There are many public relations agencies that work to attract customers’ attention towards companies by using different PR strategies. By generating informative and high-quality content, they work hard to enhance their clients’ businesses. These agencies also improve the promotional strategies of their clients in order to raise brand awareness and market their products or services effectively.

1. Leading Clients towards Zeniths through Fact-Driven PR Strategies
“
At Faktenkontor,
we have built up a
good image in the
German-speaking
world through
reliable and
excellent work.
www.insightssuccess.com
#Info Age
Decoding MarTech:
All you need to know!
Constant Change
Five ways how digital
marke ng is taking over
2021
vol 10
ISSUE 00
Dr Roland Heintze | Managing Partner

4. he internet has seen a huge evolution over the
Tpast 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.
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.
Marking Your Presence in the
Digital World
Leading Clients towards Zeniths through Fact-Driven PR Strategies
“
At Faktenkontor,
we have built up a
good image in the
German-speaking
world through
reliable and
excellent work.
www.insightssuccess.com
#Info Age
Decoding MarTech:
All you need to know!
Constant Change
Five ways how digital
marke ng is taking over
2021
vol 10
ISSUE 00
Dr Roland Heintze | Managing Partner

5. 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.
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 high-
quality content, they work hard to enhance their clients’
businesses. These agencies also improve the promotional
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.
Sumita Sarkar

6. Faktenkontor GmbH
Leading Clients towards Zeniths through
Fact-Driven PR Strategies
Articles
08
22
36
#InfoAge
Decoding MarTech:
All you need to know!
Constant Change
Five ways how digital
marketing is taking over
Cover Story

7. Contents
Contents
16
Elevating Clients With
Impactful PR
Matte PR
Distrupting the PR Space
with a coustomer-centric
Apporoach
Milk & Honey PR
Empowering Companies
through A Commitment to
Excellence
38
26
The PR Department Inc
Powerful Storytelling,
Purposeful Outreach,
Profound Impact
Yulu PR
40

8. sales@insightssuccess.com
November, 2021
Circulation Manager Tanaji
Research Analyst Eric Smith
Editor-in-Chief Sumita Sarkar
Anish Miller
Senior Editor
Kelly, David
Business Development Executives
Managing Editor
Sherin Rodricks
Business Development Manager
Abhishaj Sajeev
Art & Design Head
Art & Design Assistant
Rahul Shinde
Visualiser David King
Co-designer
Art & Picture Editor
Priyanka Rajage
Marketing Manager Joseph D'souza
Technical Consultants Pratiksha, Aditya, David
Technical Head Jacob Smile
Assistant Technical Head
SME-SMO Executives Gemson, Renuka
Digital Marketing Manager Alina Sege
Assistant Digital Marketing Manager Amol Wadekar
Copyright © 2021 Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd., All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not
be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission
from Insights Success. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success.
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Insights Success Media Tech LLC
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Sales Executives Mark, Alice
Amar Sawant
Assisting Editors Trishika, Yash
Rohil Shinganapurkar
Paul Belin

9. Management Brief
Company Name
Jason Mudd
CEO and Managing
Partner
CASACOM
casacom.ca
Faktenkontor Group
faktenkontor.de
1Milk2Sugars Inc.
1milk2sugars.com
Brookline Public
Relations, Inc.
brooklinepr.com
Axia Public Relations
axiapr.com
1Milk2Sugars Communications is a marketing & communications
agency, brewing the brand building stories of tomorrow.
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. 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 is a leading independent Canadian public relations
and integrated communication firm, driven by data.
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.
Priya Chopra
President and Founder
Shauna MacDonald
Principal and Founder
Marie-Josée Gagnon
CEO and Founder
Dr Roland Heintze and
Jörg Forthmann
Managing Partners
Heidi Ruggier
President
Milk & Honey PR
milkandhoneypr.com
The PR Department Inc
prdepartment.ca
Mekky Media
Relations, Inc.
mekkymedia.com
Matte PR
mattepr.com
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 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 is an energetic London, New York and
Sydney based PR agency. Managing and nurturing reputations
for ambitious growth companies.
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.
Michelle Mekky
CEO and Founder
Kirsty Leighton
Founder and CEO
Brigitte Foisy
President
Yulu Public Relations
yulupr.com
Yulu is an award-winning PR & impact relations agency with a
mission to champion social innovation by sharing stories that
matter.
Melissa Orozco
CEO and Chief
Impact Strategist

10. Leading Clients towards Zeniths through
Fact-Driven PR Strategies
We power
fact-based
communications
strategies for our clients
and support them in
reaching and maintaining
sustainable reputation
goals.
“
“

12. Has 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?
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
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 German-
speaking area of PR with the
founding of the Institute for
In addition to our
core consultancy
services, we are a
campaigning
powerhouse for
strategic digital
communications and
content creation.
“
“

13. 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 AI-
powered 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.

14. 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,
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.
“
“

15. 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, goal-
oriented, 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.

16. kimberly Khoury
Paving her Way in Sustainability Development
&
&
The
20
BUSINESSWOMEN
to Watch, 2020
Most

18. Elevating Clients With
Impactful PR
Brand 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’.
16| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

19. Heidi Ruggier
President and Founder
Our programs are
structured to drive brand
awareness and growth
through though ul,
dedicated public rela ons.
17| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

20. 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 full-
service 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.
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.”
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.”
Building Brands
18| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

21. 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 technology-
driven 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.
19| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

24. ING
E
MARTEC
H
All you need to know!
If 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.
22| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

25. #InfoAge
23| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

26. 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.
How can MarTech be fine-tuned for better output?
MarTech can be fine-tuned in two ways:
• 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 snail-
mail- 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.
• 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!
The way forward?
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.
- M. Purushoutham
24| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

28. Milk & Honey PR
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.
Kirsty Leighton
CEO, and Founder
“
“
26| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

29. ublicity is absolutely critical. A
Pgood 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.
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
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 inner-
city 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
“
27| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

30. 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
28| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

31. 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.
29| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

34. The PR Department Inc.
Empowering Companies through A Commitment to Excellence
Acompany 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.
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
Brigitte Foisy
President
Debora Marques
Vice President
32| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

35. 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
unique “big agency” experience we provide each and every
one of our clients and results that come without the “big
agency” price tag.
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-stop-
shop 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 double-
digit 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.
10 Most Disruptive PR and Marketing Agencies 2021
We treat our clients’
businesses as though they
were our own
33| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

36. 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 five-
year-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
34| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

37. 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 objective-
driven 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
35| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

38. ways how
MARKETING
DIGITAL
The 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
is taking over
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
36| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

39. Constant Change
37| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

40. 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 voice-
activated 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!
- M. Purushoutham
38| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

42. 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.
,
, ,,
As 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 impact-
driven 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.
The 10 Most Disrup ve PR and Marke ng Agencies 2021
40| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

43. Melissa Orozco
Founder, CEO and
Chief Impact Strategist
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44. 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
42| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com

45. 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.
,
,Yulu works exclusively with brands
and organizations that are
interested in leveraging their
platform and influence to drive
positive change
43| November 2021|www.insightssuccess.com