Why PR is so important for your emerging design business

“Brand awareness is vital to the success of your business,” says Fiona Brook, director of public relations agency, Zilla & Brook. “Which is why PR can be so important when it comes to sending out the right message about your brand.”

Brook, whose client list includes a range of design, hospitality and creative enterprises, spoke at the annual Launch Pad mentorship workshop, held in Melbourne in late July. Here she gave emerging designers some vital advice on how to tackle PR for their businesses and product ranges. She also spoke on the importance of brand promotion to media.
“Media attention is like a third party testimonial,” said Brook. It carries the power of name recognition and represents some of the most valuable coverage your brand might receive, she said.

But before you start promoting your brand or building a PR campaign, you need to workshop 3 major elements:


1. What makes your design and brand unique or special?

2. Who is your target audience?
3. Where do they get their information?

Finding the answers to these two questions will be indispensible in shaping your messaging and also building your list of media to target.

When writing media releases, said Brook, consider the following 6 tips:

1. Keep your media release to 1 page
2. Think of an interesting title that will grab the attention in an email header
3. Keep your first paragraph short and punchy – the most interesting point about your work right up front.
4. Include correct contact details and a logo
5. Always check for errors, then check again
6. Follow up with a phone call

Images, Brook said, should always be 300dpi and sized around 1MB, so editors’ inboxes won’t be overloaded by large files. You can send higher res images on request
Photos should be labeled with designer name, stylist and photographer, and always ensure you have the right permissions before you send a photo for publication.
A final point, but perhaps the most important of all, is the quality of your website. “First impressions count, so make sure your website is ready,” said Brook. She said websites should do 3 main things, as a minimum: be swift to load, information must be clear, and navigation simple and easy.

Launch Pad
Launch-pad.com.au

Zilla & Brook
zillaandbrook.com.au