As a PR professional, you need to see things through different lenses. In my view, a solid PR plan for a multimedia client has several complementary layers. When launching a smartphone, thermostat or home robot, you target different kinds of journalists and bloggers. On one side are multimedia and technology journalists looking for bits, bytes and a product review. On the other are lifestyle titles such as ELLE and Flair, which will not be won over by technical specifications. For those audiences, you need to put on a different pair of metaphorical glasses.
News spreads faster than ever. Digital snack news is available everywhere, all the time, but quickly disappears to make room for something new. Securing a place in that flow as a major brand is far from easy. The question is how a technology brand earns that place.
At Progress, we work for wonderful clients including iRobot, Microsoft Devices, Netatmo and Sonos. Their products are a little more complex than nail polish or a designer handbag. Thanks to our extensive network of journalists, editors, stylists, bloggers and socialites, we know whom to approach with each story. I firmly believe in personal relationships with these lifestyle writers, women and men alike. You build those relationships by taking an interest in their tastes, interests and style. Nina, Femmes d’aujourd’hui and De Morgen Magazine are not interested in a smartphone’s processor. You engage them through its design, or through the benefits a home robot offers busy mums.
That means looking beyond the standard channels and methods. It takes more than a press release to make a brand the talk of the town. We regularly organise a day of editorial visits to introduce products over coffee and a friendly conversation.
For me, lifestyle PR is about conveying a feeling or an experience. How do you know you are getting it right? When journalists call or email to brainstorm their next feature with you.
One size fits all? That simply does not exist in our profession. For me, that is precisely the challenge. I enjoy swapping my tech glasses for a stylish pair of lifestyle glasses from time to time.
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