Tag Archive for: dtc product coverage

Key Takeaways

  • Consumer PR in DTC models is now reputation and narrative control. In an AI-shaped media ecosystem, storytelling, community, and brand mentions influence both human perception and visibility in Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.
  • DTC gives brands control. PR turns that control into trust and authority. Especially for regulated and high-growth consumer companies, PR shapes how customers, investors, and media understand the brand.
  • Modern DTC PR sits at the intersection of data, storytelling, and high-stakes visibility. It’s no longer just about awareness. It supports funding, market expansion, and long-term brand equity.

The landscape of consumer marketing and PR keeps shifting, and the direct-to-consumer (DTC) model marks one of the most significant transformations of the last decade. Within the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector, this shift has changed how brands connect with customers, control their narrative, and scale visibility.

By bypassing traditional retail channels, DTC CPG companies reshape not just how they sell products, but how they build trust. Public relations sits at the center of that transformation.

Today, PR does more than secure media coverage. It builds credibility, opens direct communication with audiences, and shapes perception across consumers, investors, and increasingly, AI platforms.

To understand the foundational role PR plays in shaping brand perception, see What is Consumer PR.

This matters most for venture funded companies and brands in regulated or emerging industries, where visibility, trust, and narrative clarity drive growth, funding, and market positioning directly.

Understanding the nuances of DTC CPG public relations, particularly for brands navigating funding, acquisitions, or market expansion, matters for companies at every stage of growth. For a closer look at DTC-specific strategy, see our DTC PR services.

The Evolution of Consumer Public Relations in DTC Models

Historically, consumer public relations focused on securing media coverage for products sold through retail channels. Third-party validation in print, television, and later digital media drove consumer behavior, and coverage volume measured success.

As DTC models matured, that definition expanded significantly.

Today, consumer PR means more than media mentions. It means building direct relationships with audiences, creating narrative consistency, and establishing trust across every touchpoint.

At the same time, digital infrastructure gives brands unprecedented control. DTC companies now own their messaging, customer relationships, and data, and that changes how PR functions at a structural level.

In practical terms, PR has shifted from amplification to architecture. It shapes how a brand is understood before, during, and after key moments like product launches, funding rounds, acquisitions, or IPO readiness.

Key Components of Consumer PR

  • Media Relations: Securing coverage across traditional and digital platforms
  • Influencer Partnerships: Using trusted voices to extend reach and credibility
  • Content Strategy: Creating narratives that resonate across owned and Earned Media channels
  • Social Visibility: Managing brand perception in real-time conversations
  • Crisis Communications: Protecting reputation during periods of risk or uncertainty

The Strategic Role of PR for DTC CPG Brands

For DTC CPG companies, PR is not a support function. It’s a strategic driver of growth, trust, and long-term brand equity.

For companies approaching inflection points, including venture funding, mergers and acquisitions, or IPO preparation, PR becomes a critical tool for shaping investor perception and market narrative. For consumer brands specifically, that IPO groundwork has to start years before the roadshow, not months.

Enhanced Brand Control

DTC operations give brands direct control over messaging and positioning. PR ensures that control translates into a consistent, credible public narrative.

Customer Data as a PR Advantage

Direct-to-consumer relationships give brands a data advantage traditional retail never offered: real audience behavior, not assumptions. That data lets PR teams build more targeted strategies and align messaging with what customers actually respond to, not what a media kit assumes they will.

Agility and Market Responsiveness

DTC gives CPG companies the agility to adapt PR strategies in real time and stay relevant as markets shift.

Authentic Relationships at Scale

Direct engagement builds trust. PR amplifies that trust by reinforcing consistent messaging across media, influencers, and brand-owned channels.

The Role of Consumer PR Agencies in High-Growth DTC Brands

Top consumer PR agencies help DTC brands translate product momentum into sustained visibility and credibility. That includes media strategy, but it also means positioning brands for long-term authority.

For venture capital-backed companies, this often extends beyond consumer awareness to investor visibility, acquisition positioning, and pre-IPO narrative development. See how this plays out for real clients on our Success Stories page.

Consumer Marketing Trends Shaping PR Strategy

Personalization

Data-driven personalization lets PR campaigns connect more deeply with audiences, increasing both engagement and conversion.

Sustainability and Transparency

Consumers expect brands to demonstrate responsibility. Purpose-driven PR communicates those efforts authentically.

Technology Integration

AI, augmented reality (AR), and immersive experiences are reshaping how brands tell stories, particularly for technology and AI-driven companies.

For a deeper look at how modern PR strategies evolve alongside AI and generative search, explore Mastering the Art of Consumer PR.

