The 10 Most Disruptive PR and Marketing Agencies 2021 August2021

www.insightssuccess.com

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At Faktenkontor, we have built up a good image in the German-speaking world through reliable and

2021 vol 10 ISSUE 00

excellent work.

#Info Age Decoding MarTech: All you need to know!

Constant Change Five ways how digital marke ng is taking over

Dr Roland Heintze | Managing Partner

Leading Clients towards Zeniths through Fact-Driven PR Strategies

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www.insightssuccess.com

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At Faktenkontor, we have built up a good image in the German-speaking world through reliable and

2021 vol 10 ISSUE 00

he internet has seen a huge evolution over the past few years. The digital marketing sector is ever-growing and has started to provide better ROI to all kinds of businesses. It has seen faster developments and is one of the most profound marketing techniques to promote businesses, brands, or products.

Whether you are a startup or a well-established brand, employing digital marketing techniques will be highly beneficial to your business. You can’t ignore or overlook the significance of digital marketing in this internet-crazed world.

excellent work.

#Info Age Decoding MarTech: All you need to know!

Constant Change Five ways how digital marke ng is taking over

Dr Roland Heintze | Managing Partner

Leading Clients towards Zeniths through Fact-Driven PR Strategies

Marking Your Presence in the Digital World

Hence, in this online world, if you want to put your product or service in front of your target audience, it is important that you engage with them through the right channels. After all, Digital Marketing is all about matching the content with the right channel at the right time for optimal results.

Today, Digital Marketing has evolved into a broad term that covers a wide array of practices and tools used to help a product/service acquire a high ranking in various search engines, improve visibility and increase traffic to a site.

Without any digital help, it might not be possible for your business to make an online presence which is crucial these days if you want to generate targeted traffic and convert visitors into paying customers. PR, SMM, SEO, PPC, Email Marketing and Advertising are the most used Digital Marketing Channels for achieving specific business objectives.

strategies of their clients in order to raise brand awareness and market their products or services effectively.

Here, Insight Success has unveiled the latest catalog of the Most Disruptive PR and Marketing Agencies with a strong foothold in the industry. These organizations have a proven experience with these services and have therefore been successful in providing the best to their clients.

There is no doubt that each digital marketing channel is vital in order to promote your business. However, businesses need someone who acts as their catalyst to make things happen. That’s why you must choose an experienced and reliable PR and Marketing Agency for your business.

There are many public relations agencies that work to attract customers’ attention towards companies by using different PR strategies. By generating informative and highquality content, they work hard to enhance their clients’ businesses. These agencies also improve the promotional

Sumita Sarkar

08 Cover Story

Faktenkontor GmbH Leading Clients towards Zeniths through Fact-Driven PR Strategies

Articles 22 #InfoAge Decoding MarTech: All you need to know!

36 Constant Change Five ways how digital marketing is taking over

Contents 16

26

Matte PR

Milk & Honey PR

Elevating Clients With Impactful PR

Distrupting the PR Space with a coustomer-centric Apporoach

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40

The PR Department Inc

Yulu PR

Empowering Companies through A Commitment to Excellence

Powerful Storytelling, Purposeful Outreach, Profound Impact

Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar Senior Editor Anish Miller Managing Editor Abhishaj Sajeev Assisting Editors Trishika, Yash Visualiser David King Art & Design Head Priyanka Rajage Art & Design Assistant Rohil Shinganapurkar Co-designer Paul Belin Art & Picture Editor Rahul Shinde Business Development Manager Sherin Rodricks Marketing Manager Joseph D'souza Business Development Executives Kelly, David Sales Executives Mark, Alice Technical Head Jacob Smile Assistant Technical Head Amar Sawant Technical Consultants Pratiksha, Aditya, David Digital Marketing Manager Alina Sege Assistant Digital Marketing Manager Amol Wadekar SME-SMO Executives Gemson, Renuka Research Analyst Eric Smith Circulation Manager Tanaji sales@insightssuccess.com

November, 2021 Corporate Ofce Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-859-2600 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

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Company Name

Management

Brief

1Milk2Sugars Inc. 1milk2sugars.com

Priya Chopra President and Founder

1Milk2Sugars Communications is a marketing & communications agency, brewing the brand building stories of tomorrow.

Axia Public Relations axiapr.com

Jason Mudd CEO and Managing Partner

Axia Public Relations is the expert public relations firm selected by Forbes magazine as one of America’s Best PR Agencies for 2021.

Brookline Public Relations, Inc. brooklinepr.com

Shauna MacDonald Principal and Founder

Brookline Public Relations, Inc. is one of Canada's leading boutique public relations agencies with a superior track record for planning and executing award-winning public relations programs.

CASACOM casacom.ca

Marie-Josée Gagnon CEO and Founder

CASACOM is a leading independent Canadian public relations and integrated communication firm, driven by data.

Faktenkontor Group faktenkontor.de

Dr Roland Heintze and Jörg Forthmann Managing Partners

Faktenkontor Group supports its customers with proven industry expertise in using convincing content to navigate the right platforms, be it print or online, and the target groups relevant to them to move to action.

Matte PR mattepr.com

Heidi Ruggier President

Matte PR is an award-winning public relations firm working to deliver insights and identifying opportunities by bringing talent together across departments.

Mekky Media Relations, Inc. mekkymedia.com

Michelle Mekky CEO and Founder

Mekky Media Relations is a boutique public relations agency providing expert guidance in publicity and communications strategies based on trusted experience, innovative ideas and personalized attention.

Milk & Honey PR milkandhoneypr.com

Kirsty Leighton Founder and CEO

Milk & Honey PR is an energetic London, New York and Sydney based PR agency. Managing and nurturing reputations for ambitious growth companies.

The PR Department Inc prdepartment.ca

Brigitte Foisy President

The PR Department Inc partners with its clients to become part of their team-their internal "PR department"-and work together to achieve their communications and marketing objectives.

Yulu Public Relations yulupr.com

Melissa Orozco CEO and Chief Impact Strategist

Yulu is an award-winning PR & impact relations agency with a mission to champion social innovation by sharing stories that matter.

Leading Clients towards Zeniths through Fact-Driven PR Strategies

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We power fact-based communications strategies for our clients and support them in reaching and maintaining sustainable reputation goals.

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PR and Marketing is the evident answer and has an inherent power that cannot be disregarded. And this edition by Insights Success, The 10 Most Disruptive PR and Marketing Agencies 2021, place the spotlight on organizations that have built unwavering expertise around the niche.

In our endeavour towards seeking such innovative companies, we crossed paths with Faktenkontor GmbH, is a seasoned PR consultancy group exhibiting its proficiency in catering to likes of corporate communications, topic leadership and reputation management.

