It's been a while... we've missed you! As a catch-up, here's one of the many client commissions we've so far revelled in this year.

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In this interview, recorded 26 June 2024, presenter Ellie Colton asks our founder, CK Goldiing, whether heated debates — where leaders talk over each other — helps or hinders a voter's decision-making.

​ Listen to CK's answers, then let us know if you agree.
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Wow! Let’s begin with arguably the greatest thing anyone has ever said to us.
 
“Even if I never box again, because of these images, I can literally just retire. I don’t think I’m ever going to have this sort of content again. This is one moment I’m so glad you captured. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to replicate it. I’m not going to see pictures like this again.“ — King Omatsola, (exciting new London-based, Nigerian-born boxer)

[insert victory sip of champagne here]

Two weeks ago, we worked exclusively with King to capture documentary-style/behind-the-scenes photographs of his debut fight @ the famous Scala, London.
 
Surrounded by his family, close friends and training team, the discipline, focus and calm he exuded as he prepared to walk into the ring was spine-chilling.
 
Given the high stakes of this landmark moment, shooting the photos was, of course, our funder, CK Goldiing.
 
This week, for King’s fans… CK & King hosted two instagram live streams — revealing 10 of the 150 images taken during that exhilarating afternoon.

To learn how CK & King met, why CK waved our fee and why King thought the offer was a hoax, click below to watch each session.
 
Watch session #1 — King’s FIVE favourite images
Watch session #2 — CK’s FIVE favourite images
 
And, snoop a small selection of our cinematic shoot with King below.
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Last week, for the second time in two years, British actress Rachel Wilde commissioned our content team to deliver her official headshots. Given that we love her (and because she enticed us with donuts), the answer was inevitable. See below for the results.

​2023 has been a beautiful year for East London-based Rachel — not only did she feature in thrilling action movie One Ranger, but she enjoyed a week in LA for its US premiere. Better yet, while there, she secured U.S representation, too. What a ride.

Click here and here to learn more about our ongoing journey with Rachel. ​

Dear jewellery and precious gem lovers...

.. introducing Goldsmith North!

A dazzling three-day shopping experience in Sheffield's majestic Cutlers' Hall, Goldsmiths North is a unique opportunity to try on and buy exclusive designer jewellery and contemporary silverware from some of the world's most innovative silversmiths and jewellers.

​Ahead of Goldsmiths North opening its doors to the public July 7 - 9, co-directors Rebecca Joselyn & Brett Payne — themselves renowned silversmiths — commissioned us to manage their publicity across print, digital & broadcast.

With a combined audience reach of 5.3 million across these channels, we anticipate a spectacular return to Sheffield for this special event, which launched in 2019.

Here's a snapshot of the earned media coverage we secured between June 20 and July 3. 
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WANT TO GROW YOUR PUBLIC PROFILE?

​​​To boost your media presence, public profile and better engage audiences, call us on 0114 491 0636 or email us on hello@iconsmachines.com​​​ — we're the most meticulous PR specialists you'll talk to today. Alternatively, click here for FREE access to our brilliant writing & communications tips.

Did you know that our founder, CK Goldiing, is an award-winning filmmaker/presenter/adventurer? 

Yup, he is, and when he's not shaping creative strategies for our clients, he produces his own personal projects.  
 
His new three-part series 'ONE SHOT' is finally here, and after years of producing captivating social experiments and audacious challenges, this is his most grounded project yet, albeit with his signature twist and subtle jeopardy ever present. 

Here's the trailer.
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Congratulations to PR software company Muck Rack — who just published brilliantly insightful research showing how 2000 journalists want to be pitched. 

Why is this relevant to your business/brand?

Because as stated on our homepage, we want to become the most helpful PR agency in the world, so when esteemed research echoes our library of unmissable FREE communications tips, it should reassure you that our advice is, at the very least, more impressive than the last freebie you enjoyed.
 
(smug, witchlike cackle)
 
So, of the many findings Muck Rack unearthed in their research, here are the THREE we consider non-negotiable when emailing journalists to enlighten, educate or entertain them with your business news.

1: 92% OF JOURNALISTS PREFER A PERSONALISED EMAIL

It's baffling how frequently businesses ignore this... utter lunacy. Consider this scenario:

You're sitting at your favourite table in your favourite restaurant with your favourite people. You're sipping great wine and eating sensational food. Without invitation, an unknown man approaches. He smiles, leans in and calls you by your first name. Clearly aware of who you are, he congratulates you on that professional piece of work you delivered last week... you know, the piece of work you're still rather proud of.

