Tag Archive for: consumer goods PR agency

What Defines a Public Relations Expert

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What makes someone a public relations expert? In a world where the definition of PR  can be wildly vast, how can one person be an expert in everything? I would propose there are many types of experts, and you need them all in your ecosystem because they support one another and you in different ways. This identification methodology works for any agency. Fundamentally, it’s why agencies exist: to connect you to experts. Finding an agency can be a real drag – and ultimately, what’s most important is who will be on your team. An expert team is the difference between PR success and PR flops. But if you’ve never hired a PR agency, you might be confused about what to look for in a PR agency. Ultimately, an agency is only as good as its team. So, what should you be looking for in an outstanding PR agency team, and what defines a public relations expert?

 

PR Strategist Experts

This is the most senior of PR experts. They’ve probably worked their way through multitudes of specializations from B2B Tech PR to Consumer PR and verticals. They’ve seen content platforms come and go, understand the ebb and flow of media, and dialed in enough to ideate on the spot while having a big enough picture to discuss plans a year or more in advance.  Because they know today’s dynamic communication environment, strategists are typically fans of data-informed strategies.

PR Strategists can also evaluate time/trends/budget to provide insights on what to expect and how to improve outcomes. No one likes it when I say, “Anything is possible with the right combination of time and trends,” because it makes it sound like things are out of your control. They are and aren’t – PR strategists are excellent at reading the tea leaves and providing recommendations that mitigate risk and optimize opportunity.

In short, your PR strategist expert has a 100,000-foot view of the media landscape and how a particular company can stand out.

PR Strategies Experts are defined by these attributes:

  • uses data to inform strategies
  • defines metrics and KPIs within the context of time and budget
  • maintains knowledge of current and upcoming platforms
  • understands the impact of current news, economy, and policy on an array of verticals 
  • has extensive business experience with a variety of outcomes, from raising capital to increasing awareness to IPO and investor relations

Account PR Experts

Account experts see the big picture of multiple moving parts and know how they fit into the strategy. As a more on-the-ground PR expert, they’re funneling up day-to-day information and news to make sure everyone is engaged in changes that may require shifts in the plan. PR Account experts are also most engaged with the client’s brand – they’re the de facto voice for the client in an agency. They should have the clearest understanding of who the brand is and isn’t and can articulate brand guardrails to ensure any work represents the brand. Account PR experts will also likely identify brand inconsistencies and recommend corrective actions.  As strategic implementors, they will be the first to identify impracticalities and challenges to a strategy and will work directly with a PR strategist to develop a pivot where it’s needed.  PR Account experts are outstanding communicators and are proactive with ideas and collaboration, as well as managing timelines and campaign calendars.

PR Account Experts are defined by these attributes:

  • understand how daily indicators may impact strategy
  • identifies and mediates day-to-day challenges in the implementation
  • acts as a brand defender within the agency
  • can identify brand inconsistencies and recommend remedies

Specialist PR Experts

There is a perception that specialists aren’t as experienced as strategists. That isn’t necessarily the case. Our 100% executive-level team includes specialists with 10 and 15 years of experience in their specialty. Specialists love a specific part of PR and communications and focus on it exclusively. Whether that specialty is something like influencer management, ghostwriting, media relations, or social media, the PR and marketing world needs expert PR specialists. They’re the most engaged on the ground, and they can tell you things like emerging topics over the last 24 hours, trending hashtags, or whether anyone is even using emojis anymore. Experienced PR specialist experts understand the ebb and flow of tech; they know how to navigate the details and have tactical solutions and ideas on ways to polish outputs for the audience, platform, or trend. Without PR specialist experts, everything would feel less personalized, on-trend, and ham-fisted. The specialist takes strategy and gives it life.

Your agency team may have numerous specialist PR experts. For example, you could have a technical SEO specialist, a media relations specialist, a social media or community management specialist, or a cyber security mitigation specialist who helps you plan for a PR crisis.

Specialist PR Experts are defined by these attributes:

  • deep understanding of platform communication intricacies
  • deep understanding of the key players within a topic
  • can identify trends and articulate their importance to the strategy
  • can quickly navigate multiple technology platforms

Having a team of PR experts at your disposal is critical to PR success. Every member of your team has an important role to play, and every role adds perspective to the strategy and implementation. Part of the Avaans Media white glove experience is tailoring your team to your strategy from startup through IPO. Talk to us today about your specific PR expert needs.

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3 Martha Stewart PR Lessons For Consumer Brands

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Perhaps one of the greatest PR stories in history is about lifestyle icon Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart’s PR playbook is vast, and it’s nimble. She knows how to stay modern and adjust her PR strategies to the cultural temperature. From her early days as a model turned stockbroker turned caterer, Stewart has shown an uncanny ability to tap into our culture and even our forgiveness. Martha Stewart’s PR lessons for any consumer brand work from product promotion to thought leadership; Martha Stewart has PR lessons for every consumer product entrepreneur.

She Owns It
Martha Stewart became a consumer and lifestyle scion because she boldly suggested ambitious ideas without apology. She knows who she is and she knows when she leans into it, it captures the imagination, creates conversation, and gives her brand character.

In the early days of the insider trading accusations, the press skewered Martha Stewart for conducting interviews on a kitchen set. One journalist called it comical and said it was a bad PR move because it connected the scandal to her lifestyle image. But looking back at it, that was a fantastic choice. Martha Stewart always maintained her innocence throughout her trial and sentence. By calmly and coolly talking about the situation on her home turf, doing things she was comfortable doing, she takes the air out of the accusations and speaks straight to her fans. Stewart’s famously coy aloofness also helped. When she smiles, there’s always been this subtext that she knows more than she’s telling. That’s her superpower, and it leaves everyone hanging on for the next great recipe or design idea. Martha’s clever use of mystery is PR wielded in an expert fashion, despite over-exposure to her consumer products.

