage brand Maison Bloom. Jake is well-known as a cannabis industry leader and his commitment to a “people-first” attitude is a white light of positivity for anyone who has the chance to work with him.

 

First, a little background about you:

I’m the Chief Innovation Officer and leading Design Thinker at MAISON BLOOM.
French Sensibilities. California Cool. We are cannabis with a twist.
We bottle the good life… and the good life is meant to be shared.

I also serve as the Chief Innovation Officer at PLATYPUS – an uncommon mix of different. PLATYPUS is a human-centered cooperative that takes the best practices of design thinking to unlock new marketplace opportunities. This unique and dynamic team of thought leaders steers their own destiny through designing, developing, and deploying products, services, and solutions. Taking my own 25+ years of expertise across multiple industries and combining that with my cohorts, we are driven by the simple premise that life cannot be lived to its fullest without vision, lifelong learning, and facing the challenges of our modern society head-on by endeavoring to serve others in new and innovative ways.

My unconventional exploits have been met with profiles in BizBash, Inc.com, San Francisco Chronicle, WWD, Marie Claire, and Huffington Post. Through my previous companies and roles, I have helmed award-winning innovation teams that have worked alongside Lincoln Motor Company to launch their Black Label special edition, famed Napa Valley vintner and entrepreneur Jean-Charles Boisset to bring Haute Couture French Bubbles to market, and collaborated with marquee philanthropic organizations like Walt Disney Family Museum and Human Rights Campaign for groundbreaking awareness and fundraising events and experiences.

Prior to Avec Bloom and PLATYPUS, I had the luxury of working with esteemed innovators like culinary leader Chef Michael Mina and social and content thought leaders, including Richard Rosenblatt and Orkut Buyukotten. My passion for design thinking and human-centered design has allowed me to work across technology, fashion, hospitality, consumer products, and services including the developed several startups including a market-leading luxury fashion design house and retailer which was featured on “Project Runway,”  and E! Entertainment’s “Fashion Police.” I volunteer with several local and national community and arts-focused opportunities, including the Human Rights Campaign and The Walt Disney Family Museum.

At MAISON BLOOM and PLATYPUS, we replace the ordinary with extraordinary alternatives that you never knew you always wanted.

 

When did you first start working in cannabis?

January 2020.

What were you doing prior to cannabis?

I was the Chief Marketing Officer for MINA Group and worked diligently to refresh celebrity Chef Michael Mina’s global empire for a greater audience, including Millennials and Xennials.

Do you sit on any industry boards or associations that you’d like to mention?

NCIA – Marketing and Advertising Committee 2020/2021 + 2021/2022; Trailblazers Presents DEI Advisory Board 2022

 

What lesson did you learn BEFORE cannabis that’s been most valuable in cannabis?

Of all the places and spaces I have operated in, one of the biggest lessons in life came from my experience on Project Runway and being in an environment and series of challenges where one cannot say no. One must just soldier on find inspiration, overcome the challenge of making, and execute… all under the watchful eye of rotating cameras and an attentive public eye in a tiny window for each challenge. This experience of “no” not being an option really galvanized my dedication that anything is possible if you simply put your mind to it and push forward.

 

Is there a particular cannabis project you’d like to highlight?

The work on beverage formulation and creation innovation that we do at MAISON BLOOM always brings a smile to my face because we do it with consumers at the center of all that we do. Human-Centered Design has empowered leading companies like Apple and Dyson where the consumer is at the center and they built the products around their use cases. But in cannabis… HCD is a bit more of a foreign language. We tend to build products for our own personal tastes and use cases and then hope to find a market after that.

At (cannabis beverage) MAISON BLOOM, we have worked hard in partnership with key powerhouses like our partners at Vertosa and Sonoma Hills Farm to lift as we climb together and create cannabis’s first true offering that is strain-specific, single barrel, and whole plant allowing us to treat cannabis more like a chef treats spices and herbs to create layered flavors and functional experiences.

What’s the biggest misconception cannabis companies have about cannabis branding, advertising, marketing, PR, and social media?

