August 5, 2021
Pitch Perfect: Chi Iregbulem-McGrath, Marketing and Communications Consultant.
By Nabi Williams.
Introducing
Chi Iregbulem-McGrath, Marketing and Communications Consultant.
Location
Find me on
Instagram
Chi Iregbulem-McGrath, Marketing and Communications Consultant.
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Find me on
Clients & Collaborators
Virserius Studio, Mei Messaging, pocstock, LVMH and Ligne Roset
Virserius Studio, Mei Messaging, pocstock, LVMH and Ligne Roset
In “Pitch Perfect” we tap Hello Human’s publicity pros and the PR experts we admire to share 5 practical PR tips, useful insights and experiences they’ve learned on the job, so small businesses can start implementing them today.
One piece of advice for a small business starting out with their own PR.
What’s your latest big PR win and how did you get there?
For small businesses, optimizing time and resources is crucial. Businesses should really understand the (ever-changing) media landscape, because not everything will work for your brand and you want to focus and leverage those things that do. For (a possibly bad, but hopefully illustrative) example, if you are an upstart fur company, pitching to vegan fashion magazines is a bad idea and a colossal waste of time. Know the publications and the types of stories they cover.
What’s your latest big PR win and how did you get there?
Every PR win is a big win for me, because they’re all hard-won. But for pocstock, we landed a story in January on theGrio, the top Black media news outlet in the US. I had actually met the managing editor in a yoga class back in 2019, and we began following each other on Instagram. He was really sweet, so when I joined the pocstock team, I slid in his DMs with a pitch and voilà!
Viserius Studio in the Fall 2019 issue of SPACE Magazine.
Story edited by Chi Iregbulem-McGrath: “W Atlanta Midtown, Georgia.”
Photo: Michael Kleinberg
Story edited by Chi Iregbulem-McGrath: “W Atlanta Midtown, Georgia.”
Photo: Michael Kleinberg
How does doing PR in one market differ from another market?
For Virserius Studio, I pitch stories/projects to different markets worldwide, mostly the US, UK, Scandinavia and France. I have found that in Europe, there is more of a pay-for-play model (advertising with editorial as a value add) for editorial, particularly in the UK.Best tech recommendation for making a PR job easier.
Being based here in the US has made it easier to cultivate relationships so contacting someone here is easier to do, but I have personally found Europe to be more of a challenge in that regard. That is not to say Virserius Studio doesn’t advertise, but it’s definitely different how the stories are a by-product of that advertising.
Not a specific tech recommendation, but I think keeping a good calendar is so important.
Digital or print?
Visual or verbal—what gets more attention and why?
PRINT - I’m old-school so always prefer a more tactile reading experience.
Visual or verbal—what gets more attention and why?
VISUAL! Our attention spans have gotten sooooo short so the quicker we can communicate something, the better.