July 22, 2021
Pitch Perfect: Giulia Castelli, PR & Brand Strategist.
By Nabi Williams.
Clients & Collaborators
Nilufar Gallery, SUNNEI, Palazzo Monti, Potocco, Mingardo, Alexander Romanovsky, Wood-Skin, moooi, and Simple Flair
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?
Start small and start with the network you already have. Friends are always your biggest supporters and will love helping you out and sharing your wins! You have time to get there, one great feature is better than five small ones.
What’s your latest big PR win and how did you get there?
Each client or article is a PR win to me! I get beyond excited everytime I see one of my clients in a magazine, and I hope it’s like that for everyone who shares my job!
Apart from the overall excitement, I was lucky enough to work with the Dutch design company, Moooi for a product launch in Milano and I had a blast throughout April and May. Andrés Reisinger was involved as the designer, so the project really excited me from the beginning! I was able to push the news very far out there, thanks to the support of my producer friend who helped me orchestrate the whole campaign. I have to say that we were able to build a very positive relationship with the client who trusted us with our choices for both press and influencer campaigns. So I guess that believing in yourself is the real tip, there’s no right or wrong in the job, it’s all about intuition and sticking to your ideas till the end! How did I get there? Well I’m a PR right? So word of mouth is your best friend, always do your best!
How does doing PR in “X market” differ from “X market”?
Best advice for building relationships from scratch.
Best advice for dealing with rejection.
I don’t think it changes that much. Of course, it’s easier to pitch in your market because people know you personally and you can invite them out to chat (or for a glass of natural wine), but it’s just a matter of: what is this editor really interested in? Do any of my clients fit their taste and writing style? Is this magazine doing a roundup on something I’m working on? Try to be as pertinent as you can with your news!Recommendations for favorite business books or podcasts?
I am absolutely obsessed with The Happiness Lab by Laurie Santos.
Best advice for building relationships from scratch.
Be yourself.
Best advice for dealing with rejection.
The power of no: you will get rejected sometimes. That’s just how it is and that’s ok because it also allows you to reject things you are not interested in.
Digital or print?
Visual or verbal—what gets more attention and why?
Best advice for leveraging PR wins.
Wine or gin & tonic? It really depends… I have a thing for print because I’m in love with what it conveys, but I understand that nowadays, clients look for digital features - it’s inevitable. One of my clients was on a Monocle two page article and I put that in my top three press wins - I love Monocle and I love the editor who wrote it, I love the fact that we spent two days together in the location and that we had a special photographer come shoot the space. This is the thrill you don’t get from digital, I will always remember this!
Visual or verbal—what gets more attention and why?
A bit of both depending on where you are at. Emails need text and images for sure, but if you are on Whatsapp or Instagram, an image is worth 100 words.
Best advice for leveraging PR wins.
Work on projects you REALLY believe in, and you will work so hard to get them where you want them to be, you won't even notice.