The industry often likes to highlight that they don’t think brands matter.

But we fail to keep in mind that the legal cannabis industry is still young and we are moving into the space where brands are more relevant when true experiential brand offerings are created and deployed.

Not since “Field of Dreams” has there been a better example of “If you build it, they will come,” than this current shift in consumer mindset and opportunity for companies to give consumers what they never knew they always wanted.

 

In your view, what are the biggest cannabis PR, branding/marketing/advertising challenges facing cannabis companies today?

Truly placing end consumers at the center of product development, branding, and related touchpoints. To supercharge great direct to consumer offerings that work symbiotically with established retail sales to increase consumer loyalty and maximum repeat purchasing so that the entire cannabis ecosystem of business partners wins versus being in a more combative/competitive ecosystem.

What will get easier in cannabis PR marketing/branding what will get harder?

It will get easier to tell authentic stories and maximize social media and digital channels when more cannabis offerings are true brand experiences because there is more to “advertise” and “promote” than just the cannabis-based products which are currently problematic in these spaces.

It will get harder to exist as a brand without greater collaboration with partners. It is important to treat all players in your ecosystem with respect, as this is a difficult industry to operate within. To race forward without trusted partners and a tight circle of mutually beneficial “lifting as we climb” in collaboration across all levels of the supply chain will only handcuff growth. Companies need to build trusted pathways with trusted partners that ensure reliable growth and acceleration for all parties. Doing so will continue to be even harder, but the payout for short to long-term growth is going to be the proverbial silver bullet.

What can companies do to alleviate their branding/marketing/PR/advertising challenges?

Move away from trying to be everywhere and instead designate some core channels and offerings that are most authentic to their brand, their offering, and their abilities and focus there. Only once you deliver a solid funnel and can clearly show your own ROI and understanding of the channel/offering will you be able to make it so that you aren’t just spending money, but you are making money.

In your view, what is the most under-rated tool in the cannabis branding/marketing/advertising/PR toolbox for cannabis companies?

A clear consumer-focused direct-to-consumer fulfillment channel executed by the company, including full suite communication support (email, text) to consumers.

In your view, what is the most over-rated tool in the branding/marketing/advertising/PR toolbox for cannabis companies?

Billboards. They are for wayfinding and beyond that one is just throwing money away. Brands try and treat billboards like they can be used for anything and the truth is, you can put anything on them but that doesn’t mean they will resonate or be effective.

What’s the BEST piece of advice you give everyone you work with?

This is cannabis. We are writing new rules as to what is possible each and every day. Push yourself to do your best work. Push the industry forward by doing your best work. Because if better exists, we always want to go with better.

What’s your advice for people who want to get into cannabis marketing/advertising/pr/branding?

As Dorothy might say… “You’re not in Kansas anymore.” This is a wacky and weird world that is often figuring itself out as it goes along. Rules and regulations can and do change just as you get used to them. Realize that in this world, you are going to need to embrace learning while doing and you will be constantly iterating towards greatness. In cannabis more than anywhere else, everything is a process and one that is evolving in real time.

 

Thank you for sharing these fantastic branding insights, innovation and leadership tips with us, Jake. How can others in the cannabis industry get in touch with you? 

Jake Wall Linkedin 

Jake Wall Instagram

Maison Bloom Instagram

Maison Bloom Website 

 

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3 Tips for CPG Media Coverage

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There are lots of reasons to invest in CPG PR, but no matter the reason, it’s an investment and you want your efforts to pay off, which is why you’re hiring a top-rated PR agency in the first place, right? Whether you’re trying to educate your customers about a distinctive ingredient, improve customer loyalty, invest in brand value or want a more straightforward approach to product inclusions in holiday gift guides, PR is not a set and forget it strategy, you can radically improve your outcomes with these three tips.

Maximize Your DTC or CPG PR

 

Multimedia for the Win

49% of journalists want pictures with the pitch. Owned media is an important tool for earned media. Having a variety of images of your CPG product images, both lifestyle, and product shots are helpful to busy journalists who don’t have time for multiple back and forth emails. Sometimes having the ideal lifestyle shot makes all the difference for busy editors who need a header shot for the story. In fact, journalists are 6X more likely to open pitches with multimedia, that’s a huge improvement when you consider that over half of journalists receive 50-100 pitches, PER DAY.

