Choosing a PR practitioner
Having a business in the superyacht industry can sometimes feel akin to planning a wedding - in that when people hear the magic word 'superyacht', they feel they can add an extra zero to the price they're quoting you.
We come up against it regularly and have honed a pretty solid skillset at beating this price back down to a fair point when we're gathering quotes on behalf of our clients! We also make sure we charge fairly, and consciously keep our fees at a rate which is standard across PR practitioners in different industries.
In addition to that, as a small business ourselves, we understand the huge importance of a helping hand every now and then. We do what we can to help our clients holistically by letting them use our 'superyacht people' meeting room whenever they need, nominating the Albatross Auckland office as their mailing address, making plenty of introductions between the folks of the industry and pitching in other bits of help outside our scope of work where we can. There's a few parties out there who've looked at the 'wedding effect' of the superyacht industry and decided there's money to be made in superyacht marketing and PR. As a business owner and representative you'll have your own criteria for choosing who you feel comfortable working with. As the original superyacht PR company, we've had time to see the best and worst of what's out there. Here are the points we recommend you add to your criteria list to ensure you're getting a true expert - and not a zero adder.
Look for testimonials, a client list, and references.
Beware of publishing houses who say they can also do your marketing and PR - any press release sent by them will only be covered in their own magazine - no other publishers will touch them.
Look for a proven track record showing they've secured coverage in your target titles, and in front of your target market.
Ask for them to present you with a past campaign's AEV (advertising equivalency value) to prove that they deliver results which are excellent value for money.
PR practitioners should be ex-journalists, or trained PR pros with a degree in journalism, communications or similar.
Marketing experts will likely come from a Bcomm background with a major in advertising or marketing, and have a strong body of digital experience.
And never trust a 'social media expert' with less than 100 followers!