In the following interview, Dr Roland Heintze, the Managing Partner at FaktenKontor shares with us in detail about the company's journey in the PR and Marketing space and his opinions about the market that the company caters to.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Please brief our audience about Faktenkontor, its USPs, and how the company is currently positioned as a leading player in the PR and Marketing space.

Faktenkontor is a PR consultancy

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In addition to our core consultancy services, we are a campaigning powerhouse for strategic digital communications and content creation.

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H

as it ever occurred to you how the world's most renowned brands became so? How were they discovered by people in the first place, before even becoming their favourite brands? It is most certainly the quality and authenticity of their products and services, but the question remains, how did people know about these USPs?

group with more than 18 years of experience in corporate communications, topic leadership and reputation management. We rely on the power of facts, because if you have nothing to say, you won't be heard – neither by journalists and multipliers nor by your own customers.

We power fact-based communications strategies for our clients and support them in reaching and maintaining sustainable reputation goals. Our teams of specialized experts support companies in financial services, healthcare, consulting, and technology.

Faktenkontor takes a holistic approach, always taking into account traditional and digital media as well as personal relationships. Our track record in crisis communications stands out exceptionally. We employ AI-supported methodology for our individually tailored analyses. And in addition to our core consultancy services, we are a campaigning powerhouse for strategic digital communications and content creation.

In short, Faktenkontor distinguishes itself from other players in the

German PR sector through our strictly fact-driven approach to tailoring holistic communication strategies. Our mission: Excellence create values.

What other services does your company offer, and how are these making an impact on the industry and your clients?

Faktenkontor is one of the fastest growing agency groups in Germany.

Part of our Group is Munich-based Akima – specialized in tech communications. Deep digital are our experts for digital strategy and execution. The IMWF Institute provides artificial intelligence analysis and evaluation of large data sets.

We can thus offer our customers all the services they need. From the analysis of the target group and the topics that are important for the company, to the creation of communications strategies and campaigns. Kompaktmedia specializes in political communication and social marketing.

The aim is to win new contracts in the public sector and expand existing ones.

Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on what impact have the adoption of modern technologies such as AI, big data and machine learning had on the PR and Marketing niches and what more could be expected in the future?

Faktenkontor is a pioneer in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data analysis in the Germanspeaking area of PR with the founding of the Institute for

Management and Economic Research (IMWF).

The introduction of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and Big Data contribute to the possibility of individual target group analysis and precise reputation measurement. This allows PR measures to have more impact, as the corporate environment, public opinion, target group and trends can be precisely defined. It is thus possible to carry out personalised PR measures.

Content and topics can be identified that are dangerous or useful for corporate communication. This information is generated from millions of internet articles or posts.

Another example of the impact and importance of artificial intelligence is social listening. Based on an AIpowered radar, it measures in real time how the reputation of individuals and companies Faktenkontor is increasing its investments in artificial intelligence.

Thus, the tools for AI research, which also include market, media resonance, and communication environment analyses, are being further developed in a targeted manner. They form the basis of the agency group's consulting business, especially in reputation management and crisis defence AI helps to ensure that a campaign is successful and will become prevalent in PR in the future.

So, in the next few years, the work in PR will change significantly with it.

PR will merge with disciplines such as marketing, research, advertising, etc. into a single data-driven corporate function controlled by algorithms.

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We are very confident that we will achieve our goals in 2021 and be able to develop further in areas such as artificial intelligence or political communication.

Taking into consideration the current pandemic, what initial challenges did you face and how did you drive your company to sustain operations while ensuring safety of your employees at the same time?

For Faktenkontor, the pandemic brought about some changes. We had to develop a hygiene concept for around 140 employees. We made it possible for many employees to work from home office. This way we reduced the number of people in the office and could continue to be a reliable contact for our clients.

Initial small challenges were also quickly solved. The coordination of employees on projects was carried out via Microsoft Teams. Likewise,

the close exchange with our clients via communication software, as travel and personal appointments were no longer necessary. Due to the flexible and quick adaptation to the pandemic, it was possible to ensure close, trusting contact with our clients. All employees were guaranteed health and professional safety.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the PR and Marketing space?

One thing has become clear time and again: the PR industry will also change significantly in the next few years. There are several reasons for this, such as advancing digitalisation,

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the greater importance of artificial intelligence and big data, and the development of companies and society.

That's why it's hard to advise budding entrepreneurs. At Faktenkontor, we have built up a good image in the German-speaking world through reliable and excellent work. By expanding our capabilities in certain areas, e.g., with the acquisition of TIQ Solutions 2020, we have positioned ourselves very professionally ready.

Nowadays, a broad professional base is of enormous importance in the PR industry. Competition is tough and only those who can back up their recommendations with numbers are successful.

How do you envision scaling Faktenkontor's operations and offerings in 2021?

The development of the last few years shows a clear trend at Faktenkontor: we are growing!

We have been able to increase our turnover from year to year, Faktenkontor now employs over 100 people in Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, and Berlin. Just in 2020, the Berlin agency Kompaktmedia joined the Faktenkontor Group.

Even despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to defend and expand our position in the PR industry in 2021. We want to continue to design successful, goaloriented, and fact-based PR for our clients. We are very confident that we will achieve our goals in 2021 and be able to develop further in areas such as artificial intelligence or political communication.

About the leaders Dr Roland Heintze is a political scientist and managing partner of Faktenkontor GmbH. He completed his studies in political science and history at the University of Hamburg. After a sound journalistic education, he worked as a freelance journalist, among others for leading Die Welt, Welt am Sonntag and Financial Times Deutschland.

From 2000 to 2003, he worked as press spokesman for Mummert Consulting AG. In 2003, Dr. Roland Heintze founded what is now Faktenkontor together with Jörg Forthmann. In 2013, he completed his doctorate at the Humboldt University in Berlin on the topic of e-campaigning and the role of the internet in party election campaigning in Germany. From 2015 to 2020, he was chairman of the Christian Democratic Union in Hamburg, from 2004-2015 he was member of the state parliament of Hamburg.

Dr Roland Heintze is responsible for sales and the consulting business of the Faktenkontor Group. Together with his team, he develops communication concepts and realizes the concepts in successful campaigns.