Images are the most common multimedia inclusions, but you can stand out with infographics, and social media posts too.

And data. Data is key. 39% of journalists want relevant data in the pitch. The funds for investigative polling are all but gone, if you conduct a consumer or industry poll and have fresh data, that’s news. And you can use that data in multiple ways, both for your own inside strategic planning and to secure media coverage.

Affiliate Links…For Journalists?

It’s not exactly news that media outlets are reshaping their revenue sources. Modern PR agencies understand the world is moving faster than ever and everyone in the media space is pressed for time and revenue.

For CPG or DTC products, having an affiliate program for media outlets increases the chances your product will get coverage in round-ups. Almost all media outlets are using affiliate links on their coverage, everyone from the Today Show to your local morning show. Being able to include an affiliate link in the coverage means your product may receive multiple pieces of coverage from one pitch.

Be Story Ready

When every company says it’s unique or revolutionary, it’s not eye-catching anymore. In fact, 100% of journalists roll their eyes when they see those words, because about .05% of the time, it’s true.

If you’re looking to leverage PR for things like features or newsjacking, be ready to help shape, inform and create the stories that will be attractive to the media. Even if you really DON’T have “any competitors,” you STILL need a story to get deeper more important coverage.

One PR professional said it best in an anonymous interview with Digiday: “It’s not enough to just be a disruptive DTC brand anymore. Brands need to figure out who they are, why they’re doing something so innovative and then work with us to tell that story.”

Your PR company needs to know that when they schedule a meeting with a journalist, you will respond in a timely manner. 1 in 4 journalists will block a publicist who fails to respond within the same day or a given deadline. If you’re not able to be available for journalists, say that upfront, to save face with journalists.

 

All statistics are from Cision State of Media Report 2022, unless otherwise noted. 

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Is 420 PR Campaign Worth It for Cannabis Brands?

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Should your cannabis company double down on a marketing or PR campaign during 420? It’s popular for marketing firms and PR agencies to develop elaborate campaigns during this famous cannabis holiday. But is it worth it?

Maybe.

Who Are Your Cannabis Customers?

It depends on what kind of cannabis business you have and who your customers are. Today’s cannabis buyers aren’t ALL celebrating 420. Lots of people have to go to work, take care of kids, or have other responsibilities that still happen on that day – but they might view 420 promotions to stock up on their favorites, either before or after the day itself, but they might not be particularly engaged with a 420 PR campaign.

For example, if you’re a cannabis dispensary, your core customer is probably expecting discounts. But they’re also getting discounts from every other dispensary, and probably a few brands. Would you get more bang for your buck with a “prepare for 420” campaign, or maybe a “replenish your stash” campaign AFTER 420?

In 2021, the Eaze Cannabis Report identified several days that were bigger sales days than 420 – and a lot of those holidays are all but ignored by many cannabis brands, while journalists are still looking for holiday gift guide inclusions.

If you’re a 420 B2B company, you probably know better than to run any kind of promotion to your B2B cannabis customers – it’s a time of year that is particularly stressed for cannabis brands with consumer customers.

Can You Create a Splash?

What about CPG cannabis brands? A lot of cannabis brands will use 420 as an opportunity to create a word of mouth or cannabis PR campaign. But is that the time for your brand? If your idea shows an incredible understanding of your community, or is truly newsworthy, then it very well may be a great time to grab that coveted coverage, but it probably comes at a diluted share of voice against your competitors.

Does Your Budget Compete?

Is a 420 PR campaign even in your budget? If you don’t have a budget that competes with your aspirational competitor, then you might very well be better off developing an omnichannel or a PR campaign at a different time of year, that gives you a great share of the attention. Think about what Amazon did with Prime Day, and consider ways you could own a day when no one else is looking.  It’s one way you can make your PR budget go further.