Community Building

Strong communities create long-term brand advocates. PR strategies that build engagement build both loyalty and organic visibility.

Building a Consumer PR Strategy for DTC Brands

Define Objectives

Clear goals align PR efforts with broader business outcomes, from awareness to funding milestones.

Understand the Audience

Effective PR goes beyond demographics to behavioral and psychological insight.

Craft the Message

Messaging should reflect brand values while staying adaptable across channels and contexts.

Choose the Right Channels

Select platforms based on where your audience actually engages, including social platforms and digital ecosystems.

Measure and Adapt

Continuous optimization keeps PR strategy aligned with market conditions as they change. That optimization only works if it’s tied to a real measurement framework, not just impressions.

Launching and Scaling a DTC Brand with PR

Launching a DTC brand takes more than product-market fit. It takes visibility, credibility, and sustained narrative momentum.

For venture funded companies, PR supports customer acquisition, investor confidence, partnership opportunities, and long-term valuation.

  • Budget Efficiency: Maximizing impact through Earned Media and strategic storytelling
  • Media Strategy: Positioning the brand with compelling, timely narratives
  • Digital-First Approach: Using social, content, and influencers for scalable reach

Challenges and Opportunities in DTC PR

  • Maintaining consistent storytelling across channels
  • Meeting rising expectations for transparency and service
  • Managing data responsibly while using it well
  • Balancing speed with strategic clarity

The Future of DTC CPG PR

The future of DTC PR will be shaped by deeper personalization, predictive analytics, and immersive brand experiences.

As data capabilities expand, PR strategy gets more proactive: anticipating consumer needs and shaping narratives before competitors do.

Trust will become the defining competitive advantage, particularly in industries such as healthtech, fintech, and other regulated sectors. Those sectors face a sharper version of this challenge, coordinating consumer and investor narratives at the same time.

The Bottom Line

DTC CPG public relations is no longer just about awareness. It’s about shaping how a brand is understood by consumers, media, investors, and AI systems.

For regulated and high-growth consumer brands, it also plays a direct role in investor confidence, deal momentum, and long-term valuation.

The brands that succeed aren’t just visible. They’re credible, consistent, and strategically positioned. That combination is what gives brand authority measurable value, not just recognition.

Elevate Your Brand with Strategic PR

For emerging industries and high-growth companies navigating the complexities of DTC public relations, the right strategy defines the next stage of growth, especially for companies approaching funding, expansion, or a market inflection point.

Explore CPG public relations services →

Schedule Your Assessment →

 

The Invisible Asset, written by Avaans Media founder Tara Coomans, is the PR ROI framework that builds brand equity, drives valuation, attracts capital, and wins high-stakes moments. It’s built for CMOs defending budgets, CEOs preparing for a capital event, and operators in regulated categories. Get the book →

Key Takeaways

  • Leverage Word-of-Mouth: Encourage customers to share your brand with friends and family, as 27% of consumers discover new brands through trusted sources. Create engaging content that resonates with your audience and provides natural opportunities for them to advocate for your brand.
  • Optimize for Search Engines: Ensure your website is well-designed and utilize content marketing to improve visibility. 31% of consumers find new products via search engines during both the research and buying phases, so high-quality content is crucial for attracting potential customers.
  • Utilize Influencer Marketing: Engage with social media influencers to capture consumer attention across various phases of the buying journey. Given that a significant percentage of younger consumers make impulsive buying decisions on platforms like TikTok, aligning your influencer campaigns with these behaviors can drive sales effectively.

You have a new product to launch. How can you ensure consumers find it when they’re shopping? Marketing experts say the average person sees between 4,000 and 10,000 ads in a single day; everyone of them claiming to be perfectly targeted to your ideal customer. People tune out most ads. But for DTC brands, the ad addiction is real. Why? Because it’s easy to establish direct ROI. Even when brands know the ROI isn’t great, they can’t seem to get off the treadmill because they know what to expect.  And with AI emerging, there is likely to be further disruption in the consumer industry. You’ve worked so hard to create a great brand and a great product. So, if not for advertising, how do people discover new brands today?

 

Give Them a Reason to Talk About Your Brand

Because we’re so inundated with signals and ads, buyers rely on friends and family for suggestions more than ever to help them filter through the choices. Every consumer brand understands the value of reviews, but referrals from friends and family are even more essential. 27% of consumers rely on trusted sources like friends for new brand discovery. Also, the older the target customer, the more likely they are to rely on advice from friends, with GenX (30%) and Boomers (35%) relying most heavily on friends and family.

