The talk, Working Effectively with the Trade Press to Get Coverage for Your Brand\/Business<\/em>, was led by a panel including Editor of Retail Jeweller, Ruth Faulkner; Director of FACETS PR and Jewellery Editor at LUXURE, Sarah Carpin; and Consultant and Senior Account Manager at FACETS PR, Kathryn Bishop.<\/p>\n The aim of the talk was to encourage fashion brands and designers to interact with the right kind of press, and to do so in an effective manner. Of course, it is easy to see the press as your route to sales, but they have to want to include you in their publications too, so you have to be viable. As Sarah Carpin said: \u201cThere\u2019s no point being in Vogue if you have no retail stockists, you need to talk to trade publications first.\u201d<\/p>\n But we get it, you haven\u2019t worked this hard \u2013 and you’ve managed to get that celebrity to wear your design on the red carpet \u2013 for it not be worthy of appearing in Vogue, but as you know, people want proof. The reason that appearing in trade publications is so important for your brand, is that the big brands are reading these magazines and listening to them for who is up and coming.<\/p>\n The wealth of information gathered from this talk can be applied to any fashion business owner, or designer wanting to build their brand. So read on for top tips and advice on pitching to trade press editors, and mistakes to avoid from the panel, for the benefit of your fashion brand.<\/p>\n The panel at IJL 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n Press releases<\/a> from jewellery designers about their new collections arrive in the inboxes of trade press editors, like Ruth, every day. But the editor has to have a valid reason to put you into a publication, and that reason must be about business as much as it is news.<\/p>\n These magazines are informing retailers of not just who should be in their stores, but why – people want to know why a designer is good. So if you want to be in a trade publication, you need to have a good \u2018hook\u2019, according to the panel.<\/p>\n The panel suggested mentioning the following in your press release:<\/p>\n The other point made was that the difference between sending PR to trade press rather than consumer press, is that you cannot just send pretty pictures. Trade press editors want interesting stories, your unique selling point and maybe something interesting or previously unheard about the supply chain, for example.<\/p>\n They want the business angle; because that\u2019s what their readership want. But to be considered for a placement in the trade press, they also want you to:<\/p>\n The panel candidly expressed the common pitfalls that designers make when approaching trade press editors. They may not appear to be errors, so it\u2019s even more important that you are mindful of these things that can really put editors off:<\/p>\n As it is not enough to just send a really good image to an editor, and just talk about how good your product looks. You need to know how to explain why your brand is so good. You have to appear interesting. The editor of Retail Jeweller, Ruth Faulkner, said: \u201cIf you\u2019re going to tell me something interesting, I\u2019ll write about it.\u201d<\/p>\n So, explain what is so unique and innovative about your production process, or why you make your products in a particular way. It is also helpful to keep up to date with the hot topics in the fashion industry, and how your product is related. For example, if sustainability is a hot topic, tell the story of how you keep your carbon footprint low.<\/p>\n The panel gave their advice:<\/p>\n Sarah and Kathryn of FACETS PR explained that doing PR in-house and on a small budget means that you can lack experience, breadth and a relationship with the press. Although, it\u2019s important to remember that as the owner of your fashion business, you\u2019re the best person to shout about your designs and do the PR as you know your business best \u2013 and using PR agencies can be a costly commitment.<\/p>\n There are benefits to using a PR agency, as they\u2019ll constantly pitch you to the press with experience and professionalism, but they need to have a good understanding of what your brand is about. It\u2019s also vital that you choose an agency that specialises in what you\u2019re trying to sell.<\/p>\n If the cost of using a PR agency is a concern for you, Sarah and Kathryn also explained that paying a monthly fee is a good idea, but you do need to budget for it to be sustainable.<\/p>\n You may choose the innovative and modern tactic of approaching bloggers<\/a> to publicise your products. But it\u2019s important that you speak with them about what service they\u2019ll provide for the money that you will be paying them.<\/p>\n For example, bloggers with huge followings cost \u201ca lot\u201d according to Sarah – a payment of \u00a31000 could buy you a 200-word blog post including three pictures of the blogger and your product, three tweets and two Instagram posts.<\/p>\n Smaller bloggers will be cheaper, but they will have a smaller following. However, if your product is niche and the blogger is popular with your target audience, using them may be a very savvy and lucrative idea.<\/p>\n Kathryn said that Instagram can be a great place to get the conversation going with your target sales audience and is a great starting point for a PR campaign.<\/p>\n She suggested asking your audience for their opinion on a product, for example: \u201cWhich do you prefer, the gold-plated or the silver?\u201d<\/p>\n It should not be a direct pitch to customers asking them why they have or have not bought your products, it should be done less explicitly and more subtly, in order to engage with them successfully.<\/p>\n Overall, it is important that all PR for your fashion brand is executed with careful planning and reasoning, and that the virtues of your brand are clear throughout.<\/p>\n Let us know how you approach the press, or what your experience with PR agencies has been:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The editor of U Magazine attended a talk at last week\u2019s International Jewellery London show, on the ways in which fashion brands and designers could work effectively with the trade press. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":1698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3924],"tags":[4087],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Getting in the Trade Press<\/h3>\n
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\nPitching Pitfalls.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
Top Tips for Your \u2018Hook\u2019<\/h3>\n
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Using Bloggers<\/h3>\n
Using Instagram as PR<\/h3>\n
Related reading: Engage Your Virtual Focus Group for InstaValue!<\/a><\/h5>\n