Company: Konnect Public Relations, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
Company Description: Konnect Public Relations is a Los Angeles-based boutique agency. As a full-service PR provider, the firm specializes in creative media relations for a variety of business clients, lifestyle products and services. Never adhering to a “one-size-fits-all” public relations strategy, Konnect PR tailors each client’s campaign to generate tangible ROI for the respective brand’s overall marketing efforts.
Nomination Category: Communications & Marketing Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Low Budget (Under $10,000 / €7000)

Nomination Title: Special Delivery To Announce New mbaby Clothing Line From Munchkin

In up to 525 words, tell the judges about the nominated campaign: its genesis, development, planning, commission, and performance to date:

Munchkin, Inc. creates innovative products that excite and delight parents and children. A leader in the children’s product space, Munchkin decided to expand its reach with the development of a new, high-end and inventive apparel line called mbaby; a first for the company. The mbaby line was a departure from Munchkin’s existing line that is featured in mass retailers across the country. With a more posh and designer look and feel, mbaby was available exclusively online at Munchkin.com, with no plans to launch via Munchkin’s traditional retail channels. To bring attention to the new line, Konnect PR proposed a dynamic and memorable media mailer that would launch the brand and attract the attention of journalists covering the crowded apparel space.

Konnect PR collaborated with Munchkin to create a strategy with objectives that could be easily checked against to measure ROI. Our objectives were two-fold, focused on both media coverage and sales. For media coverage we set a goal to garner feedback from 25 targeted reporters and secure at least 200 million impressions as a result of the media kit mailing. This goal was especially aggressive due to late sample availability and limited timing to create and send out the mailing. As far as sales are concerned, Konnect PR aimed to help Munchkin achieve the goal of more than 200 units of mbaby sold by the end of the year.

In response to these goals, Konnect PR created a media kit that would transcend the typical, stale, one-dimensional press kit. We wanted the mbaby media kit to be an experience; one that would immerse the recipient in the total look and feel of the brand and remind them of just how special it is to welcome something so new and so precious—be it a baby, or for Munchkin, a new apparel line. Custom made keepsake boxes in mbaby’s logo colors served as the foundation for the kit and were intended to be used year-after-year to hold the bits of treasured memories from a new little one’s life. The keepsake box included samples of the line’s Onester® and Sleepster® garments as well as a press release, line sheet and a lookbook. Hand-written notes from Konnect PR were also included to each media target to further personalize the media kit for each recipient.

The budget for the media kits was $1,000 which included the cost to create the custom keepsake boxes, printing press materials, providing sample items and shipping.

The compelling, individualized and targeted media kit mailers were the driving force of Konnect PR’s media outreach. We exceeded all of Munchkin’s objectives; successfully showing them how an effective PR strategy could deliver true ROI.

In total, we were able to introduce the mbaby apparel line to more than 42 targeted media which has resulted in 98,411,260 million secured and upcoming (long lead) impressions. Notable coverage includes American Baby, BabyCenter, Pregnancy & Newborn, and People’s Moms & Babies. Additionally, Munchkin sold more than 475 units of mbaby in only two months, crediting the targeted media outreach and engaging media kits from Konnect PR as a key contributor.

Upload a collection of supporting files and web addresses to our server to provide more background information to the judges. You may upload any number of attachments and URLs through the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above. (Do NOT list your URLs below.)

Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the team that created and carried out the nominated communications campaign (up to 125 words):

Having worked on a number of lifestyle clients, Maithili found her true calling in the world of baby and children’s products and has secured prime results ever since. Servicing clients such as Ergobaby, Jaxxwear, Klever Kids, Monkeybar Buddies and more, Maithili is heavily connected to children’s media, stylists and celebrity media, and is consistently booking her clients in top tier, A-list press such as Today, UsWeekly, American Baby, Parents and more. Her drive to get results and refusal of “No” as an answer from media has made her an asset to Konnect PR’s baby & children division and a go-to source for the latest the industry has to offer.