What the Flack? Isabelle du Plessis
Isabelle du Plessis is founder and CEO of PR Concierge, a creative communications agency in London and New York specialising in scaling creative businesses.
Prior to developing PR Concierge, Isabelle was global PR & communications director at Technicolor Creative Studios, The Mill, MPC, Mikros Animation, and Technicolor Games.
Get to know more about Isabelle, and her approach to communications for the advertising industry.
LBB> Tell us about your current role and what you do?
Isabelle> I’m the founder and CEO of a public relations and marketing agency called PR Concierge. We launched in 2023, and specialise in strategic communications for brands in the creative space.
LBB> And how did you get to where you are today?
Isabelle> I started my journey on the path slightly less travelled. I gave university a miss after landing two weeks of work experience at a post production company. Those two weeks turned into a month, then a full-time job, at which point I called up my university, cancelled my place and decided I’d give working my way up from the bottom a go.
I got my first PR gig as a marketing & PR assistant at VFX studio The Mill, doing everything from writing website copy to packing 300 pairs of flip flops into a suitcase for a party at Cannes. I eventually worked my way up, was moved to New York and continued to rise through the ranks until I was asked to run PR and Communications for all brands under the Technicolor umbrella.
It was here that I built an in-house PR agency servicing several creative brands, and really cut my teeth on managing global teams, navigating across multiple disciplines, time zones and brand strategies. With every challenge came a fantastic learning experience.
LBB> What does your average day look like?
Isabelle> PR 101: check what the trades are writing about every day. I dedicate an hour each morning whilst I’m having my coffee and walking my dog to checking in on industry news, trends and roundups. This is the best way to get a sense of what might be worth pitching, what topics to steer clear of, and of course be in the know of what’s going on in the industries I’m covering.
I divide the rest of my day into chunks of time dedicated to meetings, client work and building my own business.
I make sure I set time each day aside to exercise (Muay Thai is my go-to sport of choice), and run at lunchtime. This keeps my brain clear, stress low and stops me from sitting at my laptop for hours on end! Work-life balance is something I have worked many years to obtain, and it’s more important now than ever.
LBB> For your organisation, what is the key function of PR and comms? Is it about company culture? Attracting clients? Empowering talent? Something else?
Isabelle> PR and communications has several benefits and each company has a different goal depending on their structure and services. Some brands rely on comms to retain talent and hire – a key facet to their business model. Some are inflated with talent but looking to get the word out there about their services, and others looking to sell specific products. A good PR strategy should take all of these elements into account - you cannot over-index too much on one and risk losing the other. There is no use having too many clients and too little talent, and vice versa.
At the end of the day (something a great mentor of mine and former PlayStation VP Mark Hardy taught me), the key purpose of PR is to ‘shift the needle’. Whether boosting internal culture, attracting business and talent, or turning a crisis around, the key function of PR is to shift perception (in a positive direction of course).
LBB> PR has always been about finding the story / finding the angle. What is your process for staying ahead of the content curve and serving up something fresh and engaging?
Isabelle> Reading the news and staying on top of current topics in the industry you are covering is a must. If I can see a reporter has already written the exact article I’d like to pitch, it’s no good pitching it, BUT perhaps an opportunity to find a new angle on the same topic for them to explore. Jumping on timely stories is also the key to newsjacking – if you’ve got an Oscars take, don’t pitch it in June when the news cycle is onto something new. I also ensure I regularly check in with trade editorial calendars - this gives a great view into what’s coming down the pipeline and enables you to plan effectively.
LBB> Historically, advertising folk have a very different relationship with the media, especially the press, than PR folk. Advertising is about buying ad space and being able to dictate how and where something is presented - that’s a degree of control you can barely dream of in PR. Does that tension still exist, and if so how do you navigate that tension?
Isabelle> I’ve worked in Advertising PR for a decade, and it’s still the hardest industry to gain non-paid traction with, particularly if you’re not pitching on behalf of an ad agency or consumer brand. To gain non-paid PR coverage for brands in the media, the story has to be BIG and not sales-oriented. I find the best way to navigate this is to offer valuable insights on newsworthy topics, as opposed to pitching brand news to certain publications.
LBB> And what other common misconception do you advertising/production people have about comms and PR?
