This article comes from WeChat public account: BoF Business Fashion Review (ID: Business_of_Fashion) , author: Alexandra Mondalek, translation: Emily, editing: Christina Yao
Although the PR industry still adopts print and digital media strategies for brand building, some companies have already begun to provide non-traditional services and special businesses in an effort to survive the major changes in the PR industry.
In January, two boutique public relations companies, Black Frame and Siren PR, announced that they would be closed down. Siren PR founder Winnie Beattie (Winnie Beattie) said in a statement: “Since the company was founded in 1999, the industry has undergone tremendous changes. I ’m sorry to announce that we can no longer operate as before. ”Brian Phillips of Black Frame (Brian Philips) Even more outspoken, he told BoF that he didn’t want to do “public relations” anymore.
In recent years, the days of “PR” have been very difficult. Increasing differences between brands and their public relations companies. Clients not only want the agency to become a strategic consultant, social media guru, and data analytics expert, but they still need to be featured in top fashion magazines as in 1999. At the same time, big brands allocate more marketing budgets to the company’s internals, leaving external agencies to die for their cruelty.
Brands still need a large number of external companies to assist them in managing their brand image and reaching customers. But 10 years ago, publicists never expected that the most intensive public relations job would beThese: According to a survey by industry agency International Public Relations Advisory Group (ICCO) , public relations executives believe that the fastest growing areas this year are Data analysis, influencer marketing and content creation.
PR companies must quickly adapt to the status quo of doing more work with less budget. Once primarily assisting clients in promoting advertising campaigns to companies around the world, now they are eager to create content on their own; some companies have even invested in agency brands; connections and media placement are still important, but they have become table bets .
“I don’t think public relations can be considered as a general statement anymore,” Phillips said. “This statement is very broad, but it includes some other independent and professional services … such as copywriting, talent communication, sponsorship development, events, etc.”
Phillips’ Black Frame closed at the end of February, and the founder is already working on the creation of a “creative-oriented studio”. So what’s going on with companies still in the PR industry? We visited some companies that opened up new paths outside of traditional public relations and wanted to hear their thoughts.
Development expertise
In the past, many public relations companies were generalists, and their media strategies for various fashion clients may be similar to those of technology companies. Now, companies are rebranding one after another. In addition to establishing themselves as experts, they have also recruited a group of experts who can lead the brand in unfamiliar fields.
BPCM was established in 1999. Its clients include fashion and beauty brands such as Brock Collection and Shopbop. The company has been on a sustainable path since last year, and in January of this year established a department on cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) . The company invited Lisa Gabor, the founding editor of “InStyle”, to provide luxury branding services for customers in the new department. (Lisa Gabor) It also looks for opportunities for existing customers to enter the cannabis market.
“In addition to engaging in diversification, we must also start to tap into various opportunities and use the stories told by our customers to impress consumers,” Vanessa Van Bismank, co-founder of BPCM”text-remarks” label = “Remarks”> (Vanessa von Bismarck) . “ (if) insists on only sending samples to magazines, and then publishing a large number of press releases … this kind of public relations will not last.” p>
No. 29 Communications bills itself as “a mission-driven communications company.” The company’s co-founder, Iris Ovis, (Erin Allweiss) says she will know if customers can make a positive impact (such as TED conference customers) to screen out potential customers. Ovis and his team will evaluate the materials and supply chain practices they use against consumer brands to ensure their sustainability declaration is “scientific and rigorous.”
By collaborating with like-minded customers, the company has found a cross-pollination way of “cross-pollination” (cross-pollinate) . For example, No. 29 has partnered with environmentally friendly sneaker brand Veja and children’s book illustrator Olivier Jeffers (Oliver Jeffers) to collaborate — —The latter’s picture book “We are here: Earth life notes” (Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth) depicts to children The physical world and its occupation by humans. Ovis said that the joint sneaker series launched by the two customers sold out within 24 hours.
Instead of expanding a long list of customers, it is more important to list the right customers.
“ (Public Relations Company) is just chasing growth, or signing every one of the … customers you may reach, this strategy is actually very Short-sighted, “founder Jess Dries, (Jesse Derris) . His namesake company represents Glossier, Everlane and other direct-to-customer brands.” You need the ability to say ‘no’ to some companies … Only high-quality brands can do it for you in the future. Bring returns. “
Do n’t just be a middleman
Few public relations executives believe that posting pictures on Vogue or (New York Times) Posting the topic is not important at all. According to the ICCO survey, the most common client requests are still media briefings and positive coverage in appropriate publications. Customers believe that these practices will allow sales to soar immediately.
But reports in big media will no longer be enough to support a PR company’s business. Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer big-name print media, and the number of public relations is now six times that of journalists. The media inbox is also like a black hole. Nowadays, online media such as Google and Facebook dominate the advertising budget, instead of Condé Nast (Condé Nast) or Hearst Group (Hearst) . And, through social media, brands are always in direct contact with potential customers.