Jörg Forthmann is a graduate industrial engineer and managing partner of Faktenkontor GmbH. He received his journalistic training at Axel Springer Verlag. After that he worked as a freelance journalist for the Hamburger Abendblatt and as a PR consultant in Hamburg, among others. He then worked in the press and public relations department of Nestlé Deutschland AG. During this time, he managed communication crises as a result of plant closures, food extortion and genetic engineering disputes with NGOs. Since then, Forthmann has actively accompanied more than 100 crises communication. His field of work included corporate, brand and crisis communication. From 1999 to 2002 he was head of corporate communications at Mummert Consulting AG. In 2003, Jörg founded Mummert Communications, now Faktenkontor, together with Dr Roland Heintze. Jörg is responsible for the analysis and acquisition of new customers and sales markets.

Jörg Forthmann is responsible for analysis, artificial intelligence, and the business development of the group. Together with his team drive our digital innovation and opens up new sales markets. As author and editor of articles on crisis communication, he also leads seminars on press relations and crisis communication.

& & 20 The

Most

BUSINESSWOMEN to Watch, 2020

kimberly Khoury

Paving her Way in Sustainability Development

Elevating Clients With Impactful PR

B

rand building is an essential practice for a business to have great goodwill and expand the business further. In today’s world, digital media plays a crucial role in accomplishing this task. However, it is important to understand what direction to go in to have the right media coverage.

Matte PR is a firm that specializes in building a reputation for its clients. It is a 360° consultancy working to deliver insights and identify opportunities by bringing talent together across departments. Through results-driven campaigns, the firm assists clients to improve their public relations and identify opportunities to expand.

Matte PR is headed by Heidi Ruggier, the Founder and President.

In the following interview, Heidi tells us about the company’s journey, her opinion about the current scenario of the PR & Marketing space, and her future vision for the company.

Please brief our audience about Matte PR, its USPs, and how the company is currently positioned as a leading player in the PR and Marketing space.

Matte PR is a full-service public relations agency elevating leading global brands and local independents. We drive success through securing quality strategic placements on traditional and digital media platforms. Our programs are structured to drive brand awareness and growth through thoughtful, dedicated public relations.

We are privileged to work with brands like Afterpay, Engel & Völkers, nixit, Toronto Fashion Incubator, and more. We

also represent independent fashion brands like Hania Kuzbari Jewelry, Unknown Articles, and Yap Sister Studio.

Matte PR is brought to you by the hard work and collaboration of an eclectic group of people. One thing we have in common is our commitment to leaving the world a better place than we found it. It’s important to us to be mindful of our relationship with our community, both local and global. This is why I created THE DEAL, a give-back pledge that sees the company donate 3% of its annual revenue to causes important to people and our planet.

First, we are proud partners of 1% for the Planet. That means 1% of your purchase with us is distributed to a group of important environmental organizations. Treating people with dignity and respect while working towards equity, no matter what is important to us. This is why we choose to give 1% to Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), an international humanitarian aid organization dedicated to helping the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Lastly, 1% is donated to Canadian organizations fighting for LGBTQ2S+ rights, women’s rights, racial equity, and ending homelessness.

What other services does your company offer, and how are these making an impact on the industry and your clients?

Our integrated approach to communications combines media relations, digital, e-commerce, and creative production. The results are award-winning. This year, Hania Kuzbari’s retail debut in Canada won Matte PR a CPRS Ace Award for Best ‘Pivot’.

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Our programs are structured to drive brand awareness and growth through though ul, dedicated public rela ons.

Heidi Ruggier President and Founder

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Building Brands Katelyn Castellano, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Engel & Völkers – “Matte PR continues to be an ideal partner and a true extension of our brand. The team has become subject matter experts in luxury real estate and trends to support our brand needs in developing dynamic content and notable media placements that continue to drive our business forward.”

Rachael Newton, Founder, nixit – “Americas Matte PR have been a joy to work with - it has been so nice to find a company that aligns with our values so well this makes them fantastic advocates of our brand. Their deep connections within the Canadian media landscape and innovative ideas have directly resulted in some great press.”

nixit’s Canadian launch saw us win a Bulldog Award and a CPRS Ace Award. These awards represent Matte PR’s commitment to our clients and to advancing the field of public relations through our creative and enterprising approach to PR. Our clients had major wins this year too. We launched Afterpay in Canada in fall 2020. Today, it is Canada’s most visited and most used ‘Buy Now Pay Later’. And after one year of working with us, nixit was named one of 2021’s Top 50 Most Impactful Companies in Canada by Bay Street Bull.

Heidi, please brief us about your professional journey in the PR and Marketing industry, and how you have contributed to the company’s success.

Previous to Matte PR, I worked at Budman and Associates (later renamed Budman PR). The late Nina Budman taught me everything I know about PR, and I’m forever grateful to her for her wisdom and commitment to mentorship. I continue to pay it forward through being a mentor with Toronto Fashion Incubator, Ryerson’s Fashion Zone, Canadian Gay, and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and Forum for Women Entrepreneurs.

In 2016, Budman PR became Matte PR with me at the helm. Since the relaunch, Matte PR has transformed its scope from a traditional media relations shop to the fullservice agency it is today.

Aside from our success in the PR realm, one of the things I’m most proud of is Glossi Mag, an online publication we launched in tandem with Matte PR. Its purpose is to connect us with like-minded people, by exploring ideas impacting and changing our lives, from innovative fashion and design concepts, notable arts, and culture initiatives, to interesting people and places. The content is ambitious, imaginative, aesthetically stunning, and at the cutting edge of art and culture.

Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on what impact have the adoption of modern technologies such as AI, big data, and machine learning had on the PR and Marketing niches and what more could be expected in the future?

Automation helps us be more efficient and work smarter, freeing up more time for us to cultivate relationships with people and build new relationships. Machine learning will never replace the human touch, but it does help plan ahead, measure results, and free up time spent on busy work.

What automation can’t do is help us to understand the complexities of the human experience or truly personalize communication. In the future, I expect increased demand for PR experts, especially as automation continues to proliferate.

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It will be important to continue to engage with PR professionals that are on the cutting edge of adapting to the new ways audiences engage with media and technology.

Taking into consideration the current pandemic, what initial challenges did you face and how did you drive your company to sustain operations while ensuring the safety of your employees at the same time?

The pandemic definitely created its challenges for us, especially at the onset. Looking back, I love what it has done to our company’s culture, systems, and overall mindset. Those first few months forced us to recalibrate our operations, systems, and client mix and it has made us better, faster, and stronger.

2020 was not our worst year. In fact, it turned out to be one of our best. We welcomed new, notable clients and won a few awards. I’m grateful to my team for their hustle. Our success is truly the result of a team effort.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the PR and Marketing space?

For those wanting to start their own PR practice, know what you like and be choosey with who you work with. Always work with products, services, and entrepreneurs you believe in. It’s not an easy career, but it’s super rewarding and you will never live the same day twice.

