Behind The Scenes (BTS) of a Successful PR Campaign with Lexie Smith – Podcast Transcript

Episode 73: Behind The Scenes (BTS) of a Successful PR Campaign with Lexie Smith 

SPEAKERS

Lexie Smith

Lexie Smith 

Hey guys. So today, I thought it would be fun and hopefully useful to go behind the scenes of a couple successful PR campaigns. Today’s category that I want to go into broadly are event activations. So let me set the scene. I was the director of PR and marketing for a Hospitality Group across Los Angeles. The property I’m going to focus on today was located in Beverly Hills at the 60 Hotel. Okay, on top of the 60 Hotel, they have this incredible pool and rooftop bar called above 60. It was an unbiasedly, I would have to say, probably one of if not the best rooftops in terms of a view across all of Los Angeles, I mean, 360 degrees views in every direction, pull up there, it was absolutely stunning, stunning. So in terms of having a client or a product or an experience, that was worthy of news, I scored. So that being said, even though it was spectacular, when I came on, there had been relatively not a ton of press and traffic outside of the hotel to the rooftop was relatively low. So the goal I was tasked with was to attract new clientele, non hotel guests to that rooftop specifically to enjoy the food and beverage experience, right, because that’s where all the money was. So come up, have a cocktail have some great food look, views dip in the pool, if you want, again, doesn’t seem like a hard sell. But in Los Angeles, you are competing with so many properties. So there were tons of different PR campaigns that I ran. But today I want to go into two different event series that were specifically successful. So successful, in fact that if you were to be sitting here, right now I’m in my office, you might laugh because I have pulled off the wall. Two framed pictures of basically collages of these campaigns because I’m frickin damn proud of them. They were fun. They were successful, and I like to have them framed in my room. As a reminder of that part of my career. Let’s talk about the first one. The first one was a rose a brunch series. Okay, I partnered with FAB Fit fun. If you aren’t familiar, FabFitFun is an online lifestyle brand magazine in subscription box. So they were my partner and a lot of the PR campaign details were solidified at the onset of the partnership. I had met there. I don’t remember her title in all honesty, but we’ll call it her. Their in House Director of PR maybe it was their CMO at a networking event. So I established a relationship. And we they were looking for some sort of campaign for fanfic fun I was looking for again, as you guys know, a campaign for the rooftop. So we decided to team up we decided to host a rose a brunch series, that was social media, where are they? Right? So the first thing we did was we wanted to bring on a liquor sponsor. So I worked with my liquor reps which was nice. I had an obvious in working in hospitality to find a Rosae wine that would be open to helping sponsor the brunch and provide free Rosae Okay, now there were a little bit more indications and you know, the given the take but there was no cost for us and we ended up partnering with saved wines. I had a really fun label. Now what did FabFitFun get out of this and what did above 60 Get out of this?

Lexie Smith 

First both got title sponsorship so did saves. FAB Fit fun got a place to host they got to put their name on a rooftop and they got to invite important guests, influencers, clients, etc. To that rooftop. We reserved them a cabana, every single Sunday actually set up cabanas. We gave them unlimited food and beverage. We took photos for them.

Lexie Smith 

Anything that they wanted was comped right? That was a big part. So they got the luxury of this rooftop, which positioned them really well for social media, etc. Flipside, right? What did we get from the deal? We got press coverage and FAB Fit funds online publication, we got newsletter blasts to their millions of subscribers. And we got access to all the imagery from the influencers at that event, plus, we were introducing the influencers to our rooftop. So really, all we had to give was dedicated space and a comp tab for that Sunday. So what came from this beyond the deliverables that I mentioned? Well, first off, we had a kick ass social media response, we had millions and millions of followers being introduced to our roof talk. No, we did not get millions and millions of followers, I don’t have the exact percentage, but definitely our social media exposure went up. And it went up in such a way that it was a very targeted demographic, because the demographic of FAB Fit fun and the influencers that they were inviting to participate in this Rosae were our kind of people also, and this is the big one, we increased our Sunday covers by more than 70% and increased our Sunday profits by more than 150%. So basically, we had very little spend, quite literally I every single Sunday, it would go to Trader Joe’s near Beverly Hills, and clear out their rows, their pink or red rose section, think I spent $55 Max, that was my decor beyond that FabFitFun would bring their boxes. So all the products within the boxes was our decor. The setting itself was gorgeous. I didn’t need anything else. So the spend side from staff which was going to be spent anyway, is was super, super low. Obviously there was the comp tab for the FabFitFun crew. But again, very low stakes, the result, tons of coverage, both in the press and the media on social media, all of which directly impacted the bottom line. So this is a great example of a successful event activation, that generated coverage attracted a new demographic strategically aligned herself with a company that spoke to an audience we are trying to meet. And it increased covers and profits. Okay. So second example. Right? So Sunday’s check, right? Lexi, you did good. pat on the back. Good job, you’re not fired. Let’s also work on our evening covers. Again, we’d love to attract the public to come to our rooftop in the evenings. What could we do? Okay, well, again, I have this incredible space to work with. So why don’t we do another event series. Now this event series, I need to paint a bit visual for you feel free to Google the 60 Hotel in Beverly Hills, you can probably see what I’m talking about. But behind the pool. On the 60 Hotel rooftop is this giant marble or marble like material wall, which works great as a projection screen projector screen. So the thought was a movie night. But how can we make a movie night more appealing? I mean, it’s already appealing right? In the sense that it’s on a rooftop in Beverly Hills underneath the sky. It was it was gorgeous, but wanted to make it even more special. So what we did, what I did was I secured local community partnerships with a ton of different brands dependent on the movie. So one of my favorite ones was we aired Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. So I partnered with sugarfina, sprinkles, local candy stores around the area. More than that way more. I think I had five or 10 partners for that event. And I have them set up physical activations along the rooftop. We have a signature cocktail that was really fun. I printed signature menus, you know worked with the kitchen. And basically it was this whole experience come sit out on a lounge chair, get a ton of different yummy treats watch a movie from the partnership perspective. They were getting exposure to a very high end clientele and they were getting name and named impress assets. So that’s why they were able to offer their treats or their goods for no cost. That was the exchange for them. which at the time was a big one in LA LA Weekly covered it KTLA covered it la guestlist covered it the LA Times. I mean, people were going crazy. This also was a really awesome experience that I invited media to write I said, Hey, we will reserve you cabana comm bring you know, a friend a partner enjoy will serve you dinner, some cocktails, get some free sweet treats, watch a movie, if you want to cover it. Great. We’d love to let the people of La know that this is out there. Right? So beyond the press, what came from this from the bottom line?

Lexie Smith 

We were profiting almost $20,000 in event off this. I mean, it was incredible. Okay, how do I know all these is because I wrote them down, I wrote them down. This is something I really, really encourage you to do. If you are an agency owner, a publicist, someone looking for a PR job, keep track of your successes, not just the coverage that you landed, but also the outcomes and how it all comes back to the bottom line. So again, these are just two examples from my career to frameable examples, mostly because they were so fun, but also really, really successful event activations. I would love to hear some of your guys’s favorite event activations that you’ve done, whether you’re in PR or you’re a business owner and you’ve done it yourself. Send me a DM on Instagram at the pier of our ink and let me know I’m always excited to hear about new and innovative ideas. Until next time.