The goal of PR is to add value, not just serve as a channel for launching new products or advertising campaigns. Many public relations companies today offer brand consulting services or let their creative teams develop ad campaigns.
Cindy Creep, founder of (Krupp Group) , (Cindy Krupp) has established a team of experts covering various services-including VIP and celebrity modeling, events, consulting and digital strategies-these experts provide customers with integrated strategies, not only Focus on media communications only.
“When I first started my career, the company had a public relations department, a marketing department, and an advertising department, but there was almost no interaction between the departments,” said Kerep, who was at 2005 independent portal. “At that time, the work of the departments was almost zero-crossing. Now, all departments are working together.”
Timberland, Longines (Longines) and Lane Bryant are all clients of Coyne PR, and the company ’s joint advertising agency BBDO is Hilton “text-remarks” label = “Remarks”> (Hilton) An advertisement produced by the brand image festival in 2019 (Brand Film Festival ) has gained industry recognition. Praytell is a public relations and social hybrid company with a film production studio that produces documentaries and commercial films for clients.
Every company is rapidly adopting new forms of communication. Crepu set up an online celebrity marketing team named 28Row, focusing on the discovery of nano-type celebrities on university campuses.
It is certain that the company can only start to transform with the promotion of important resources. Black Frame has created highly acclaimed commercials for clients, including Kenzo World perfume ads directed by Spike Jonze and starring Margaret Qualley.
“I am more skeptical of the future of all-inclusive companies, unless they are really large companies with dedicated departments within them that can distinguish and handle a wide range of public relations needs,” said Phillips. Small PR companies need to focus specifically on services that are relatively narrow in scope but have advantages over other companies in order to thrive.
Fashion PR giant KCD has long focused on fashion shows and brand activation services, such as events that make headlines such as Apple product launches. The company has expanded its event business since 2018. Recently, KCD provided front-end coordination services for the opening of the retail development of the (Hudson Yards) at Hudson City Plaza in Manhattan. 15,000 people.
The award ceremony also createdA 360-degree opportunity to control the event-for example, KCD has been coordinating events for the Tony Awards (The Tony Awards) since 2015. Although traditional PR companies may also create event shapes for celebrities, or send public relations personnel to the red carpet to assist media interviews, KCD’s consulting services now cover flow management, red carpet layout, distribution of passes for media, and guest celebrities’ presence Arrange etc. In addition, KCD partner and managing director Richina Shar (Rachna Shah) also revealed that from a global perspective, More than half of the company’s public relations activities are from non-long-term customers.
“The news and social value of hosting an event has become more and more important because the people attending the event are not that important anymore,” said Shar. “The important thing is how they will share the event creation with the world Content. “
All the way to money
Some full-service companies will take a step forward: buying shares in client companies.
This model was pioneered by Dairis (Derris) . As an early investor in online eyewear retailer Warby Parker, he established a venture fund, Amity Supply, in 2017, and has now invested in or bought “before seeds” (Pre-seed) There are nearly 60 fund companies.
BPCM’s Van Bismanck (von Bismarck) started as a financial industry Aligned Endeavors was established for the company at the end of 2019. The department invests in cooperating brands and inspires both parties to work together to help public relations companies increase potential returns.
“For a long time, the biggest problem facing public relations companies is the return on investment. (ROI) ,” said Van Bismank. “If I am an equity partner, I will be more likely to gain insights into their actual sales data, understand website traffic, etc.”
Find a partner
For boutique and medium-sized public relations companies, it is more reasonable to find a suitable strategic partner than to expand the scale.
For example, customers in Europe and the UK still want to take a personal approach to public relations, and networks and relationships may be more persuasive than data. Lucien Pagès Communications is a traditional PR company that primarily serves big brands. The company opened its New York office in December 2018, but still maintains small operations.
“I feel that our people-centred approach is very effective in New York and people pay for it,” said founder Pagès. She adds that the company’s team often shares customers with US public relations firms seeking partners in Europe.
Drex acquired London-based public relations firm Sample in 2019. He said that because the latter has a strong network in the UK, it would take many years to build such a network without the acquisition. He added that the success of the transaction led him to look at other European markets and prepare for companies to be acquired in the future.
Seek truth from facts
Although, as Dreis said, the PR field will definitely accelerate like an arms race and there will be “one-stop companies” that provide full-service services for brands, but it is also important to be careful about the areas of expertise you are good at.
“Of course I think that there are some areas that we will not do, such as brand building and performance marketing. > Wait for a full range of communications services, “Kerep said. “I don’t want to provide these services. Even if it can be an all-around company, it will make us nothing.”
This article comes from WeChat public account: BoF Business Fashion Review (ID: Business_of_Fashion) , author: Alexandra Mondalek, translation: Emily, editing: Christina Yao