But giving your advocates a gentle nudge and a reason to share your info with friends is even more important. We see this a lot with referral codes. Still, when a customer wants to advocate for you, or want to tell a friend about you, they aren’t likely going to go digging around for a creepy referral link that makes the receiver think their friend is only recommending a brand so they can save $10. It’s icky.

Instead, think about your content and social proof. For example, write tangential content that’s interesting and useful to your customer, not just about your brand. For example, if you’re a food brand, then write content about your favorite cooking tools in your test kitchen.

Also, when you secure consumer press, celebrate it with your customers. This IS a good time to offer a promo code because it’s one more reason to say to a friend, “hey, this is the skincare lotion you asked me about; it’s on sale,” AND it comes right next to the social proof that backs up your customer’s choice to share your product.

 

Search Engine Love

31% of consumers find new products on search engines. Consumers use search engines during two buying phases: the research phase and the buying phase. You want to be present for both, because that’s how people discover new brands

First, assuming your website is well constructed, and your product pages are well designed, your next step is to embrace the reality of the internet: content marketing. With the latest advances in AI-generated content, creating content for your website has never been easier. Just be sure to review your content and ensure the quality is there because content is often a consumer’s first exposure to your brand. There are countless ways you can use content marketing. Look at the way Sarah Blakely was always the #1 brand advocate for Spanx.

Second, if you sell DTC, use Google’s product review advice to help you build content that matters to customers. Our annual guide has many tips and hints about building consumer content that will help you stand out in search engine results.

But it’s not just owned content that customers love. When potential customers search for products, they’re in the buying phase, and that’s when they’re looking for reviews that jump out at them from search results: reviews by trusted media outlets. This is really important because publishers have massive amounts of content and SEO, so their product reviews are highly visible. And it doesn’t seem to matter if the press outlet uses affiliate links, so long as it’s disclosed. We’ve had clients sell out warehouses full of product due to affiliate links. Notably, affiliate links from friends might seem creepy, but product review affiliate links from media outlets are perfectly acceptable. Why might that be? When you learn about how people view lures and rewards, that’s another reason you must allow your marketing and PR to work together when considering your DTC consumer.

Influencers Gonna Influence

We can’t really talk about DTC PR without talking about social media influencers. It’s not just younger generations turning to TikTok for product discovery. And social networks catch buyer in all three phases – the awareness phase, the buying phase, when they’re researching a product, and the curiosity phase. Ensure your influencer campaigns work for both those phases, and be conscious of how impulsive your customers are when strategizing campaigns with content creators, because buyers are increasingly impulsive on platforms like TikTok.; 65% of GenZ and Millenials make impulse buying decisions at least once per month, compared to 38% of GenX and Boomers.

 

Using these modern PR tips to capitalize on how people discover new brands and tactics will make your investment pay for itself much faster.

Key Takeaways

  • Utilize Multimedia Effectively: Including high-quality images, infographics, and relevant data in pitches significantly increases the likelihood of media engagement. Journalists are 6X more likely to open pitches with multimedia, making it crucial for brands to provide compelling visuals and fresh data to capture attention.
  • Implement Affiliate Programs: Establishing affiliate links for media outlets can enhance the chances of coverage in product round-ups. Many media outlets utilize affiliate programs, allowing products to gain visibility through multiple features from a single pitch.
  • Craft Engaging Brand Stories: To stand out in a crowded market, brands must develop unique and compelling narratives that resonate with journalists. Being responsive and prepared to collaborate on story creation is essential for building strong relationships with the media, leading to better coverage and increased brand visibility.

There are lots of reasons to invest in CPG PR, but no matter the reason, PR is 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 with the 3 Tips for CPG Media Coverage

 

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.

 

Help Journalists Write Google-Friendly Reviews

When a journalist writes a review that Google loves, it’s good for you both. So why not do everything in your power to work with them? Google has very specific parameters around a quality product review, give journalists what they need and they’ll remember you next time.

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 promptly. 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.

 

In Conclusion:

Working with journalists is a lot like working with influencers. It’s important to treat the media with professionalism and humility and when you do so, tips for CPG media coverage will all converge into more media coverage of better quality.

 

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

Key Takeaways

  • Focus on Trust and Awareness: Direct-to-consumer brands must prioritize building trust and awareness through strategic PR. Earned media, particularly product reviews in reputable outlets, can create lasting impressions and enhance brand credibility more effectively than transient social media or cookie-based advertising.
  • Leverage Thought Leadership: Developing a robust thought leadership program is essential for brands seeking visibility. By engaging executives in discussions on relevant topics, brands can enhance their authority and credibility, which is increasingly important for gaining consumer trust, especially among younger audiences.
  • Embrace Digital PR Strategies: Brands should adapt to the evolving digital landscape by focusing on high-quality content and product reviews that align with search engine algorithms. Collaborating with online news outlets can amplify brand visibility and establish trust, making it crucial to integrate digital PR efforts into overall marketing strategies.

