We graciously accepted this starry award for our work with ghd at this year’s Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW).

The campaigns submitted were evaluated on key objectives, creativity, innovation and overall success and the PR category was judged by beauty directors / editors from Marie Caire, Cleo and Grazia, as well as senior PR University lecturers.

Without further ado, this is what we did:

What was the PR campaign for?

ghd’s sponsorship of RAFW shows. The sponsorships were at varying levels and we were responsible for finding, negotiating and executing agreements, as well as supporting the sponsorships with publicity, and leveraging them via onsite activity.

What was involved?

1) Designer sponsorships – securing brand partnerships with 14 top Australian fashion brands such as Willow, Marnie Skillings, Kirrily Johnston, Zimmermann, Anna & Boy, Manning Cartell, Konstantina Mittas, Antipodium and more.

2) Stylist management – nurturing the relationship between ghd and key stylist ambassadors, as well as establishing new relationships with key industry players in the editorial styling realm.

3) Publicity – running a proactive and reactive media office: creating a microsite for media; proactively pitched stories prior to fashion week; and distributing press information after shows.

4) Media hosting – onsite meet and greet for beauty media at every show, ensuring media were able to get interviews, information, stylist tips and photography.

5) Social media – Facebook and Twitter integration via content and tweets on site to keep fans and media up to date with stylists, shows, hair looks, fashion, trends and, of course, drama!

6) Brand management - strategic positioning of branding at event to ensure maximum exposure via clever and subtle placements.

What were the objectives and how did we meet them?


1) To increase the number of shows sponsored the previous year by securing 10-15 show sponsorships.

A total of 14 sponsorship agreements were secured.

Generated 42 pieces of press and online coverage. Top 10 ranking media outlets (based on volume) included: Primped, marie claire, Grazia, Beauty Directory, Harper’s Bazaar, Shop til you drop, Beautyeditor.com.au, Style magazines, Beauty Heaven, Chic Report – Fashion Week Daily.

3) To position ghd as a fashion-orientated beauty brand.

Having styled 14 shows at fashion week, ghd achieved a strong presence in front of beauty and fashion media, as well as key fashion influencers, affirming its fashion focussed positioning.

What were the key creative elements?

RAFW is a competitive sponsorship platform. To ensure ghd stood out an online element was integrated via a ghd RAFW microsite. The microsite acted as a portal for media which held daily information and images from shows and included a daily HTML emailer to media to direct them to the site.

Ensuring we had strong content meant briefing, directing and managing photographers and film crew onsite; hosting designer and stylist interviews to camera; pre-writing all copy including step-by-step instructions on how to create looks, as well as stylist and designer quotes and product references.

Links to the ghd microsite were also posted on ghd’s Facebook page and Twitter profile.

The timing of RAFW also gave us the opportunity to reinforce and build awareness of ghd’s current styler promotion, Rare, which featured a leopard print design. We integrated this theme with the microsite as well as through brand executions onsite via gift bags and branded chocolates.

We used Stellar* Analytics, our reporting tool which measures and analyses media outputs. Via Stellar* Analytics we were able to evaluate key messages and campaign reach. It showed which sponsorships provided the most media cut through and helped us analyse messages the media referenced. We also measured our success by monitoring consumer interaction on social media platforms.

Posted by Renee Creer

Why does PR = evil? I’m guessing that the assumed evil deeds we perform are to do with the so called spinning of information to generate publicity and dupe unsuspecting audiences.

This 19th century framework of PR is old and irrelevant. Unfortunately as an industry, we have failed pretty miserably at helping people understand what PR is and what PR people do.

While PR is widely known for publicity generation, this and media relations is just one facet of PR, as Craig Pearce and Karalee Evans also point out.

The media is just one channel in a host of channels PR people use to help businesses and brands meet their objectives and communicate with their many stakeholders and by that I mean markets, customers, employees, investors and so on.

When a client comes with a problem or opportunity, we solve it with the most appropriate solution:

…and then there’s all the ‘relations’…

It’s not wise to have a narrow view of the media (or anything for that matter!). While glossy magazines and metro newspapers are big alluring publicity targets, they’re not the be all and end all. So give some thorough consideration to the unsung hero that is regional press.

As Rural Press states on its website: “Regional newspapers have unique properties in terms of reach and acceptance in the market, making regional newspapers the most personal medium of all. The desire to be kept informed on local issues is reflected in the 4.8 million regional Australians who read a regional newspaper each week.”