For those looking to break into the PR industry, seek out senior PR people and learn as much as you can. Know that learning takes time, so do your best and be eager, attentive, and conscientious. The rest will fall into place.

How do you envision scaling your company’s operations and offerings in 2021?

Matte PR is scaling to expand its range of fashion services, helping Canadian brands with everything from e-commerce to export. We’re also expanding our roster of technologydriven brands playing in the retail and real estate space.

Success is measured through both growth and social objectives. Giving back to our local and global communities is now built into our business model and will continue to be that way.

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ING

E

MARTECH

All you need to know !

I

f you ever had doubts of your being at the centre of an existence, now’s the time to get it clear.

In the world of sales, marketing, leads, business, and growth, YOU, THE CONSUMER, ARE AT THE CENTRE OF EXISTENCE OF AN ENTERPRISE! You could be consuming next to zero but what makes you think you would continue to do so for ever? Shampoos didn’t sell like hell till they were squeezed out of bottles and stuffed into small sachets. These days, it’s said that even the bottom of the barrel existence consumes shampoo in some quantity!

That said, how do you tap into the right band of clientele when you come up with a new product? That’s when you start to use every tool and means to optimize, sharpen (yet simplify) marketing and sales efforts so that you get to your intended customers at the earliest (before others do) in the least possible price while understanding in all the relevant details what your customer’s grouse is, and what they expect. The last, i.e., collection of customer complaints and feedback while part of individual campaigns, continues to be a never-ending exercise in brands consolidating their positions.

In sum, the use of every initiative, tools, efforts and means including information technology and digital means

towards the goal of marketing one’s products, services and experiences which includes receiving and perusing feedback and comments, comes under the purview of MarTech.

Why MarTech?

Every enterprise comes about to serve an interest and earn through it. This applies to every industry & consequent customer howsoever inelastic the product or relation be.

Even in industries where customer-supplier relation is written in stone, there’s always the scope of doing things better with newer initiatives and areas- provided suppliers are aware of needs and can supply. Knowing the what and why of demand comes within the information-gathering scope of MarTech. These days besides a clear understanding of what customers want, a rich experience remains central. Distilling them down from varied sources of information and format is the work of marketing technology.

Besides brining newer clients in an ever-changing and evolving scenario, MarTech increases the possibility of retaining and growing the same set of clients for newer products and services, and sometimes even products that are radically different from the existing one.

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#InfoAge

23| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

Factoring in competition is another reason behind MarTech.

There isn’t even a single sector that doesn’t see competition in some way or the other. An example of competition across sectors is in the field of transportation. Railways can’t beat air travel in terms of speed but can offer services including overnight journeys that could retain clients with the carrot of lower costs. But for that the railways might need to know how many clients would convert, at what price and with what additional services- information for which could come from MarTech!

Customers speak, and not always in favour of marketers. What it may call for is the right MarTech support to convert irate customers into profitable clients- provide their grouse and comments are received at the right time in the right format for the right action at the right time.

What lies at the centre of MarTech?

At the centre of every MarTech initiative is the client/ customer.

And the way to reach the client/ customer is by means of decoding the data that he/ she/ they generate, be it independently or as a response to marketer’s overtures.

While sending marketing-related messages and receiving feedback and comments be it digital (which these days it mostly is!), it is the use of technology to collect, store and deploy data that’s making the essential cut.

Of these, storing of data may still be seen as a dated activity but what’s changed is the use of the right solution (software, AI, machine-learning, big-data and what have you) in the form of products including Sales Force, Marketo Engage, HubSport Marketing Hub, Campaign Monitor that are increasingly being used in addition to Hyperlocal CRMs to decipher customer needs and either make changes in products and services or provider newer products to customers for a better experience.

• Second, and this flows directly from the output of the first. Using insights from systems that form part of MarTech these days, marketers ought to sharpen their approach- including sending lesser stuff to customers and likely converts.

• Invest in the latest technology! SAAS as a means has brought the mighty to the doorsteps of the small which means everyone can use advanced means the likes of Salesforce to force their sales and marketing efforts to become more incisive and streamlined. That said, information overload remains a possibility that needs to be looked into in order to filter information that’s necessary.

What can derail MarTech?

Artificial Intelligence always fails in the presence of human stupidity. While MarTech might give the best of insights and trends, what needs to be done on a human level is to leverage this information to create the right engagements, both online and offline. Online as we are too aware, this sometimes means an overdose of email messages which in time is deemed spam and goes directly into the trash dragging the entire efforts in that direction.

Offline this sometimes translates into a letterbox full of trash. The same also comes to us in other forms including newspaper inserts, WhatsApp messages and the likes.

Wouldn’t it be better if the entire efforts are relooked at, and something done so that messages go ONLY to those to whom it matters? That said, every means should be employed to make communication sharp in their scope with very less room for errors.

There’s also the issue of overlap in communication that needs to be addressed quickly which has the potential of irritating a customer so much that he/she/they completely switch off!

How can MarTech be fine-tuned for better output?

The way forward?

MarTech can be fine-tuned in two ways:

MarTech is here to stay and has the company of high-end technologies including AR, VR and MR besides VFX, 3D and every means to make communication a delight. But again, discretion, planning and artistry always wins over bullheadedness. What may come about is extreme customization of marketing information in the days to come and in a way would be good for all as it would have the ability to customize communication to a very large extent which would mean the right efforts for the right output.

• First, keep increasing the measure and means to collect information about customers and their preferences and what they have to say about the product. These could sometimes also include old-world ways of sending letters and snailmail- which surprisingly isn’t affected by spam! Direct or indirect, every means to get credible information should be looked upon. Because more the information, more the chances of finding newer and better insights.

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- M. Purushoutham

Milk & Honey PR

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Many of our clients already have the values and desire to begin this journey, but they don't know how to turn these values into action. As consultants, it's our job to help them on this journey.

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Kirsty Leighton CEO, and Founder 26| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

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P

ublicity is absolutely critical. A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front-page ad."

British business magnate Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group has aptly put the importance and necessity of public relations in any business. However, just as other businesses every PR firm comes with unique approaches and offerings that make them stand out from the competition.

Milk & Honey PR based in London, UK stands out for its passion for creativity and people-first approach in service. A brainchild of Kirsty Leighton, Founder and CEO, Milk & Honey PR is known for paving the path of success for its clients which has helped the company establish its name in top PR firms in the UK. Read the following interview where Kirsty shares how her zest for creating something of her own led to Milk & Honey PR and how the company has thrived since its inception now aiming to widen the company's reach to support the success of more individuals and businesses post-pandemic.

agencies to earn B Corp status - a celebration of companies operating to the highest environmental and social standards. Last year we earned accreditation to Investors in People, putting us in the top two percent of companies.

