How my favourite PR Campaigns Can Help Your SME to Grow and Thrive

My favourite PR campaigns that I’ve worked on.

I’ve been around the PR block, that’s for sure. And I’ve also made a very deliberate decision throughout my career in Public Relations not to pigeon hole myself. So I’ve worked on a wide variety of clients, from pressure washers, to tampons. From wine start-ups to recipe box delivery services and super cool kids prints.  I’ve always believed that exposing myself to lots of different industries would make me a better PR as you have to be more creative and less formulaic (and bored).

Here are five of my favourite campaigns I’ve worked on:

• Karcher – Cleaning the London Eye. The first people to clean the London eye ever, this was an epic one. The Karcher team spent a month every night cleaning the outside of the eye.  It was no mean feat, but they’d previously cleaned Mouth Rushmore, so they knew what they were doing.  We got coverage everywhere from CNN, ITV, Mail Online and every other national and so much more.  It was such a brilliant thing to be part of and really helped Karcher to establish themselves as a leading cleaning brand in the UK.

• HelloFresh – I absolutely loved working with HelloFresh. The team were a dream to work with and we got to do so many interesting things with them. From working on campaigns to promote their family box with an epic event at HQ, telling their business story to launching their first cook book. I learnt so much and got to meet and work with some brilliant people who I’m still doing things with today.

• Fearless Flamingo – I started working with the incredibly talented Charlie just as she was starting her business designing motivational prints for children. The media loved her!  I secured some lovely PR for her which I really think helped to boost her confidence and show her she was doing the right thing.   A few years on and she’s running an incredibly successful business and left her day job to do it full time. Go Charlie!

• Lil-Lets – this campaign was all about getting teenagers talking. And we won awards, And I got to work with Paloma Faith, who is utterly amazing and as genuinely lovely in real life as she appears. Girl Crush. Sometimes the most mundane products can lead to the most interesting PR activity.

• SmearForSmear – Jo’s Cervial Cancer Trust. This was an awesome campaign. We encouraged women to smear their lipstick and take a pic of it to raise awareness of the importance of going for your smear test. We had some amazing celebs take part including Cara Delelvinge , Rita Ora and Georgia May Jagger, plus thousands of ‘normal’ people .  And most importantly they saw a surge in the number of people booking smear tests. Result.

• Secret Spa – I absolutely loved working on this incredible business at the start of their journey. The founders Emily Ewart-Perks and her brother Rider Latham are forces to be reckoned with.  Emily had the idea for the business whilst on maternity leave when she couldn’t find beauty appointments that fitted with her children. So she started a business that brings the best in the business to your home. Genius.  We worked with her to profile the business to build up a portfolio for investment. The business today is soaring and I’m very proud of what they’re achieving.   

And how does this help you?

You’re a small business without a big PR budget.  Well I’ve been doing this for a really long time and I know how it works. It’s not rocket science.  You might not be able to float a duck down the Thames or team up with a celeb to launch a product. But there’s plenty of things that you can do to get exposure for your business and I can show you how (that’s exactly why I’ve launched this business – to offer flexible ways for small business  to do their own PR – whether that’s through the DIY membership, or my Ready Set Go packages.

Here’s why now is a great time for your small biz to be PR-ing itself:

• The media has changed, they no longer just want to write about the big boys. Consumer habits have shifted and people want to know about SMEs. They want to support local businesses and small, indie brands. We Brits love success stories and championing people. So now is your time.

• There are so many different ways you can PR your small business. As well as media relations, there’s collaborations, guests blog posts, social media influencers, panels, events and speaking opportunities. Awards. And so much more.  I know it probably feels overwhelming now but I can help you see the wood for the trees, I promise.

• You have a story to tell. You may not think you do, but you do. I promise. People are interested in stories. It’s what makes the world go round. And what you’ve learnt in building your business, or why you wanted to build your business, or what you did when things went wrong and you picked yourself up and started again. These are all stories that people want to hear about.

• PR is accessible. When I first started all those years ago (dramatic pause), it was really hard to get cut through if you weren’t a big business paying a PR agency a lot of money. Well things have changed, you can DIY PR it yourself. You just need to learn a few skills and bobs your uncle.  DIY PR at its best, with me behind you every step of the way. So let’s chat!

• There are so many opportunities. I know people are lameting the decline of the print media industry. And it’s true there are lots of magazines closing. But there’s still an awful lot out there. And there’s huge number of niche titles that have launched in the past few years. If you get the right ones they are perfect for reaching your target audience.  Plus I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: PR isn’t just media relations. There’s so many different ways you can do it. 

Ready? Let’s chat about ways that I can help you. Just get in touch here.

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