It may not be as sexy as a double page spread in Vogue, but this often overlooked channel holds gems of publicity opportunities that can add value to a PR campaign for numerous reasons:

• Relevance - by tailoring stories to local areas, readers get a more specific story that matters to them. This isn’t always easy to do, especially if you have a national or international brand, but using local spokespeople, issues or statistics will help readers relate to the product/service.

• Breadth - regional papers usually offer a better sized article with more information and a greater likelihood of a picture. This of course depends again on the relevance of the story (and other competing factors), but regional newspapers have been known to print whole press releases verbatim if it’s right for their audience.

• Reach - with a newsworthy on-target press release, you could see your story being syndicated across other newspapers within one publishing group. That’s a great way to increase your exposure without having to tweak the press release multiple times for specific locations.

Had any great experiences with regional press? Please share them!

Posted by Helen Lear

In the words of Freddy Mercury: “Is this the real life?  Is this just fantasy?”

The title of this post is a PR ‘fantasy made reality’ by the intro of a website called The FULL STORY.  And not just for PR but for any business; we’d all like our news published our way.

One of the best things about the internet is the ability to self publish at low or no cost.  No longer do we have to solely rely on media outlets to filter, edit and publish information on our behalf.  As long as you’re not a complete techno failure you can get your voice out there.  This of course has many implications on the credibility of information but that’s another post for another time.

In their words The FULL STORY (…bit of extreme capitalisation there) website is a media and information release portal where individuals and organisations can post breaking news and information or their side of the story on issues of local or national importance for FREE.  It’s a public platform to correct misinformation and selective reporting by providing a different perspective on an issue already on the public record.

The website states it was developed in response to the frustrations organisations and individuals face when things are incorrectly reported, omitted, taken out of context etc.

I scouted around the site and I’m not quite sure it hits the mark.  Companies are posting their news but there is no context to it.  Are people just using it as a news portal or are they publishing in response to incorrect or biased news?

The site would benefit from an option to add historical or background information to the releases or even links to the offending news pieces so the context is clear.  Then we could all follow stories as they unfold because let’s face it, we all love a good bun fight.  Then the site could develop as a news version of Not Good Enough or Wikileaks. 

However if the website is simply a portal for news that didn’t make the cut on mainstream news sites, The FULL STORY might end up a bit ordinary, because quite frankly, it might be missing what makes news ‘newsworthy’ in the first place. 

Companies can already publish their own news on their websites or blogs, or release news to wire services or news aggregators.  But in any regard, The FULL STORY is a useful outlet for people (especially SMEs) wanting to either get their side of the story out or even for news devourers wanting to confirm both sides of a story or issue that interests them.

I’d love to hear what others think about it?

Posted by Renee Creer

You don’t know this but today is the Birthday of Stellar* Analytics; it’s officially 1 year old!  We’ve been pretty quiet about our new baby but after 12 months of getting to know it, we are ready to unleash it!

Stellar* Analytics is our custom measurement, analysis and reporting tool.  It’s also a sophisticated online media centre which has pretty much saved our sanity here at Stellar* - but more on that later.

Any good PR professional knows that measuring and evaluating campaigns is essential however right now, in light of economic pressures, it has never been more important.  You simply have to be able to justify budgets and demonstrate value.  That’s why we’ve invested significantly in this tool.

For clients, Stellar* Analytics is a valuable reporting tool for senior management which measures and analyses media outputs (both offline and online coverage) and collates the results in customised reports that provide:

• A benchmark for client, competitor or category / sector coverage
• Tracking of editorial share of voice / mindshare for products, categories, brands and more
• Evaluation of key messaging and of campaign reach
• Insight into journalist and media outlet outputs
• A long term measure of marketing / PR ROI
• Detailed market intelligence and both qual. and quant. insights

We do all of our publicity reports via this tool and customise each report to individual client needs.  We also do specialist reports based on specific briefs (competitor analysis for example).  The media outputs we measure not only include press clippings, but cover websites, blogs and broadcast.  And did I mention the charts?  Stellar* Analytics offers over 50 different charts which slice and dice the coverage in more visually pleasing charts than one person should ever see. 