We see these things as the baseline, not the gold standard. We bring this dedication to our clients and achieve industry recognition for over 90 percent of those who we've worked with for over a year.

What other services does your company offer, and how are these making an impact on the industry and your clients?

Along with our award-winning PR services, our team also brings an award-winning element to our digital campaigns. Recently, we were shortlisted for the 'Best Use of Content Marketing in a Campaign' award from the PRCA Digital Awards, reflecting our team's constant commitment to bringing the best value to our clients.

We know that PR is not a vacuum, so we don't just work to get results for our

clients, but we change the wider industry as well. With this in mind, we have committed to reaching out to our former schools, working with innercity groups, diversity charities, and starting our webinar series. All of this is to reach 250 diverse individuals and support their success in PR by 2025.

Brief us about your journey in the PR and Marketing industry, and how you have contributed to the company's success.

Before founding Milk & Honey PR, I was an MD at Hudson Sandler. Their client list was enviable and my time at the agency was extremely exciting, but secretly I yearned to do something on my terms. That's why I started Milk & Honey PR. I wanted to create a land opportunity where people come first, and our clients are celebrated. With this mindset, the agency has grown from one to 31 internationally in just four years.

We've managed this growth by involving all of our team in a shared goal. After two years, everyone is eligible to become a co-owner, giving

Please brief our audience about Milk & Honey PR, its USPs, and how the company is currently positioned as a leading player in the PR and Marketing space.

I founded Milk & Honey PR in 2017 to create a land of opportunity where PR is done differently. Here, we start with people, not numbers. Passion and creativity are prized, and we always go the extra mile for our clients.

In practice, this looks like a range of things. In 2019, we set ourselves apart by becoming one of the first five PR

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them a stake in the way the business is run. But we also invest back in our team.

In 2020, we gained accreditation to Investors in People, putting Milk & Honey PR in the top 1.5% of businesses in the UK. It is because of this that we have managed to create an atmosphere where our team can grow and thrive together.

Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on what impact have the adoption of modern technologies such as AI, big data, and machine learning had on the PR and Marketing niches and what more could be expected in the future?

Over the last year, we have seen a massive impact technology has had on

our industry. Those of us who have been able to handle the transfer to remote working has been able to thrive in the pandemic. But what's most impressive is how this has impacted global client relationships. Remote workers aren't add-ons anymore and client relationships have become much easier on a global basis.

With future technology, I can only expect this trend to continue. The physical distance between us and our clients may not close, but closer communication, better conference software, video networking, and data sharing will all power the industry forward.

Taking into consideration the current pandemic, what initial challenges did you face and how did you drive your company to sustain

operations while ensuring the safety of your employees at the same time?

We have managed to not only survive in the pandemic but also thrive. This is because we put our people first. At the beginning of the first lockdown, we instituted grants to purchase 17 pieces of furniture to build home offices across the country. We knew we were in this for the long run, and our team needed to be as comfortable as possible in their new home offices. From ergonomic chairs and desks to new computers, we made sure they had what they needed.

The difficulty for us, like most agencies, was keeping a sense of community going. We didn't want anyone feeling isolated in lockdown, so we doubled our teams' connections, began a monthly book club, started

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morning yoga sessions, and even hosted a Milk & Honey gameshow or two to raise money for our charity partner.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the PR and Marketing space?

No one knows everything when they first start in PR, and no one expects you to. Spend as much time as you can with senior PRs and think about what you want to learn from each account that you're on, how you can get there, and who can help you.

Most importantly, come with the right attitude. People related to people.

Showing that you're keen, capable, and ready to get stuck in will get you at least halfway to where you need to be.

How do you envision scaling your company's operations and offerings in 2021?

In 2021, we launched our new purpose offer. The model will be led by our own Fiona Gildea and will work with our established Purpose Academy.

Reaching out the offer to our current retainer clients first, we will encourage and facilitate them to rewire their business model to combine sustainable growth and a purpose agenda.

Many of our clients already have the values and desire to begin this journey, but they don't know how to turn these values into action. As consultants, it's our job to help them on this journey.

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Brigitte Foisy President

A

company needs to build strong relations with its customers and other audiences in today’s age and time. This helps them to make a mark in the industry and establish themselves in the competition. Their prime motive is to become relevant in the industry and to enhance their popularity in the market.

By building a solid rapport in the market, companies want to march ahead towards the peak of excellence.

Accordingly, they require the assistance of dedicated public relations (PR) and marketing agencies, which help promote themselves and their services.

These renowned PR and marketing agencies leave no stone unturned to promote their clients and bring them to the spotlight. They enhance businesses’ profit and success ratio while developing mutual understanding or positioning them among the audience. These companies create positive perceptions and predispositions among the target audience for their clients.

One such noteworthy company making waves in the PR and marketing space is none other than The PR Department Inc. It is a one-stop shop that harnesses the power of senior creatives, along with 18 years’ worth of experience in designing and implementing a range of full service, 360° Marketing-communications strategies, and award-winning brand activations.

Debora Marques

Fueled by an undying need to go beyond its clients’ bottom line, the idea brokers and problem-solvers team together to forge strategic and creative plans that will exceed the clients’ marketing and business objectives. The company boosts traffic, smashes bottom lines, and gets brands

Vice President

The PR Department Inc. Empowering Companies through A Commitment to Excellence

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10 Most Disruptive PR and Marketing Agencies 2021

unique “big agency” experience we provide each and every one of our clients and results that come without the “big agency” price tag.

We treat our c lients’ businesses as though they were our own

noticed. It believes in turning fledgling brands into superstars.

In an interview with Insights Success, the leadership team at The PR Department Inc. shares about the company’s inception, its journey, the various services it provides, and its future plans.

Following are the highlights of the interview: Please brief our audience about your company, its USPs, and how it is currently positioned as a leading player in the PR and Marketing space.

Founded in 2002, The PR Department is a newer, fresher, more forward-thinking agency. A one-stop-shop that harnesses the power of senior creatives fuelled by an undying need to go beyond the bottom lines of our clients.

We feel what makes us different is not only our ingenuity, high-quality and dogged dedication but our belief that business IS personal. We don’t believe in the traditional definition of “agency”. In fact, we treat our clients’ businesses as though they were our own, and we know that’s been the key to our success.

We don’t bill per hour because our clients don’t count their time. It is about delivering results, working with our clients as one team, in all transparency, to exceed their business and marketing objectives and being committed to making a difference. This business is our purpose, not our work!