Or you could look at 420 to open the conversation with a whole new audience through a guerilla marketing or word-of-mouth PR stunt that creates buzz.

Activism and impact are a core part of the 420 culture. 420 might be the start of a year-long purpose-driven initiative for one of the many social and cultural causes important to your community.

There’s no right or wrong answer to whether of not a 420 PR campaign is right for your brand. It’s more a matter of whether 420 fits in with your strategy.

 

 

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Should DTC Brands Join the Metaverse?

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Because of the competitive nature of customer acquisition, hyper-growth DTC (D2C) brands are always looking for ways to improve word of mouth and awareness. So it’s no surprise that a lot of fast-growing DTC brands of all sizes are asking, “should we join the metaverse?” The answer to should DTC brands join the metaverse naturally depends on several external factors. From an awareness and PR perspective, there are some considerations before DTC brands joining the metaverse.

What Have You Learned From Watching Other Brands?

Brands like Nike, Warner Brothers, Gucci, and Wendy’s are already in the metaverse. Have you watched these brands closely and experienced their ventures? CMOs and founders intrigued by the metaverse and its opportunities should be sure to sit back and watch a bit. What worked, what didn’t? What inspiration can you take from these digital experiences? Notice many of these ventures are co-branded, which is a great way to double the potential audience size – so what partnerships would enhance the digital introduction of your DTC brand? Gamers are already intimately familiar with NFTs and Virtual goods, so what games appeal to your audience? From breakfast cereal to gaming super powers to fashion add-ons there truly are endless ways for DTC brands to join the metaverse.

Have You Tried Virtual Goods Yet?

46% of consumers haven’t bought a virtual good yet because they don’t understand how it works and 35% might try it if it comes from a brand they trust (full report here). Those two considerations are a lot to unpack. But if your customers are curious early adopters, AND they trust your DTC brand, a great way to test the waters is to experiment with virtual goods (NFTs) like music, memes, or even artwork.

If your customers are curious, but midrange adopters, maybe you set the stage and start educating your consumers a bit, adding to that trust bucket so when the day comes for your brand to fully invest, your customers are ready to come on the journey with you. . The key to intriguing your customers to start their virtual good collection is to pair it with another passion or interest. Virtual goods like avatars or virtual event tickets are easy enough to understand to most consumers, even if they aren’t ready to use them or engage with them yet.

There’s a tremendous value in being the trusted brand that takes your customers by the hand to introduce them to the digital landscape that will make social media look like a flash in the pan.

What Will You DO Once You Get to the Metaverse?

With something like the metaverse, the end goal isn’t to BE there, it’s to activate there. Given that for most consumers, the metaverse is just some vague notion they don’t know how to even access, you’ll need to take stock of where this lands on your priority list. If your customers aren’t in the 18-34 age range of typical NFT purchasers, then this is a pretty big consideration.

Now, if your only goal is to be an early mover, and you have the bandwidth, that is the financial and team resources to do so, by all means, go for it, it’s an interesting brand move right now and it may even get you some press. Media coverage over brands with placement in the metaverse won’t garner attention for long – the metaverse will be as common as having a website and social media. And yet, even now, simply being in the metaverse itself doesn’t garner media attention. You’ll want to activate in some interesting, notable way. The options are endless, but keep in mind that your audience is likely to be small, but starting with a metaverse experience is a great way for the brand and its customers to connect in the virtual world.

 

The “Ready Player One” vision of the metaverse isn’t quite here yet. For one, adoption hasn’t reached a tipping point yet, but it won’t be long. Today’s consumers are now used to moving into new platforms every few years and the metaverse will follow a similar trend of other platforms: younger people will start, but soon their parents will follow, then their parent’s friends. Instagram was the domain of the youthful for a long time, then its users expanded; for TikTok that process was much faster some of the most vibrant TikTok hashtags belong to GenX, and they’re in their 50’s already. The metaverse is coming, tomorrow’s brand will be there.

As a digitally forward PR firm, we can help you maximize the digital world. Give us a call. 