He’re what our clients say about it:

“Stellar* Analytics is a valuable tool.  It helps us create more accurate programs and more targeted campaigns which has enabled a better ROI.  It’s great to see PR measured and evaluated in such a comprehensive manner.”  Hayden Isaacs, Communications Manager,
Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard

I just LOVE Stellar* Analytics!  Where has this been all our lives?!  The PR report is now so comprehensive yet easy to understand for all levels of the business.  It’s a fantastic measurement tool.” Anna Logan, Marketing Manager, ghd hair

For our agency, Stellar* Analytics is a sophisticated online media centre which looks after all of our day-to-day needs.  It’s a:

• Media contact database and contact management system
• Press release distribution and tracking service which uses HTML email templates
• Online media monitoring tool of both national and international sources
• Account activity tracker and project management system

So essentially, we now offer online media monitoring which is on par with other major service providers but at a fraction of the cost.  We also have the capability to include images and links to external content in our press releases and we can track opening rates and link throughs. 

Ok, I think I’ve said enough, so Happy Birthday Stellar* Analytics and if you want to know more please comment or email me direct renee@stellar.net.au

Posted by Renee Creer

Today something happened that made me appreciate why journalists loathe PR people who ’slack pitch’ them.  Let me explain.  This morning I got an email from a PR person who was pitching their client to me for a possible story on the Stellar* blog.

·      Firstly, the email was addressed to the sender with my email BCC’d, so it was a group email.  Immediately I’m thinking:  if you don’t know me, don’t group email (read spam) me.  At least take time to introduce yourself, especially if you’re pitching an idea to me.  Granted sometimes this is not possible, but make those times few and far between and if you have to group email, the pitch better be right on the money.

·      Secondly, the email started like this: ‘Thought this might be a good fit for your blog’. Lazy, lazy, lazy.  Tell me why it’s a good fit.  Explain the connection and angle, don’t just cop out with that kind of statement.

·      Thirdly, after the intro, the sender had done a copy/paste of a section of the press release which consisted of two nonsensical paragraphs about the client which I actually had to read several times to even begin to understand the copy, let alone what the point was.  You’re supposed to be a communications specialist, please try and write copy that makes sense and is grammatically correct (I know we all have the odd slip up).  The PR blurb was then followed by the line: ‘Let me know if you are interested’. 

After coming to terms with the epic fail that was this pitch email I was left struggling to understand:

A.  why this was emailed to me, and

B.  how it was possible for someone to read our blog and think this story was relevant?

I was also keen to see who was behind the pitch so I linked to the sender’s blog where I found a post with publicity tips.  The post said that time should be spent creating an angle specific to the media outlet because this would show the journalist that a message has been tailored for them which would, in turn, dramatically increase the likelihood of getting coverage.

Yes indeed.  Perhaps there is a need to revisit this advice.

This, however, was only the beginning for the sender’s website write up contained some pretty impressive claims such as being Australia’s best PR agency along with other unsubstantiated feats.

All I can say is that if Australia’s best PR agency is sending slack pitches like the one I received, the industry is in trouble!!

While this is a scary example, I think (hope?) PR professionals are moving away from this kind of approach.  And I’m pretty sure the agencies still standing at the end of this economic crisis will be the ones that think as strategically about their method of media liaison as they do when developing client proposals.

Posted by Renee Creer

We’re in the business of blowing other people’s horns.  We’ve become so accustomed to this role we often forget to blow our own.  However, today we got this email from our client, The Wine Society, so we’re using it to blow our own horn:

“Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.  If people cannot see that Stellar* Concepts is the best PR agency in the known universe then there is something wrong with them.  I cannot wait to send around your PR update for the Young Winemaker of the Year because people will fall off their chairs” Eva Gero, Events Executive, The Wine Society

The finalists with MC, Jean Kittson

This is a big wrap.  It could be a slight exaggeration but who are we to disagree with a client.

What did we do to achieve such lavish praise?
For the second year we supported The Wine Society’s annual event, the Young Winemaker of the Year Award, with a publicity campaign.

What did we deliver?
This year to date we achieved 97 clippings nationwide and in NZ with a couple of big, juicy features still coming (see Sunday Magazine in Syd and Melb in Dec).  This equates to a circulation figure of 2,551,984.

Is this a lot of coverage?
Yes, yes indeed.  This is a veritable mountain of coverage.  If this coverage was a wine bottle it would be the size of a Melchizedek.

