I’ve been in this game since 2012 and I've learned a few things along the way. I know what a good campaign looks like, I know what a great campaign looks like, and I know what a dog's dinner campaign looks like too!

After spending a decade and a half working with a diverse mix of people and businesses, I would like to share some of the insights my experience has taught me.

1. A great product does not guarantee great press. Journalists don't care solely about what your thing does - they care about the story around it. If you can't articulate why it matters *right now*, no amount of pitching will fix that.

When I say product, this could include a piece of music, a piece of tech, an announcement etc. Something you want to promote. There have been countless times where I’ve asked founders and talent what they do, what they stand for, why they’ve stepped into the space, to which the reply was *crickets*. It’s not that they don’t know why they’re here, rather they don’t know how to articulate it. Other times I’ll ask the question and I’ll get a ten minute waffle. The sweet spot is to provide a summary of what you do and why you do it in a few sentences.

2. PR takes longer than you think, costs more than you planned, and the results are rarely the ones you expected. The placements that move the needle aren’t always the ones in the publications you obsessed over.

A switched on PR team doesn’t come cheap. It is a real investment and something that needs time to build. When onboarding clients, we encourage them to identify the dream publications they'd like to be featured in. Oftentimes they’re titles that might take a little time to get into, and sometimes they are just for vanity. What a client tells us about their “blue sky” publications is a good indicator for what kind of media path they want to follow. For example, if someone wants to be on the cover of Vogue, we wouldn’t start plotting a path through The Sun to help them get there. We assess clients goals alongside the product offering to map out a strategy.

3. A lot of "PR strategies" are just spray-and-pray email blasts. Real coverage is built on relationships, timing, and a narrative has strong foundations.

This one pains me, and it’s why I started Morena Comms in the first place. I got so tired of people coming to me saying they’d hired a PR who’d taken their money and done next to no work in return, sometimes not even sending updates or even a wrap report.

I decided Morena Comms would be the epitome of what good client services look like. We send weekly reports, making ourselves accountable for the time we’re spending on each project, as well as wrap reports. We send real feedback - no fluff. We let clients know what’s working, and more importantly, what isn’t, and we are an engaged part of the team.

‍4. PR is NOT plug-and-play. It's strategic, scrappy, and sometimes brutal.

There is a big assumption that publicists can send an email and land a piece of coverage in a publication with no proper assets, timeline or foundational work. If this is possible, I’d like to know how!! We spend a lot of our time on crafting a compelling through-line in a project, and building materials around a narrative. We write, edit, refine and adapt pitches based on feedback and learnings, and we do copious amounts of research (stalking) to stay up to date with media and journalists. It’s not simple. It’s intentional, and it takes time.

Even on the days I want to catapult my laptop off my balcony, I remember why I do this: to help creative founders and brands get the recognition they've earned and the visibility they deserve. I wouldn't trade it for anything… well, maybe a column in the Guardian with zero editorial notes 😏

If you're ready to work with a team who skips the fluff and builds coverage that actually lands - get in touch.