As one of Canada’s most awarded boutique Marcom agencies (we’ve received more than 20 national and international awards in the last four years) with a history rooted in driving results for some of the biggest food and lifestyle brands on the planet, The PR Department is nationally renowned as the champion of leading brands (and those who want to be). Our approach is reflected in the

What other services does your company offer, and how are these impacting the industry and your clients?

Initially, The PR Department was only about that – PR… but thanks to clients who believed in us and continued to seek more and more services, we grew to be a one-stopshop marketing-communications firm.

Our team of idea brokers and problem-solvers comes together to forge strategic and creative plans that’ll exceed our clients’ marketing and business objectives armed with an array of Marcom services offered in both official languages as well as Portuguese, Greek, and Italian. We boost traffic, smash bottom lines, and get brands noticed; it’s about turning fledgling brands into superstars.

Our services include everything from strategic thinking and counsel to media training, social media management, content creation, digital ads, and even AR/VR for brand activations. If we don’t do it, we will find someone who can!

Through the years, we found a “recipe for success” for retail goods, with most of our campaign resulting in doubledigit growth. We build 360° campaigns that incorporate as many tactics from the marketing mix as possible.

This, to ensure to effectively reach the target consumer through multiple channels (media, advertising, social, influencers) as many times as possible, mixing earned, paid and owed strategies and tactics based on the budget available.

By reaching consumers through several different platforms simultaneously, we build strong awareness, strengthen the message, and influence the decision-making process.

Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on what impact have the adoption of modern technologies such as AI, big data, and machine learning had on the PR, and Marketing niches and what more could be expected in the future?

We’re success enablers, a passionate hub of big idea ninjas that crafts powerful, influential, results-driven marketing communications solutions for some of the country’s and the world’s biggest brands.

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To craft these plans, achieve our goals, keep our clients competitive, and successfully promote and sell products or services (while providing clients with a stellar ROI), what we do needs to be measurable. We need to rely on data and technology – not our guts or experience!

Consumers are speaking, and it’s our job as marketers to listen. Without data, brands (and their agencies) are deaf, aimlessly making decisions and spending money like a fiveyear-old at a candy store.

Big data enables us to know our customers, make enlightened decisions, whether it is to improve customer loyalty, engagement, optimize the performance of our initiatives or improve customer acquisition. It is business intelligence, an indispensable tool that provides time and cost savings while optimizing marketing performance!

It’s always been there, but now there’s more of it! A recent article in Forbes mentioned that by 2025, more than 150 trillion gigabytes of data would need analysis. For us marketers, that means that as time goes on, we will need more advanced tools to analyze and store data and use it in a timely manner in order to have a competitive advantage in the market.

When it comes to new technologies, we stay at the forefront of the trends. We have been offering AR and VR for brand activations and campaigns since 2017. Though it is still costly to produce, we believe these technologies, when used well, can help cut through the clutter.

Taking into consideration the current pandemic, what initial challenges did you face, and how did you drive your company to sustain operations while ensuring the safety of your employees at the same time?

We’re very blessed to have close relationships with our clients. Some have been with us for over 18 of our 19 years of existence! In fact, many of the services we offer today are because of their needs. With an average of seven years, our clients continue to trust us, year after year, to build on the foundations that we have set. Though the pandemic has changed most of our clients’ plans, we’ve been able to pivot and adapt our strategies quickly to the new reality of reaching consumers at home.

In November, we closed our office in the west end of Toronto and shifted to working remotely. It proved to be a great decision! With every change, there’s certainly a period of adaptation and challenges to overcome, but we’re in a good place right now.

Equipped with new technologies to connect the team (who works simultaneously in four different countries and 6 cities!), every member of our team now offers owner-like dedication as they are all part of a new profit-sharing plan.

They manage their own schedules and are responsible for the performance of their own part of every mandate. It’s about not only making “our dreams come true” but theirs as well.

We’re growing and continuously looking for stellar individuals to join our team.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the PR and Marketing space?

Take the time to learn and gain experience under your belt.

What we learn in school is a great foundation to build upon but ultimately, creating marketing-communications plans, counselling clients, and crisis management are only a few of the many tactics that require experience. Though working with “big firms” might be glamourous because you’ll work with big-name brands, we believe there’s nothing like gaining your experience from small boutique firms. You’ll get to experience a wider range of work quicker than in a large firm.

Don’t undervalue your work. The old adage “you get what you pay for” resonates with most clients. Early on, someone told us, “If it’s free, it’s worth nothing.” You can charge less than a larger agency as a freelancer because you don’t have any overhead but don’t undersell your services to the point that a client will doubt your effectiveness.

Build relationships! Don’t burn bridges. It’s a small world out there – especially in Canada. The junior person today could be your client tomorrow. The intern at a publication could be the editor you’ll need to pitch in five years.

You can do anything, but you can’t do everything! Hire help where you need it most – to counterbalance your weaknesses! Our first hire was a bookkeeper! Focus on selling and implementing. Leave the rest to pros that will help you shine! They say if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room, and it’s true. Your business will grow by adding people you can look up to!

Our team knocks our socks off every day!

Don’t be afraid to partner with others. We started our business as freelancers to Quebec agencies that wanted to implement in English Canada and those in Ontario that wanted to reach media in Quebec. Those partnerships with agencies were our main sources of income for over five

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years, and we still partner with many to complement our mutual service offering.

How do you envision scaling your company’s operations and offerings in 2021?

We have been working on a new business for the past three years. We saw a need in the market for both agencies and small brands, and we’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to create a service that will enable both to communicate with the media in an easier and more cost-efficient way.

This new service will be launching in Q1 of 2022.

As for The PR Department, we’re boutique, and we intend to stay that way. While we focus on doing what we do best, we’re always growing and listening to our clients to serve them better. We’ve added team members with specific expertise to provide clients with additional ways to reach their audience, so we’re also focusing on expanding our service offering.

Exceptional Leaders As a respected marketing and communications professional with over 20 years of solid experience, Brigitte Foisy is a true Quebecker—passionate to the core! After eight years in the agency, her desire was to partner with clients to provide smart, creative, and cost-effective communications solutions, expert counsel, superior execution, and objectivedriven results.

She enjoys being part of her partners’ successes and commits her time and dedication to help ‘clients’ take their business to another level. That is why being the ‘outside’ counsel was never satisfying, and why she created The PR Department, it is all about being an integral part of your team.

Debora Marques moved from Brazil to Toronto in 2010 and joined The PR Department as a bilingual consultant shortly after. Thanks to her strong willingness to learn, unwavering dedication, passion and hard work, Debora quickly became an invaluable asset to the firm.

Debora became a partner of The PR Department in August 2016, following the staggering success of a two-year activation with French brand Maille (Unilever). As Vice President, Debora oversees media relations, influencer programs and social media.