Why was this campaign so successful?
The story had national and international scope - so wide reaching appeal, while still being community centric (good for community press) + it allowed tailored, personal messages for specific media outlets.  Also, it was a newsworthy, topical event with a high number of participants which again, increased the appeal.

What was the business outcome?
Publicity helped drive a stronger field of entrants and attracted sommelier judges making the quality of the event greater.  It also helped to increase entrant numbers (up on 2007) and generated greater awareness around the awards program and The Wine Society itself.

I’ll drink to that!

Posted by Renee Creer

Here’s part 2 of our tips on getting your event in the social pages:

5. Hold your event later in the week when the social pages are being prepared and when people can feel a weekend coming on. If you hold your event on Friday or Saturday night don’t expect social coverage (see point 8). Wednesday or Thursday night is best and don’t rule out a breakfast or lunch timeslot for a product launch. Check the proposed date for other competing events on Social Diary, an industry diary of social events registered by people like us.

6. Don’t skimp on the invitation; it’s the first touch point so make it count. If it looks cheap you’re sending a message about what kind of event you’re putting on. Make the invitation stand out and try sending an invite that’s not just paper in an envelope. We always get asked about whether an email or hard copy invitation is better. Again, it depends on your brand and event but a birdie once told us that hard copy was good for social editors because they can put in a folder and it doesn’t get lost in their inbox.

7. Seven to ten days prior, leak details of the event to key media. This is a good way to touch base with social editors about the event and ensure they’ve saved the date in the diary. It will also generate buzz and you’ll notice a spike in rsvp’s as people start reading about it and getting excited. Social networking sites are also a great avenue to create buzz.

8. Be mindful of press deadlines. Sunday newspaper editions are put to bed by Friday lunchtime, so make sure journalists have everything they need and be sure to be contactable on Friday so journalists can check facts if needed.

9. Hire your own photographer so you can widen the publicity reach. Also, try and set up an exclusive shot the day of the event to ensure coverage the next day. On the night, don’t forget to ensure the social editor and photographer is being looked after because the coverage is written from their perspective.

10. Cross your fingers and hope for the best because these things are beyond control. Getting in the socials shouldn’t be your only measure of success. Other measures – attendance numbers, quality of guests, number of media guests, engagement with the brand and feedback from the client – should be used.

Did we forget anything? Let us know if you’ve got any other tips.

Posted by Renee Creer

I love a party. The best party I ever went to was a wake. Let’s just say if it was the subject of a joke it would start something like this: “Fourteen people and a blow-up dolphin are in a spa…” but that’s a story for another time because I would like to keep my job and reputation in tact.

We all know Sydney loves a party, but last week we learned that Sydney really, really loves a pool party, especially if it’s hosted by the notorious party master, Justin Hemmes.

Last Thursday we helped Justin launch ivy’s Pool Party, which was named Party of the Week by Amy Cooper in The Sun Herald S; just one of 14 clippings secured pre and post event.

At Stellar* we are often set the task of getting coverage in the social pages. This is not easy; competition is fierce, coverage can’t be guaranteed and reviews can be harsh.

If you’ve got aspirations for your event to make the socials or get the kind of coverage that will generate awareness, increase patronage, sell product or create buzz, the following list of tips will come in handy.

We’re posting this in two parts; the remaining tips will follow later in the week.

1. First, check your objectives. Clients often want a party without really drilling down on what the objective is and who their target consumers are. Who can blame them really? Parties are fun, however your objective might not be best achieved via an event. Similarly, if your targets are boomers, the social pages aren’t a good match and you should look at a more intimate event with different media targets.

2. Have a cool hook or theme that relates to your product or brand. The theme must be visually strong because coverage in the social pages is concise and image driven – so you’ve only got a small opportunity to get your message across. Plus, always include the brand or product name in the party title so that at the very least you’ll get a mention here.

3. You’re going to need young, good looking people, models and celebrities (they don’t have to be A list). That’s the simple truth of it. You’re going to need these people and lots of them, unless your product or brand is super sexy, has a certain level of cache, or the event idea is so out-of-this-world no one has ever heard or seen anything like it.

4. Events that offer a unique experience always have an advantage. They help with rsvp’s, talkability and coverage. Offer this via a ‘first ever’ happening, a special guest, a unique location, an exclusive performance - anything people can’t normally get, have access to, or experience. Aside from celebrities, media also love access to senior management, particularly if they have a public profile.

We’ll outline some practical tips in part 2, later this week.

Posted by Renee Creer