Skewered as she was, Wall Street believed in her. While she was in prison, her Martha Stewart Living (MSLO) stock jumped 70%. When Stewart emerged from her five-month jail sentence, she didn’t hide as many people would have. She went straight to the daytime talk shows and showed everyone her ankle bracelet. By the time she launches her show, a mere six months after her release, she premiers the show as “free and unfettered,” now that her ankle bracelet is gone. Throughout the entire experience, Stewart refused to be shamed, even when she was found guilty. It takes courage to pull that off, but Stewart never wavered, and it worked for her.

She Says “Yes”

There are two strategies for building a brand. The first is cool aloofness, and the second is relentless exposure. Stewart is the second. Being a caterer sounds like a sexy job but also incredible work. But Stewart kept saying yes. As a caterer, Steward contributed to The New York Times and served as the newspaper’s food and entertainment editor. Six years after launching her successful celebrity catering company, she published her first book and never stopped working. She publishes more books—99 at this writing, a monthly magazine, and pre-and post—jail time TV shows, not to mention thousands of media interviews and call-ins to everyone from Howard Stern to Sirius talk radio shows after launching her talk radio show, Martha Stewart is the hardest working woman in show business. Build success upon success; that’s this PR lesson for consumer brands.

But it’s more than that. She makes her brand work for her, instead of working for her brand. Stewart elevates accessible partners like Kmart and Walmart with affordable lifestyle merchandise without losing her aspirational panache. The Martha Stewart PR lesson for consumer brands is to create an aspirational brand and then make it accessible once the brand is established.

 

She’s In on The Joke

Another consumer product PR lesson is to partner wisely. At 80 years old, she partnered with Snoop Dog in ads for Bic lighters. Again, her coy presence gives it charm, while Snoop Dog gives it an edge. Their partnership created more press than the lighter itself, but I don’t think Bic minds sharing the real estate with two completely different lifestyle icons.

When Stewart was sentenced to jail, Saturday Night Live famously debuted a cold open of a topless Martha Stewart. Her response? Once she was released from prison, she was mad that her parole officer wouldn’t let her host the famously cheeky show. She’s said that one of her “big (career) regrets” is not hosting the show yet. Martha Stewart knows certain cultural touchstones resonate and lock in your place in lifestyle history – SNL is one of those, and she’s not done reaching.

Martha Stewart was always in on the joke, and that allowed her to have fun with her brand – another excellent consumer product PR lesson.

Still the “Guru of Good Taste,” Martha Stewart knows she’s not 42 anymore, but she also knows she can bust down boundaries with her timeless approach to humor.

Bazaar magazine called her the “original influencer,” the New York Times called her ageless for her “coquettish, goofy, rambunctious video ads” for Cle’ de Peau, a makeup brand, on TikTok.

Martha Stewart has been celebrated, vilified, laughed at, and skewered, but with a remarkable eye on PR, she’s turned all of that into an asset for herself. Today, Martha Stewart Living Omnicom is a publicly traded company worth billions, and she has a net worth of around $400 million. From thought leadership to consumer product scion, Martha Stewart has captured our imaginations with savvy consumer PR strategies.

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3 PR Goals for CPG Brands You Can’t Ignore

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CPG brands have seen a lot of success in recent years, and PR is a big part of that. But it’s important for CPG brands to set goals with their PR agencies.  Brands looking for CPG PR agencies may not know where to start or have had an unpleasant experience with a PR firm. For the best CPG PR results, we recommend starting with clear goals. 

Lifestyle publications are always looking for the next hottest CPG product, and PR has driven much of that awareness. Here are three goals CPG PR agencies should pursue in order to maintain that success:

  1. Increase brand awareness among key demographics

For increasing brand awareness, PR agencies should focus on key demographics. These are the groups of people that are most likely to be interested in the CPG brand’s products, and targeting them with well-crafted messaging can cause more conversions.

Work with your PR agency to identify ideal media outlets and podcasts for your target audience. Prioritize the efforts and understand that there will be some easy opportunities and there will be some larger goals to set. 

Discuss your big hairy goal with your CPG PR agency too. Understanding the ultimate definition of success – it might be acquisition or investment, for example – will help define the long-term strategy. 

  1. Increase conversions through targeted content marketing campaigns

Content marketing is another important tool CPG PR agencies can use to increase conversions. By creating targeted content that speaks to the interests of their target audience, CPG brands can convince more people to buy their products. And when it comes to garnering media attention, there’s no better way to achieve success than by getting featured in top lifestyle publications.

Let your PR firm help you if there isn’t enough capacity in-house to create owned content. Even if your PR firm doesn’t offer content creation services in-house, they’re guaranteed to know an entire range of outstanding media creators from blog posts to video. 

  1. Garner more media attention for successful CPG campaigns and products

Media relations is a critical service for CPG PR. Many companies think these media relation is the only service of a PR firm. That’s not true, but it is often one of the driving KPIs for brands, especially CPG brands when hiring a PR firm. 

Each of these goals is important in its own right, and pursuing them all will help CPG brands reach new heights. However, it’s important to note that they shouldn’t be pursued in isolation; the CPG PR agency should always work towards integrating all three goals into a cohesive strategy.

These goals are important for CPG brands, but someone must pursue diligently and consistently them if they’re going to be successful. The CPG PR agency should always work towards integrating all three goals into a cohesive strategy. Only then can CPG brands reach new heights and continue their success.

 

Read more about our CPG experience and our proud CPG case studies.  And if you’re looking for a CPG PR agency, we’re happy to talk with you about our distinctive approach to PR success.

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