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3 Publicity Lessons Female Founders Can Learn from Sara Blakely

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Sara Blakely didn’t become one of the most admired female CEOs without taking her public image seriously. Blakely credits her publicity-savvy approach to her grass-roots success that launched a billion-dollar exit.

Sara Blakely became notable for being one of three female founders to exit in 2021. In 2012, she made headlines as one of the first female billionaires when Spanx was valued at over $1 billion, because she retained 100% ownership, had zero debt, and to that point had never spent a dollar on advertising. Blakely wasn’t lucky. She is smart and from the start, dialed into earning trust and word of mouth. Blakely was so PR savvy she patented Spanx early because she saw it as a marketing lever. She knew actions can translate to media coverage. Consistently, Blakely refined and perfected three key strategies she credits to her success.

Tell Your Story Relentlessly



One thing Sara Blakely did immediately is take control of her own narrative. Sara knew: if you don’t tell your story, someone else will.

CEOs who take a personal interest in their brand’s success always generate better coverage. Blakely never took the “fake it before you make it” stance in the press. She took her failures and turned them into stories about resilience. Her career-focused and ambitious customers could relate to her humble fax-machine sales beginnings. Blakely famously said she’s “game for anything,” and it’s the company who has to reign her in.

Blakely celebrates her female strengths, recently claiming she ran the business from “intuition, vulnerability, and empathy,” which recently led to an acquisition by private equity firm Blackstone in November 2021.

From the start, Blakely refined her story, kept it authentic, and told it over and repeatedly. She never deviated from her why, and she never glossed over speed bumps or failures. That’s why, despite her elite success, women the world over related to Blakely. Her approachability gives her another lever to pull, she can celebrate her wins and women celebrate with her.

 

The Not-So-Overnight Success of Product Placement

“We always had PR and grassroots marketing at the forefront of what we did. It was getting the word out any way we could: speaking engagements, sampling,” said Spanx CEO Laurie Ann Goldman.

In the halls of famous breakthroughs, The Oprah Effect is perhaps one of the most celebrated. With Spanx, when Oprah included them on her list of favorite things, for many women, it was the first time they’d heard of the product. But Sara Blakely had been sending celebrities, stylists, and female icons Spanx samples from the very beginning, and she wasn’t cheap about it. Blakely sent full gift baskets, with enough product to make sure every celebrity had enough to get through the week, no matter how intense their appearance calendar was. By the time Gwyneth Paltrow said on the red carpet that Spanx was her post-baby-body secret in 2003, Spanx was already a well-known insider secret. “Word of mouth and the media are so much more powerful and believable, so that’s the route I went,” said Blakely.

Blakely knew: place your product consistently, earn the trust of celebrity influencers, and it pays off. It looks like an overnight success, but in fact, Blakely had been doing product gifting for years, and she did it with class.

 

Absolute Customer Clarity

Blakely knew: if you’re for everyone, you’re for no one. When she first started sending celebrity gift baskets, she targeted Oprah because she was open about her weight challenges, and Kim Kardashian because of her famous booty. Despite her success in famous retailers, direct-to-consumer sales are at the heart of the Spanx expansion, making up 70% of its sales, which means Spanx has to develop deep relationships with their target customers.

If you look at Spanx coverage over the years, Blakely was disciplined about keeping to her “why.” Customer clarity allows Blakely to stay focused on her “why,” which is a much more appealing story than a product story.

Blakely’s approachable voice is another key to the brand’s relatable success – she talks to her consumer the way they talk with their friends, from packaging to interviews, she just gives us enough to relate to her. Even her extravagances seemed relatable to her target market. You never hear about Blakely’s car or vacation homes. Instead, you hear about relatable splurges like when she bought Olivia Newton John’s Grease outfit; clothing her target market clearly remembers, and one that showcases a spectacular derriere.

Employing these three CEO publicity strategies doesn’t guarantee a billion-dollar business, but it does guarantee that you will get noticed. Everyone from consumers to venture capitalists and private equity firms like to know there’s a story there, and potential for brand affinity. The Spanx brand couldn’t have become so iconic without these three remarkable publicity strategies.

This contribution originally appeared on Entreprenuer.com

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