Now imagine the exact same scenario, but this time, the stranger approaches, leans in and gushes over the professional piece of work he delivered last Tuesday.

One of these 'intruders' made you feel valuable, the other made you feel violated.
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With no exceptions, in life, when we feel valued we simultaneously feel good, and when we feel good, guess what... our inclination to give an unsolicited email from a complete stranger the time of day increases.

If you want influential journalists and media publishers to give your unsolicited email the time of day, use our ego delay technique — not only is it FREE, it'll transform your pitch fortunes overnight, too.

2: 39% OF JOURNALISTS RECEIVE MORE THAN SIX PITCHES PER DAY

This is a noteworthy finding because it shows you that:

• Your pitch is competing against 5 others every single day, and according to the research, some days, it could be competing against as many as 50 — so hook the journalist's attention fast

 

• Journalists are busy, so make their life easier by avoiding these pitch errors

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• No one is sitting around waiting to hear about your business. Journalists receive stale business news every day. What they receive less often, however, are business stories rooted in controversy, surprise or human joy. Look for these lesser-travelled angles when pitching your business, because in my experience, of the 6 pitches journalists receive every day, 0.7 of them are re-inventing the wheel. Click here for some examples of controversy, surprise and human joy stories.

3: IN 23% OF CASES, PITCHES ACCOUNT FOR OVER HALF OF A JOURNALIST'S OUTPUT

Let's finish with the most encouraging finding of all. We love this stat! Why? Because it shows you how open media publishers are to hearing from you.

Understand, just because Journalists aren't sitting around waiting to hear from you, it doesn't mean they're not receptive to hearing from you, in fact, the exact opposite is true — the very function of their job relies on hearing from you, as long as what you're telling them is newsworthy, timely, culturally relevant, educational, surprising, inspiring, provocative or entertaining.

Okay, fine, so what if your news story ticks one of the above boxes, how do you find the appropriate journalist to pitch? Well, given our quest to become the most helpful PR agency in the world, we recently showed you how to find influential people writing about businesses like yours in under 60-seconds.

​Enjoy!

CONCLUSION:

In my experience, there are two classic ways businesses/brands misunderstand their place in the world — one is cute and endearing, the other is mindless and arrogant. Avoid both.  

CUTE & ENDEARING

Many businesses are under the false impression that when an influential website, TV show, newspaper, magazine, radio show or podcast features their business, the outlet in question is doing their business a favour. Wrong. The exchange is mutually beneficial — you're receiving valuable coverage, and in return, if you've diligently followed our pitch tips, the media outlet receives a news story that gratifies their audience.  

As shown in POINT 3 above, media publishers want to hear from you, they're willing to hear from you, they need to hear from you... so don't be bashful, pitch them.

MINDLESS & ARROGANT

Sure, pitch them, but pitch like an empathetic, well-researched human not an intrusive, self-serving clown. Personalise your pitch. Value the journalist. Prioritise their needs above your own.

I'll leave you with 3 pertinent quotes from acclaimed writer/lecturer Dale Carnegie — author of 'How to win friends and influence people':

"The only way I can get you to do anything is by giving you what you want."

"A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language."

"The rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage."

As a man, I've never said this before, so deep breath... here goes:

In my experience, women are naturally better PR clients than men.

There, I said it.... cancel me, call me anti-men or accuse me of favouritism, either way, I'm still right. 

So, what do I mean by "better PR clients"?

To answer this, let's consider the below observation by clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson. Discussing trait differences between men and women, he notes that:

​"[there is a] male proclivity to be more interested in things than people, compared to women."

Watch the exert below.
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Reflect on that assertion for a moment. According to Dr Peterson, broadly speaking, men are interested in things whereas women are generally more interested in people. Consider your friends, family and professional associates, does his theory resonate? I'm guessing it rings true in some instances, but there are notable exceptions, right? 

Pleasingly, the merits of Peterson's generalisation aren't the subject of this blog post, rather, we're going to explore 3 reasons why being deliberately and consciously interested in people rather than things helps brands build traction for their PR campaigns and stunts.

When assessing creative PR ideas for your brand (arguably the toughest bit of the PR puzzle) here are 3 people-centric questions you should consider.

1: IS THE IDEA CULTURALLY RELEVANT?

Whatever your product or service, consider how you can integrate it meaningfully into ongoing cultural conversations. One of my favourite recent examples of this came from budget SIM-only mobile network SMARTY, who, early into the UK's cost of living crisis, commissioned research to find out what Brits were doing to reduce their household expenses. The findings were then seeded to influential media publishers — winning the network a landslide of high-profile coverage from The Sun, The Mirror, The Express and more.