Under her supervision, the results of media relations and social media mandates of the agency have seen significant growth, and the team has enjoyed an influx of experiential marketing mandates.

Over the past four years, the agency has been awarded over 20 national and international awards, making the firm one of Canada’s most awarded boutique agencies.

Exhibiting True Excellence Ÿ “We are extremely pleased with the PR Department. PR is one of our company’s biggest success stories in terms of driving awareness to our products from the very first strategic meeting; they were able to understand who we were and what our needs were.

They listened and were insightful in keeping our objectives in mind. It’s a pleasure to work with a team that constantly puts forth the extra effort and really cares about their clients.” – Tazeem Maken Karmali, Ex -Marketing Director T-fal Canada Ÿ “The outstanding work done by the PR Department has been instrumental to the success of GEOX in Canada.

The team is constantly coming up with innovative new ways to generate visibility and have demonstrated a deep understanding of our brand and the market. It is rare to find such dedicated and passionate professionals, and even rarer to find an agency that implements strategies seamlessly in both English and French Canada.” – Gino Stinziani, Ex-President of GEOX Canada Ÿ “We were impressed by the quality of execution of our event strategy. The PR department team has successfully deployed a national tour and promoted the Maille brand through various festivals. Media coverage surpassed our expectations. A devoted and passionate team.” – Marie-Eve Brunet, ID Foods Corporation. Ÿ “Few are tuned into trends like the team at The PR Department, and even fewer can rally such a great calibre of individuals with such a strong network, dedication and professionalism. Always ahead of the game is how I would describe them.” – Harry Lalousis, Unilever Ÿ “This is BAR NONE the best publicity we have ever gotten – best integrated, best executed, most clever, most creative, most stretching of our feeble budget – and just downright fun and fast-paced. You’re the bomb!” – AnGeL Ministries USA

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ways how DIGITAL

MARKETING

is taking over

T

he world of marketing is increasingly going the digital way. In fact, in marketing, there seems to be increasingly little that can be done without digitization.

Be it from getting client details, onboarding clients, understanding their needs, providing services and products to getting feedback, there’s nothing in which digitization hasn’t made its presence felt. In some cases, for instance in the collaterals and visuals, it could ONLY be digitization.

The obvious question that comes to mind is: Why is digitization getting increasing prominence in marketing?

There are in fact quite a few valid reasons for same including: • Accuracy! Nothing can beat the sharpness and incisiveness of digital information! Be it about the product, customer needs, the effects of a campaign or any other matter (related or otherwise to marketing), there’s nothing close to digitization when it comes to accuracy of information. And accuracy of the digital kind only leads to sharper decisions and outcomes.

• Speed of output! Things move digitally at the speed of light! That being the order, things happen fast when they

go digital which includes an activity as important as marketing. Going digital, every element of marketing be it planning campaigns, registering its results, changing objectives etc become immensely fast which affects everything down the line including product/ services and logistics.

• Changes! There was a time when any changes in an existing marketing campaign could take days to reflect a new understand. In some cases, in the absence of the right information no changes were done during the continuance of a campaign which could lead to results very different from expectations.

• Costs! Going digital, for the kind of output and speed it promises, the price one pays turns out to be peanuts.

Nothing in the past could ever promise this scenario with such certainty!

• Information storage! The world today stores information far, far in excess of what took place at any point in the past. And the only reason it’s possible is due to digitization of information into data which can be stores with accuracy and ease.

• Availability! Try imagining the files and folders that was

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Constant Change

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the norm of storing information in the past. Try having to take information from some file in some cupboard in some location. Locating a needle in a haystack could be easier than that. Much, much easier than either is locating information stored digitally. For those using computers, try doing the same activity without a machine to understand the worth of going digital!

And now to the main question posed by this article. Ways how digital marketing is taking over!

• It’s converting everything into data, the new God! If digital marketing could be equated to a dog, it would get the smell and bite only one thing. Data! Nothing else would matter. And that’s precisely what digital marketing is doing to information. It’s digitizing everything, be it the campaign, its graphics, its language, its looks and feel, why even the final results are converted to numbers. And how does it help? It helps comprehend, compare and correct.

And do that with unheard-of speeds. Worldwide, digital marketing is converting everything from initial objective to final outcome into data.

• Digital marketing campaigns are increasingly getting focussed with the right kind of information about users Going digital being a synonym of going accurate, digital marketing campaigns which are today 24 x 7 are going out guns blazing to get accurate information on customer needs, ideas and objectives so that the right product is provided at the right time at the right price. And of course, with the right experiences. With no two customers ever being exactly alike, digitization helps map needs accurately for the right results.

• Digital marketing tracks the users on practically an everyday basis be it using smartphones, heat-maps or voiceactivated devices besides NLP and the rest With the backing of the internet, digital marketing can track practically every move of a user across mediums, platforms and gadgets using a variety of means including heat-maps, keystrokes, NLP and voice-activations. Such unobtrusive data collection and collation could not have been possible without digitization. In the non-digitised mode, it couldn’t ever have gone beyond actively asking for information.

With digitization, practically every activity of an audience can be tapped for data on marketing and outcomes.

• Bots, the darlings of the digital world, is the new helper be it the moment you encounter issues with products, online information and many more Digital marketing, given the backing of data-deciphering machines like AI and Machine Learning can employ any number of means to help customers like never before. An Elexa, Siri and the rest of the clan or even the ubiquitous chat-bot on websites is a factor of digitization that lets it activity assist customers both in the cyber world or the real one. Going forward, digital marketing would take within its ambit the likes of robots of every kind which could record the most intimate observations and reactions of customers to provide even more accurate services.

• Customer feedback is even more expensive than gold to refine engagement What’s most important in the scenario of business survival?

Hands down, it would be just one thing. Understanding customer needs and keeping them perennially satisfied.

While observing and getting information through means including NLP, bots, heatmaps and the likes, there’s nothing quite like direct feedback from a customer on issues they latter considers pertinent, important, and very personal.

One of the best ways to ease the process of receiving and actioning customer feedback in the world of marketing is by going digital in the right places. Form filling on a website, a WhatsApp number to register complaints and feedback, a recorded message over Alexa or Siri, an email etc are some of the most used and understood of means to receive, record and action customer feedback. Imagine if this wasn’t the case!

The customer would have to call numbers, send feedback by snail-mail, and do everything which would have wasted the latter’s efforts. And what if the letter was lost or the call not actioned as expected? Waste it would be. Now try comparing the scenario with that existing today or likely to improve tomorrow!

