Cara Ward, Co-Founder and Director of PuRe PR, talks about the importance of PR in the furnishings sector while reflecting on the last 25 years.
Founded by female power houses Cara Ward and Kelly Marks, this year marks PuRe’s 25th anniversary, with the specialist award-winning agency boasting some iconic clientele from across the globe. These include Andrew Martin, Matthew Williamson, Brintons, Caesarstone, LSA, Tom Howley, Thorp, String Furniture, and lights&lamps to name but a few.
As the London-based agency celebrates their milestone year, Cara Ward revealed that their proactive approach to generate compelling media exposure and brand collaborations to support bigger-picture business goals has been fundamental right from day one.
“We’re passionate about creating strategic and commercially successful campaigns for all our brands,” Cara says. “Our specialties are focused on the Interiors + Design sectors and the Beauty + Wellbeing industries and we were the first UK agency to combine the two.
“Working with both interior designers, architects and developers and the brands they employ, we have a unique understanding of the purchasing patterns, design trends and the routes to sale. We provide a full 360 service including tactical media outreach, strategic brand positioning, considered copywriting, creative photography and shoot creation, coordinated social media services, event management, impactful license deals and brand collaborations.”
Another key pillar to PuRe’s ongoing success is that they strive to be a dynamic creative agency, adapting to achieve commercial returns that work for brands’ business goals. “We like to think we’re an intelligent agency, who execute industry leading strategy, coverage that surpasses market trends, breathtaking events, impactful partnerships together with scroll stopping content, copy and creative design,” Cara added.
So, why is PR important?
“In a highly competitive market, you need your brand to stand out and appeal to specific customers and PR is able to create unique brand narratives and assets that speak to the needs of these customers,” Cara continued. “Often brands haven’t changed their company wording or identified their core values for many years or have lots of confused messaging that means get overlooked or surpassed. PuRe understands the marketplace and offers copywriting, shoot management and brand messaging services to position, identify and attract, especially useful for international brands entering the UK.”
PuRe not only adapts to different customer requirements, they also keep apace with how consumers are changing their furniture shopping habits. Cara explains: “The way furnishing customers shop now has changed and social media channels are very important but it’s vital that they complement your key messages and brand identity across all platforms from your website, retail outlets, packaging on every step of the consumer’s journey.
“Often a large ticket design item such as a sofa, carpet, bed or kitchen takes up to 18 months from choice to sale depending on a project or hotel opening, so you need consistent and engaging PR and messaging from a brand to create loyalty and trust.”
“Remember that new or potential customers need connection to a brand not just communication so tap into their emotions (on their communication channels) and how they feel about their interiors – and think critically about how your brand can elevate that. If they can remember their first purchase and how it made them feel, then you’ll have them hooked for life! Encourage feedback and engagement and make the journey to sale simple – great customer service will be the new luxury.”
Another area of change PuRe PR is seeing includes a shift towards Western Gothic – think American ranch house chic married with stately home architecture, while fast furniture is phasing out for craftmanship. In fact, PuRe is working on a Trend Report to explore this further, so “watch this space”, Cara says.
Cara also outlined that to stand out in a crowded marketplace, rule number one is to “establish your brand identity, messaging, and create imagery that illustrates this visually”, while identifying what you really excel at and why you’re important to the marketplace today. “Never forget what your objectives for PR are. Is it to create brand awareness and identify your USP, direct more traffic to your site/retail space, sell your business, enter a new territory, or industry, engage with social media platforms, or create affiliate opportunities?
“This manages expectations but also allows your PR campaign to have clear targets and strategies. If you have a clear brief and strategy, you can make everyone in your company, including your PR agency, accountable for the results.”
On results, Cara reminisced over a previous front cover PR campaign for Andrew Martin x Kit Kemp mural wallpaper, which created a 500% increase in sales and is still their biggest seller to date. For designer Matthew Williamson, PuRe forged successful and ongoing license collaborations with Pooky Lighting, a seven-category collection for John Lewis, plus a Country Life partnership for Brintons carpets and Elle Decoration design deals for lights&lamps. The proof really is in the PR.
“One of the great achievements at PuRe is the longevity of our clients and this is because we work as an extension of their team, understanding their business model, margins and standards of success,” Cara said. “Fundamentally, while PR is the same, the channels of communication and commerce have changed. Over the last decade, many companies have recognised the importance of having a strong online presence to reach a broader audience. As such, today’s campaigns often focus heavily on positioning clients in high-authority digital media to boost their SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) rankings, further establishing them as highly trusted, expert voices in the industry.
“If your brand has ambitions to grow, send me an email on cara@purepr.com or give me a call 07989 322 706 to see how we can come up with a strategic PR campaign proposal to address your targets.”
