Aug 26, 2011 6:35 PM

FashionPlaytes Back-To-School Campaign

With back-to-school the second biggest shopping season of the year, PKPR developed a comprehensive campaign positioning FashionPlaytes as a way for girls to ease the back-to-school jitters and gain confidence by designing their own outfit for the all-important first day of school.

PKPR’s strategy involved outreach to key national media, including securing a rave review from Parenting.com that hailed the site as ”better back to school shopping for girls.” Another fun placement included a shout out on HerSay with Soleil Moon Frye.

We also placed articles in local outlets across the country featuring interviews with local moms and daughters - from Long Island Newsday and the Staten Island Advance to Boston Parent, Lowcountry Parent, and Arizona Family.

Finally, PKPR coordinated in-studio fashion shows with local customers in markets across the country, including Miami, Dallas, Columbus, San Diego, and Seattle. You can watch some of the local segments below.

Fox (Dallas)

NBC (Miami)

Permalink | Posted on Aug 26, 2011 at 6:35 PM by Patrick Kowalczyk
Client: FashionPlaytes

Aug 25, 2011 2:57 PM

Retailers Ditching Automated Phone Menus?

A new study released today brings good news for consumers fed up with being forced into the abyss of automated phone menus.

According to the STELLAService study, 21 of the Internet’s top 100 retailers, including Amazon.com, Blue Nile, LL Bean, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus, connect callers directly to live representatives, enabling them to avoid the endless maze of music, machines, and menu prompts used by most retailers.

The study also reveals that consumers can count on these 21 retailers for significantly shorter hold times. Overall, retailers that force customers into automated phone menus or IVRs (Interactive Voice Response) keep shoppers on hold for an average of 1 minute and 51 seconds, a 117 percent increase over the average hold time (51 seconds) for retailers that do not use automated phone menus.

Coverage of the study ranged from Yahoo! Finance (garnering more than 1200 comments and 600 Facebook recommendations to date) and Internet Retailer to Time.com and The Consumerist. 

Permalink | Posted on Aug 25, 2011 at 2:57 PM by Patrick Kowalczyk
Client: STELLAService

Aug 05, 2011 2:23 PM

Kingsolver Wins First Richard Holbrooke Literary Prize

Author Barbara Kingsolver will receive the first-ever Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize at a gala ceremony in Dayton on November 13th.

The award, which was formerly known as the Lifetime Achievement Award, was renamed in honor of the late Richard C. Holbrooke, the celebrated U.S. diplomat who played an instrumental role in negotiating the historic 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia.The award will be presented to Kingsolver by journalist Kati Marton, Holbrooke’s widow. Holbrooke had been serving as special advisor on Afghanistan and Pakistan under President Obama when he passed away in December 2010.

For the announcement, PKPR placed an exclusive with the Associated Press, including both a news story and Q&A with Kingsolver, which were published by more than 250 outlets around the world. Other coverage included USA Today, Los Angeles Times, CBC, MediaBistro, and Poets & Writers. 

Permalink | Posted on Aug 05, 2011 at 2:23 PM by Patrick Kowalczyk
Client: Dayton Literary Peace Prize

Aug 02, 2011 1:37 AM

FashionPlaytes.com on The Today Show

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FashionPlaytes.com was highlighted as one of “five fun, affordable buys for kids” on The Today Show this morning, resulting in the largest traffic spike to the site in the company’s three-year history. Watch the segment above (FashionPlaytes starts at about 1:15).

Permalink | Posted on Aug 02, 2011 at 1:37 AM by Patrick Kowalczyk
Client: FashionPlaytes

Jul 16, 2011 7:37 PM

River To River Festival Splashed Across NY Times

Wow. That’s all we can say.

The entire top half of today’s New York Times arts section features a beautiful photo of STREB performing at the River To River Festival. 

Permalink | Posted on Jul 16, 2011 at 7:37 PM by Patrick Kowalczyk
Client: River To River Festival