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- M. Purushoutham

The 10 Most Disrup ve PR and Marke ng Agencies 2021

Yulu PR

Powerful Storytelling, Purposeful Outreach, Profound Impact

,,

,

Publicity is absolutely critical. A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front-page ad.”

– Sir Richard Branson.

A

s a corporate entity, for your message to reach the right audience and make an impact, you must be au fait with the mediums that can help you achieve the right outreach. One of the most effective mediums—as the above adage suggests—is PR.

With this essentiality in mind, this edition, the 10 Most Disruptive PR and Marketing Agencies, brings the spotlight on innovative and impactful PR agencies across the world.

One prominent name among such agencies is Yulu PR, an award-winning PR & impact relations agency with a mission to champion social innovation by sharing stories that matter.

In the following interview, Melissa Orozco, the Founder, CEO and Chief Impact Strategist shares valuable insights into the agency’s journey so far, the challenges it came across, and her vision for Yulu’s future endeavors.

Please brief our audience about your company, its USPs, and how the company is currently positioned as a leading player in the PR and Marketing space.

Yulu is a social and environmental impact communications firm that was founded on the principle of leading with impact, to tell stories that matter. We were the first communications firm nationally to become certified B Corp, and last year, we were among the inaugural 30 impactdriven organizations in rolling out British Columbia’s newly enacted “Benefit Company” legislation.

Yulu works exclusively with brands and organizations that are interested in leveraging their platform and influence to drive positive change. To honor this policy, we have a strict client-vetting process, which results in the agency turning away about 80 percent of the new business opportunities that come in our door. When building purpose-lead strategies, it’s critical to ensure we have access and complete buy-in from the leadership team.

What other services do you offer, and how are these making an impact on the industry and your clients?

Yulu’s process always begins with a comprehensive assessment where we explore how the client is already creating a positive impact within the communities that they serve. Yulu follows this process by diving into the issues that are impacting our clients’ target audience group(s) to determine how the brand or organization can add the greatest value and impact.

At Yulu we also offer traditional PR services around strategic communications planning and execution, however all communication efforts must ladder up to the overall brand purpose. In the last 10 years, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with c-suite executives and the heads of innovation and sustainability departments to co-design CSR and impact strategies and consult on scaling impact to new markets. With my team at Yulu, I’ve consulted for global brands including Audible, ALDO, The Body Shop, Red Bull, and UNICEF.

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Melissa Orozco Founder, CEO and Chief Impact Strategist

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Melissa, please brief us about your journey in the PR and Marketing industry, and how you have contributed towards Yulu’s success.

I did my first purpose-led internship while enrolled in the media studies program at Hunter College in NYC, planning a fundraising gala for VH1 called Save The Music. This gave me a glimpse into how PR could be leveraged for something meaningful, but when I started Yulu, things looked different than they do now. Back then, I recognized the consumer appetite to support brands that were built on transparency and authenticity, but “social impact” was still considered aspirational and questionable for the bottom line.

Some of the first impact-led PR campaigns we did were for nonprofits and social enterprises, including World Housing and Fuck Cancer, and it fueled my desire to do more. In 2014 under my guidance, Yulu developed a new industry discipline of PR called “impact relations”, a practice that leverages the tools of communications to influence attitudes, policies, internal systems, and human behaviors, to address some of the world’s most complex challenges.

One year later, we committed to a portfolio of 100 percent cause-based clients. Our commitment paid off, as later that year Yulu became the first PR agency nationally to become a certified B Corporation and was recognized by PR Daily as North America’s Top PR Agency for Corporate Social Responsibility.

Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on what impact have the adoption of modern technologies such as AI, big data and machine learning had on the PR and Marketing niches and what more could be expected in the future?

At Yulu we have the privilege of working with companies on the cutting edge of technology, particularly in the clean energy, new infrastructure, and agriculture, where bright minds are using innovative technology to fight the climate crisis.

As communicators, it’s our job to make advanced technology easily digestible and understandable to both key stakeholders, and the average consumer, so our clients can continue to make a positive impact in the world.

As we look ahead, PR and marketing professionals have an opportunity to play a critical role in educating the public on

revolutionary technology that will be necessary to our future as a planet.

Taking into consideration the current pandemic, what initial challenges did you face and how did you drive your company to sustain operations while ensuring safety of your employees at the same time?

Like most companies, during the pandemic we had to shift to a virtual office environment. As communicators by profession, we knew it would be challenging to shift away from face-to-face contact. Throughout the last year we’ve made a concerted effort to ensure our employees were able to maintain a connected workplace culture that enabled productivity.

We offered flexible working schedules for our employees balancing the challenges of caregiving during the pandemic, offered “home office stipends” to ensure all team members are equipped with a comfortable working environment, and scheduled virtual check-ins and touchpoints throughout the week that allowed the opportunity for those feeling isolated to maintain some sense of social normalcy – for example, mid-week “coffee breaks,” virtual happy hours, exercise classes, professional development opportunities, and various Slack channels for team members to share everything from good news around the globe, book & movie recommendations, and even post pictures of their pets.

We also ensured our team had access to the mental health resources available to them through our extended benefits coverage. It has been important to us to maintain team morale, while also addressing pertinent details and realities for what’s ahead and what our team members can anticipate (without speculation) as the pandemic unfolds.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the PR and Marketing space?

I always advise budding entrepreneurs to find one thing they can do better than anything else and hone their skills and focus to become a specialist in that field. The world has enough generalists – seek ways you can authentically shine and create impact within your industry.

The best piece of advice I ever received was to shoot for the moon and stick to my values. Advice I have for others looking for a career in impact relations is to understand that

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,

Yulu works exclusively with brands and organizations that are interested in leveraging their platform and influence to drive positive change

communication is a powerful tool that can be used as a force for good.

How do you envision scaling your company’s operations and offerings in 2021?

As we continue to scale the ideology and practice of impact relations through our agency work and through the Global Impact Relations Network, Yulu is applying these allyship values to expand upon our service offering. This Fall, Yulu is launching our Expert Partner Network (EPN) to meet the growing needs of our clients while addressing global issues.

The EPN will be comprised of leaders with deep skills and expertise across specialty services, industry sectors, and relevant issue areas. Services offered through Yulu’s Expert Partner Network will include impact consulting, brand purpose planning, public policy, and impact measurement and assessment to name a few.

Industry experts in fields such as renewable energy, agriculture and forestry, impact investing, healthcare, housing, and education, will join us in building impactful strategies to address issue areas such as accessibility, DEI, environmental justice, human rights, public health, consumption, waste, and climate change, for example. For readers who are interested in learning how to get involved, please visit www.yulupr.com/EPN.

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