If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you probably know that I created this new service at the agency – NATA PR SCHOOL – to teach you how to combine public relations with social media and your digital (online) strategies.
Today, I felt like sharing a model of exceptional success with you. We at the agency are privileged to have begun working with a young brand of vegan handbags just a few months ago. In short order, we’ve expanded its reach and boosted its sales phenomenally. And since this is the perfect example of what I’m teaching you, I’d like to tell you about the key points in this success story.
- Four years of work online to develop an engaged community and serve customers (some have become real fans) who buy the brand’s new products every season.
- A continuous combination of online and media articles (including a spot on a reality TV show about entrepreneurs, Dragons’ Den, a kind of Shark Tank, for our friends in the US).
I’m not going to delve into every area here. I may cover that in another podcast.
I’m going to focus on the ongoing intense work that’s brought the company to a point today where it’s accelerating its growth.
Before we worked together, the brand had already formed close ties with many influencers, one of whom had taken part in a reality TV show in a very limited market, namely Quebec (a Canadian province where French is the official language). This influencer, propelled by reality TV, has maintained close contact with her followers.
Are you wondering where public relations fits into all this? I’m getting there.
A collaboration was already underway with this influencer when we began our PR work for the brand. The question was how to launch this bag in the media while giving her all the space we could, despite her very busy schedule of events and launches.
My first question was whether we could combine a press event with a shopping event in the influencer’s hometown. Next, we had to make sure the brand had enough fans in that city to invite them to meet the influencer and give them the new handbags as a bonus.
Our client’s response: “Yes, we do have a large share of our fans living in that city, and they often ask us when we’ll go and meet them.”
I was thrilled with this response. Local media are often quicker than national media to take an interest in a well-known influencer. So we opted for a local strategy.
Local TV was a major ally here. We managed to convince them to come and meet this influencer in her own city along with the brand’s founder. The story exceeded all our expectations: special coverage at the scene of the event, with relevant editing and a prime-time broadcast on the evening news.
The combined effect of social media and traditional media literally sent sales skyrocketing. In 24 hours, the company’s biggest sales day had increased five-fold.
The moral of the story is: It can be done!
And that’s exactly what we teach at NATA PR SCHOOL!
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