We live in a world where ideas, products, and signals come at us so quickly that consumers can’t process everything. Direct-to-consumer brands can still grow—but only with a strategic focus on trust and awareness. With over 5,000 ads per day hitting the average person, subtlety isn’t an option.

The average person now spends 473 minutes per day engaging with media. Add in a post-ChatGPT environment, shrinking newsrooms (down 25% since 2008), and intensified competition for ad dollars, and it’s clear: DTC PR must evolve with the media landscape. Earned media and digital PR matter more than ever.

There are two ways to approach CPG PR:

Holistic approach of communications, digital visibility, thought leadership, and product PR where metrics match key business objectives

Laser-focused approach, which could be consumer product PR or thought leadership, depending on the brand strategy with more PR-focused KPIs.

In an ideal world, all brands embrace a holistic point of view with a complete bespoke PR program. But, by choosing a strategic consumer PR lever, challenger consumer brands can be precise and thoughtful about their earned media.

This is about the laser-focused approach, and consumer brand PR firms must expand their definition of PR to stay useful to DTC, CPG, and consumer product brands.

The Argument for Laser-Focused Media Relations

It’s a harsh world for direct-to-consumer brands to continue growing. For challenger consumer product, DTC and CPG brands – those past startup mode but not a household name – there are an overwhelming number of media options. From Instagram influencers to a dizzying array of advertising choices, the challenger brand has more choices than money. Therefore, it needs to act strategically to do two things at once to scale: build awareness and trust.

That’s one reason PR is the signature choice for consumer product PR: Trust and Awareness.

Trust is the longest game but the most crucial communication goal of any brand. But trust takes a long time to build. Unlike Instagram Influencers (whose influence is waning) and paid advertisements, and the 68% of consumers who think cookie-based advertising is creepy (Marigold 2023), earned media addresses the #1 PR challenge for upstart brands: trusted reach. Whether your target audience is GenZ or a target broader, consumers must trust your brand before you edge in on the market share of competitors or create a new product category altogether, trusted reach is where the smart money goes.

So how do you build trust and awareness when your branding budget is limited? The fact is that branding is expensive, and brands with hyper-growth ambitions need a more direct form of branding.  Indeed, product reviews play a vital role in both trust and awareness, and there’s one way to super charge product trust: product reviews in trusted media outlets. Media coverage has several advantages over other brand awareness options, including stickiness. Unlike a fleeting social media post or a questionably targeted ad, product coverage, especially reviews on online media sites, is extremely sticky, lasting in search results for years.

Owning Content and Messaging with Thought Leadership

Executive visibility has never been more important. A well-developed owned content program isn’t a blog program; it’s a program that embraces all the thought leadership opportunities available to hypergrowth brands today. From blog posts and contributions to emerging topics to the multitude of contributor opportunities to executives willing to share insights with the broader public, thought leadership is ripe with opportunities for challenger brands. This is especially true for younger audiences who distrust established and entrenched brands more than they do startup consumer brands.

A modern owned-content program goes far beyond blog posts. It includes:

  • Contributor articles
  • Executive commentary
  • Insights on emerging topics
  • Participation in expert platforms

Younger audiences increasingly trust emerging brands more than legacy brands. Thought leadership gives challenger brands a path to credibility.

Even when audiences don’t directly read contribution sites, they:

  • strengthen SEO through authoritative links,
  • present executives as open and engaged, and
  • build long-term trust.

According to Edelman, business remains more trusted than government or NGOs, but CEO trust is still fragile. Visibility deepens customer relationships, a key factor Harvard Business Review highlights as essential for consumer-brand success.

Businesses also earned a 20-point increase in perceived ethics from 2022–2023. That makes thought leadership a huge opportunity especially when connected to purpose-driven messaging or leadership values aligned with what 63% of consumers care about: brands that reflect their beliefs.

 

Embrace Digital PR Completely with Product Reviews

Digital-first PR teams stay focused on future-proof solutions, not shortcuts. Google actively adjusts against “work-around” tactics, so brands should align with the system instead of trying to manipulate it.

Influencer trust continues to decline, and many early Instagram-heavy strategies failed due to poor execution. Meanwhile, Gen Z doesn’t trust social media but they use social platforms to find news. And they trust:

  • Cable/network news (49%)
  • Online-only news sites (52%)

These outlets constantly need fresh content—and product reviews drive both traffic and revenue (via affiliate programs). For PR, this is a win-win.

