Client: Verde Digital
Campaign: Building brand awareness and authority through an ongoing press office
Objective: Raise Verde Digital’s profile among fashion and retail brands and establish founder Joe Hale as an expert voice
Results: 95 pieces of coverage, including 43 with links to Verde’s website
The Brief
Verde Digital had an impressive client portfolio for a relatively young business. Working with brands including Paul Smith and Adanola, the agency had the expertise and experience to compete for major briefs.
The challenge was making more potential clients aware of it.
Specialising in SEO and AI search for fashion and ecommerce brands, Verde wanted to build recognition beyond its existing network. It needed to communicate what made its approach different, demonstrate the commercial value of its work and build confidence among brands considering a new agency partner.
Founder Joe Hale also had valuable experience and opinions to share, providing an opportunity to put a recognisable voice behind the business.
With a modest startup budget, every PR activity needed a clear purpose. Our brief was to develop a focused B2B media relations strategy that made the most of Verde’s expertise, client relationships and business milestones.
The Objective
We set out to:
- Raise awareness of Verde among fashion, retail and ecommerce decision-makers.
- Build credibility by showcasing its client portfolio and specialist expertise.
- Position Joe Hale as a knowledgeable commentator on search, ecommerce and the fashion industry.
- Secure consistent coverage in relevant trade, marketing and business publications.
- Create a body of independent coverage that could support Verde’s wider marketing and new business activity.
The Insight
SEO agencies face a particular PR challenge. Their work can be technical, commercially sensitive and difficult to translate into stories that interest readers beyond the marketing industry. Agency announcements alone would only take Verde so far.
To reach fashion and retail decision-makers, we needed to understand what those audiences wanted to read and where Verde’s expertise could add something useful.
That meant leading with the retailers, the business challenges they faced and the changing ways their customers searched and shopped. Recognisable client names provided a strong starting point, while Verde’s insight helped explain the commercial story behind them.
It also meant developing thought leadership with a clear perspective and a timely reason to publish. Topics such as AI shopping, Black Friday trading and the mismatch between summer collection launches and online visibility gave us opportunities to connect Verde’s expertise with the industry’s news agenda.
The Strategy and Activation
We built a focused media relations programme that combined client news, thought leadership, reactive commentary and founder profiling. We prioritised stories that could demonstrate Verde’s expertise to the people most likely to need its services.
Leading with the retailers
Appointments including Paul Smith, The Couture Club, Jaded London and Superdry & Co gave us an opportunity to reach beyond the agency press.
We shaped each announcement around the retailer’s ambitions. This gave fashion and retail journalists a story relevant to their readers, with Verde’s role and expertise integral to the coverage.
Each pitch was tailored to the publication, connecting the retailer’s commercial objectives with the interests of its audience.
Developing thought leadership with something to say
We worked with Verde to turn specialist knowledge into accessible, commercially relevant stories.
Seasonal search insight provided an angle on whether retailers’ online visibility was keeping pace with early summer collection launches. Black Friday commentary explored the challenges of peak trading, while thought leadership on AI shopping addressed how retailers could prepare for change without neglecting the fundamentals.
We also identified opportunities for Joe Hale to contribute to live industry conversations, retailer performance and how to build a successful business.
These angles gave journalists a reason to include Verde beyond its own company news, demonstrating the agency’s understanding of the pressures facing fashion and retail businesses.
Making expertise tangible
Client case studies helped explain the value of Verde’s work through practical examples.
Alongside this, founder profiles and business advice contributions introduced the person behind the agency. Recruitment and growth announcements added evidence of a developing business investing in its capabilities.
The Results
- 95 pieces of coverage across fashion, retail, ecommerce, marketing and business media.
- 43 placements containing links to Verde’s website.
- An average domain authority of 55/100 across linked placements
- Core client messaging included in every piece of coverage, reinforcing Verde’s specialist expertise and relevance to its target market.
- Consistent visibility in priority publications, including Retail Gazette, FashionNetwork, Retail Times, InternetRetailing, Glossy and Performance Marketing World.
- Increases in organic search traffic
The Impact
We built a consistent media presence for Verde in publications relevant to its prospective clients, supported by clear messaging about its specialism and expertise.
Leading with retailers and connecting expert insight to the news agenda helped make a technical service relevant to a wider business audience. Founder profiling added a recognisable voice, while client stories provided evidence of the trust established brands placed in the agency.
For a young business, this created a valuable body of independent coverage to support its reputation, marketing and new business conversations. It also demonstrated how a focused, creative PR strategy could make a modest budget work harder.
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