Isabelle> Two phrases I hear A LOT from people in the ad and production community:
- ‘Can you PR this?' – translation ‘can you please promote this via digital marketing’. There is still a misconception between the difference of PR (earned media) and promoting creative work on owned digital channels such as a website and social media
- ‘Can’t you just ask Forbes to run this?’ – PR is never guaranteed. It’s called ‘earned’ media for a reason. Journalists sift through thousands of pitches a day, and it’s only the most clickable, newsworthy, world or industry impacting pieces that make it to print or digital. There is a strong misconception that PR is just sending our press releases and having them run wherever you like. It’s about building the right relationships, crafting the right angles, sending the right pitches and it’s all down to timing. So in essence, no, Forbes will not run a piece on the new creative director you’ve just signed…
LBB> To what extent do you feel 'the work speaks for itself'? To what stage of growth can a business rely on this mantra to gain more clients?
Isabelle> ‘The work speaks for itself’ doesn’t even work as a concept without marketing or PR. How do people know you’ve done the work for it to speak on behalf of your business? It will have to have been promoted in some way, credited somewhere, attributed to your brand. This is all down to an effective marketing and PR team. Word of mouth can certainly help build a business, but in this competitive market it will only take you so far when it’s time to scale.
LBB> When it comes to getting coverage/PR for a creative campaign in the consumer press, how should creative teams go about working with their agency’s comms and PR experts?
Isabelle> We all have a tendency to speak about what WE find interesting, not what a consumer audience finds interesting. Identifying the audience you’re looking to hit (fashion, tech, gaming, etc.) and then defining the hook that’s interesting to THEM is key. Stop selling what you do, start selling what people want/need. My initial questions to an agency would be:
- Who are you looking to reach?
- Why are you looking to reach that audience in particular?
- What about your campaign speaks to that audience?
And then involve your PR agency in the process and trust their media advice. Just like it’s no use trying to shoe-horn a 30-second ad into a VR headset, it’s no use trying to shoe-horn one story into every consumer publication.
There should never be a one-size-fits-all pitch/release or media alert for all publication types.
LBB> When a business is faced with very bad news, what’s the key to getting through it?
Isabelle> Transparency and a plan of action. Prepare a statement, make sure it is factual and stick to it. If applicable, ensure your audience knows there is a plan of action to correct. And finally, don’t give it more air time than it needs. The more you feed into a bad story, the bigger it will grow, but you MUST acknowledge it, sticking your head in the sand will never help.
LBB> Generally speaking, how do you approach the hack/flack relationship?
Isabelle> A couple of pointers that jump to mind:
- I keep up to date with everyone’s moves on LinkedIn and try to stay in touch as much as possible.
- Writers, reporters, journalists are my colleagues – I don’t treat them as strangers or faceless bots at the end of an email. I try to catch up in person where possible, ask about what they are writing about or topics they are interested in exploring, where I can help with certain stories and about their weekends!
LBB> What are the most useful tools in the arsenal of a PR / comms professional working in advertising / creative industries right now?
Isabelle> Tools I can’t live without:
- HARO (help a reporter out) – a daily bulletin of stories reporters are looking for input on directly to your email.
- HootSuite – if you’re managing multiple accounts for multiple brands this is an essential for social media planning, metrics tracking and competitor analysis
- LinkedIn – most news occurs on LinkedIn before anywhere else. I’ve used multiple journalist databases, and nothing can beat LinkedIn if you’re looking for someone!
LBB> In your opinion, how has the role of a PR / Comms professional evolved during your career span? Have things changed greatly or do core tasks / principles remain the same?
Isabelle> People’s perception on the importance of communications has really evolved since I started. Businesses now have entire teams dedicated to internal communications alone, something that companies wouldn’t have invested in 10 years ago. As the advertising world blends with the growing digital landscape, companies’ fluency and understanding in social media is also evolving. I’m seeing more and more investment shift from events such as Cannes and SXSW to digital initiatives that have the power to reach much wider audiences.
LBB> What frustrates you about the way the media and PR have changed over the years?
Isabelle> The demand for output grows each year, but the reluctance to spend remains the same. It puts teams under great stress to deliver results that aren’t backed by the budget to guarantee them.
LBB> And what excites you?
Isabelle> There’s a real proliferation of ‘risk takers’ post-pandemic. It was a real opportunity for people in the creative industries to re-asses, build new businesses and explore new opportunities. It’s really opened up the landscape for growing businesses and new marketing opportunities that I can’t wait to get involved with.
