01/30/19
Pixers: Good PR Is to Support a Brand, Strengthen Its Position and Allow It to Reach a Wider Public [Case Study]
They’ve been focusing strongly on communication from the start, and Prowly allowed the brand to reach a wider public. Their motto reads: “We live to change.” How did they manage to spread it across their target audience and how has Prowly’s Brand Journal helped? We talked about this with Aleksandra Wronecka, Content Specialist at Pixers.
We don’t let anyone forget us. We’re constantly reminding people of our presence, we create and move forward. After all, our motto is, “We live to change.” We try to keep track of the latest trends and Prowly has helped us communicate this to the world in a very appealing way.
-Aleksandra Wronecka, Content Specialist at Pixers
Edyta, Prowly: To what extent has PR contributed to the brand’s success?
Aleksandra Wronecka, Content Specialist at Pixers: Branding activities have been a big part of the company’s strategy since the very beginning. The service we began to offer was new to the market, and we wanted to show the widest possible audience that they could live any way they wanted. What’s more, the change Pixers has offered from the start is quick, simple, and doesn’t require turning the house upside down to produce a truly spectacular effect. This is why we wished to be anywhere where people searched for information on new trends, interiors, and design.Thus, our communication was addressed to journalists, bloggers, and people passionate about good design in general, all of whom we strived to dazzle with our sense of aesthetics. Our concern was to show that a contemporary wallpaper has nothing to do with corny or tacky design, which is why quality always was and still is our top priority. And it was definitely our aesthetics which stood out among previously known standards that ensured our presence in various media outlets.
Click to see Pixers Press Center at Prowly.com
It all meant a significant step forward for the brand, which finally became widely recognizable. Our photos were all over the internet, but the matter of success depends really on how you perceive it. People frequently expect PR efforts to bring results in the form of commercial success, which usually cannot be measured using numbers. Obviously, we can measure the traffic from backlinks or the number of online mentions of the brand, but sometimes even landing a publication in a wide-audience medium which fits perfectly into our strategy will not translate into sales. And it may be because our potential customer who sees the post will get inspired, but this will not be the right time for him or her to redecorate. But, instead, they might put a pin on a photo showing our personalized design on Pinterest so they don’t forget about it and someone else will see it there and decide to buy.
We definitely can’t say that the success of Pixers wouldn’t exist without PR as the business idea itself was brilliant, but I’m certain that good PR supports the brand, strengthens its position and allows it to reach a wider audience.
E.: At which point in the process of developing the company did you decide to invest in PR?
A.: We have known from the very beginning that to make our brand reach a wide audience, we needed to show its offer skillfully, which is why it’s rather difficult to point to a precise point in time. Concern about PR has accompanied Pixers since its beginnings, though it hasn’t been based solely on media relations efforts, as we believe that good PR is, above all, about top quality services and customer experience.
E.: If you were to look back, would you have done things differently?
A.: No :)
E.: When deciding to launch your press office via Prowly, you chose an option which allows you to serve a great deal of content to your readers. How is this working out for you?
A.: It is difficult for us to judge whether our press office is unconventional, because what we care about the most is that it appeals to our audiences. As for the layout delivered by Prowly, we definitely value the fact that it helps to highlight the latest most relevant pieces of content and easily categorize them, so the reader is able to find what he or he is looking for in no time. Additionally, we love the plugin for social media integrations, because we have a lot going on in this area and it allows us to find the latest creations there.
E: What do you value the most about Prowly?
A.: Above all, it is design which is the best meeting point for Pixers and Prowly. The tool is designed in a way that allows us to show what’s best about our offer. I also love the fact that the panel is so easy to use. It’s basically a well-designed tool which makes it possible for a single person to control an entire online press office. Besides, I also love how it’s easy to contact Prowly’s team, which is always accessible and ready to help us solve our issues or answer our questions. I can’t wait for Prowly’s statistics and analytics functionalities to be expanded!
E.: We’re working on it. I think you’ll be able to see the results of our work pretty soon 😊 Let’s get back to your content. Who reads it? Which of your posts are most popular?
A.: I think I should first say that our press office was created for journalists, so we could introduce new products in an appealing manner, but also to make downloading resources easier. In large part, we most certainly reach this group thanks to the mailings sent using Prowly, as it allows us to immediately send out a specific press release together with a link to downloadable content. Currently, we have quite a lot of returning customers, which for us is a signal that we’re going in the right direction. But we can also see that many people visit us just because we popped up in search results. As for our posts, I find it hard to identify those that were absolute hits, as we can see the readers’ interest is more or less equally distributed. However, looking back, our readers were pretty captivated by the piece on color trends for fall 2017 and texts introducing Pixers collections came second in the ranking of most read posts.
E.: How often do you add posts and send out mailings?
A.: Ironically, we try not to overload our Brand Journal. This is why we add two posts every month, at maximum. As for mailings, we do them once a month to present what’s new, our collections or most interesting projects.
E.: How is content marketing helping you position the brand?
A.: Colloquially speaking, we don’t let anyone forget us. We’re constantly reminding people of our presence, we create and move forward. After all, our motto is, “We live to change.” We try to keep track of the latest trends and Prowly helps us communicate this to the world in a very appealing way. Also, creating valuable content helps us reach a wide variety of media outlets all over the world.
E.: Graphics and pictures are the main strengths of your Brand Journal. Could you tell me a little bit more about how they’re made, who makes them, etc.?
A.: All of our projects are created under the watchful eye of the irreplaceable leader of Pixers’ creative team, Agata Dubaniowska. Agata watches over our website and the general aesthetics of our projects and creations. The creative process itself must be kept secret, but trust me, we put our hearts into everything we do, so that each of our inspirations evokes a dream of a beautiful interior.
E.: How do technologies such as Prowly help you engage in media relations?
A.: What we love about Prowly is how it combines great design of publications, a CRM platform, and an email marketing tool. A single tool helps us address three crucial areas of communication with the media and additionally create a space where journalists can visit themselves for information or inspiration. Also, our website is linked to the press center, making it easy for everyone to find contact info, downloadable content and our latest design ideas.
E.: How do you nurture them outside the CRM?
A.: First of all, we always try to meet the needs of journalists even by preparing thematic resources in line with the current trends, take for instance our latest article on the 2018 Pantone Color of the Year, for the announcement of which everyone in the creative business is waiting for so impatiently. Also, we always try to respond as fast as we can to any queries the press may have and, most importantly, continuously work to deliver top quality.
E.: You’re using the VIP option—what content do you serve as exclusive and how does that affect mutual relations?
A.: To be honest, we don’t use this option very often, because we want all of our posts to be publicly available. However, in our correspondence with the media, we always encourage people to contact us directly, because Pixers offers an infinite amount of designs and naturally now all of our projects are presented in our press office. I believe that availability, openness, short response time and mutual assistance are key to media relations.
E.: How many people in your team are working on Pixers’ Brand Journal?
A.: Until recently, I have been taking care of it alone, but obviously with the support from the creative team and my colleagues from marketing. Right now, our Brand Journal is in the hands of Kasia Konachowicz.
E.: Thanks so much for the talk!
Wish to see whether Prowly would be a good march for your communication?
Edyta Kowal