A smart digital PR strategy blends:

  • hero product reviews
  • gift-guide inclusion
  • search-aligned earned content

This is one of the most efficient ways to stretch consumer-product PR budgets.

How Digital PR and Earned Media Work Together

Working alongside journalists to support their objectives is and always will be the objective of media relations. Today’s savvy media relations teams understand how to help digitally savvy online news outlets so that their content surfaces on Google (and AI-driven search like Chat GPT). It goes beyond keywords into the deep algorithm that is Google’s search engine. Direct-to-consumer brands can continue to grow by leveraging Google’s search and trust algorithm for themselves, even within their consumer product PR campaigns. And that search engine is leaning heavily into authority and trust. There are millions of ways to signal that your brand is trustworthy, but one of the most attainable is aligning with Google’s most trusted sources, and that’s where consumer product PR can make the biggest impact.

Upstart consumer brands can become hypergrowth consumer brands by investing in very defined strategic PR initiatives. Connect with us today to learn more about our laser-focused PR programs for ambitious brands.

Key Takeaways

  • Definition and Purpose: Publicity is a specific tactic aimed at gaining media coverage, whether positive or negative, while public relations (PR) is a comprehensive strategy focused on building a positive brand reputation, loyalty, and trust over time.
  • Short-Term vs. Long-Term Impact: Publicity is ideal for short-term media exposure and can be effective for events or product launches, whereas PR is essential for achieving consistent, long-term media coverage and fostering trust with audiences.
  • Strategy Customization: Publicity campaigns often follow similar tactics and can lead to mixed exposure, while PR involves tailored strategies designed to meet specific business objectives, helping brands differentiate themselves and effectively engage with their target audiences.

What’s the difference between PR vs publicity? At first glance, they look the same. Publicity is a specific tactic to attract media coverage, it might be good or bad coverage. Public relations is a holistic brand-building, loyalty building and trust-building strategy that includes positive media coverage.

Should you choose publicity or PR?

Most brands do not subscribe to the “all media coverage is good media coverage” philosophy and want ONLY positive media coverage, which is why most brands choose PR. PR refers to the deliberate efforts that organizations make to build and maintain positive relationships with the public. Public relations will create a path toward media coverage including key messaging, brand positioning, making the news, jumping in on breaking news, and strategizing positive company announcements. A PR strategy may also include a crisis communication plan which is important for any consumer brand, but especially DTC or CPG brands. PR is an investment in your brand’s reputation. If your business goal is to be the #1 brand against your competitors or to secure investment that launches you into hypergrowth, then you’ll definitely want to choose PR.

Publicity is a narrowly focused goal, any form of media coverage or exposure for an organization or individual. And it might be OK for a brand that just wants to get into gift guides, for example. That would be an example of publicity without the added benefit of public relations. If your key messages are solid, and you don’t need any additional help building the brand’s trust or loyalty, or your long-term reputation isn’t important, then publicity may be an option for you.

Long Term or Short Term Media Coverage?

Publicity is great for a blast of short-term coverage. Something consistent with a calendar event, or a word-of-mouth campaign with a celebrity for a product launch. Publicity is also great if your brand is willing to do “anything” for media coverage. Stunts in Times Square or the Santa Monica pier often get coverage simply because of the location and the unexpected commotion. That’s publicity. Another example of publicity is an April Fools stunt.

If you’re looking for consistent press coverage regardless of whether you have a product launch or an activation, then you definitely want PR. PR will enable your brand to build trust with your audience, while also building loyalty with your existing customers.

Rinse & Repeat or Bespoke?

Publicity tactics are very similar to one another. Your publicity in gift guides, for example, will also share coverage with other products and possibly even competitors. Think of a publicity campaign as a short-term boost to secure coverage, regardless of quality. If you simply need additional exposure for a specific period of time in order to get noticed by potential customers or clients, then publicity may be a cost-effective solution.

In contrast, public relations will develop custom strategies to build and manage your reputation, reach key audiences and achieve your business objectives through strategic messaging and tailored PR campaigns. With the right PR firm on your side, you can effectively reach your target audiences, build positive relationships with key stakeholders, and stand out from the crowd in today’s competitive marketplace.

 

Many people think public relations (PR) and publicity are synonymous, but there is actually a clear distinction between the two terms. If you’re interested in discussing the difference with Avaans, please contact us, we will help you decide based on your business goals and budget, which type of media coverage is best for you.

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