Coffee?

Spotting a recent Insta post from the ever-amusing Miss PR Piggy – the fashion industry’s favourite meme maker, I felt a little seen.

“When the editor you’re trying to get coffee with says they’ll circle back on their availability and never does…”

Gosh we can be rude.

Not to excuse it – our time is NOT more important than yours – but to add a perspective: in my experience this kind of ghosting is rarely due to not wanting to meet a PR – I cherish the relationships element of my job. And I love coffee. More often, it’s due to time constraints (thanks to tight deadlines, interview schedules, team meetings etc), logistics – especially now we can work from home more than in the office, and distractions (your email may be buried under 100 more that day). And honestly, it would be physically impossible to go through with all the meeting and event requests received and do the job we’re paid to do.

An alternative? I know it’s not the same, but I do believe that strong relationships can also be formed virtually. Thanks to compelling ideas that stand out in a chaotic inbox, I’ve loved getting to know lots of PRs via email correspondence – and recommending their clients in articles.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t follow up on the coffee thing should you get no response, and/or try a different means of securing face time with a journalist; I find deskside appointments very efficient, and of course Roxhill’s Speed Pitching sessions are a no brainer.

Also – as always – it pays to be creative in PR. Once, a communications manager sent me some delicious ground coffee with a personal note suggesting a phone call or Zoom date over a cup. It was unusual to receive post that didn’t centre on a product sample, the novelty charmed me – and the bait worked; I made myself a pot of coffee and called her the next day. Worth a try?