Why did this approach work?

Simply put, the study leaned brilliantly into the UK's biggest cultural conversation at the time: money. More critically, SMARTY contributed meaningfully to the conversation by encouraging people to review their outgoings while offering practical ways to lower them.

Naturally, across all earned media coverage, SMARTY was namechecked, so this was far from an exercise in altruism, but the point here is that the focus of their PR was economic difficulties for people rather than affordable SIM cards (things). 

NOTE: Don't worry, you don't have to undertake research to be culturally relevant, instead, simply monitor cultural and topical conversations across mainstream media and when one breaks that aligns meaningfully with your product or service, capitalise on it by offering useful comment to key media publishers & journalists.

2: IS THE IDEA PROVOCATIVE OR CONTROVERSIAL? 

To be clear, within reason, provocative and controversial ideas are highly conducive to effective PR.

Non-binary British singer Sam Smith, for example, has enjoyed ongoing media coverage this year — in part thanks to some extraordinary wardrobe choices, but mainly because of his inclination to 'de-gender' words. In an interview for BBC's The One Show, asked about his love of fishing, Smith said: "I'd love to be a fisherthem" — shunning the more commonly accepted 'fisherman'.

Some days later, capitalising on the media furore generated from 'fisherthem', Smith is alleged to have insisted that Manchester rename itself 'Theychester' ahead of his gig there.

Sales ultimately dignified this provocative PR manoeuvre; because during the first week of release, Smith enjoyed his fourth No.1 album. 

Why did this approach work?

Frankly, the release of a singer's album is an unremarkable thing, but the de-gendering of a noble profession and a British city is an unusual move that people wouldn't expect, thus, the latter spotlights the former by proxy. Write it down... people first, things second. 
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3: DOES THE IDEA BRING JOY & PLEASURE TO ORDINARY PEOPLE?
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Often overlooked, but stunningly powerful, joy is a potent PR tool that we leverage for our clients at every opportunity. Whether it's creating the world's most comfortable train station platform or inviting random shoppers to paint David Beckham, the PR stunts we devise that are rooted in joy and happiness routinely help our clients attract high-profile media coverage and reach their key audiences. 

Why does this approach work?

Well, let's consider the proportion of daily news stories that are either tragic, unfortunate or plain depressing in nature... a leftfield story that reminds people of the world's glee offers welcome respite from the gloom.

Moreover, consider the word news — it contains the word new, right? Stories that are fresh, innovative and contain new ideas are highly-prized among media publishers, especially if said story depicts ordinary people in a state of happiness or surprise. Why? Because these are the stories people most enjoy sharing!

CONCLUSION:​

In my experience, the toughest part of building a successful PR campaign for a client is defining the hook or angle i.e. figuring out why anyone should care about their product/service. This is the most critical question you should ask yourself when trying to engage audiences with PR. 

​To improve your odds of finding a viable answer, I recommend switching your focus from "How do we get our product/service out there?" to "How do we engage the people out there?" The distinction between these two questions is one I've noticed female clients assimilate quicker than male clients. Men are more inclined to want to 'sell' to people whereas women are more inclined to want to initiate a conversation with them. 

Of course, this sweeping generalisation is not absolute, I encounter exceptions all the time, but broadly speaking, it is a truism.

Now, if anything I've written here offends you as a man, well, if POINT 2 of this blog post is correct, I'll not only enjoy a little media fame as a result, but by the end of the week, I'll be a big deal on Spotify, too, so not bothered. 

Want to connect your brand to large audiences? Call us on 0114 491 0636 or email us on hello@iconsmachines.com​​​ — we typically secure high-profile media coverage for our clients within 4-6 weeks.

When it comes to how we behave as an agency, here's an accusation that'd unfairly damage our reputation:

"Drama. Fuss. They make a big deal out of everything."

In contrast, here's an accusation that'd perfectly describe our content — specifically our live events photography: 

"Drama. Fuss. They make a big deal out of everything."

You see, there's a time and a place for drama, and last week, when Chrissy Bray booked us to shoot her NEW London show — 'Just Act Normal' — we were in that exact place.

Chrissy had heard about our reputation for delivering dramatic, atmospheric images, and as far as she was concerned, what's the point of being an international singer, MC & professional party starter unless your photography makes a big deal out of the show, the energy, the fans and the glow sticks?

​Good point.

Side note: if ever you get a chance to see Chrissy, we hope you're as blown away by her version of George Michael's 'Father Figure' as we were. Glorious. 

Now, some photos...

All content by ICONS & MACHINES (2023)