60 Seconds with Issa PR founder Viet N'Guyen

60 Seconds with Issa PR founder Viet N’Guyen

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Issa PR founder Viet N’Guyen discusses the agency’s London expansion, the brands she’s worked with and which influencers she’d most like to collaborate with.

What made you found your own agency?

After a decade at Edelman in London and New York working with global brands like Tiffany & Co., Heineken, Volkswagen, Dove, Maserati and others, I wanted to create a specialist luxury and lifestyle agency to fill a gap in the market.

We are a boutique generalist agency with extensive experience in each sector (art, culture, fashion, music, technology, food & drink, hospitality and philanthropy) rather than specialising in one industry like other boutiques. We think laterally about storytelling by creating compelling narratives that resonate with audiences in ways other bigger agencies may not be able to do.

Finally, I wanted to combine consumer PR with philanthropy and social good, as we believe in giving back, and there is a growing nexus between social responsibility and luxury lifestyle brands.

Issa is US-based but is expanding its European operation. What should we expect from the London office in 2018?

We’re excited to build the London office and will be moving our HQ to London. We expanded from New York to London to Los Angeles quickly. Being British and given my career started in London, it’s great to be back. We want to continue the growth we’ve enjoyed in recent years.

Within six months of inception, we worked with some of the most influential brands and companies in the world from Absolut’s luxury vodka, Elyx, to campaigns at Art Basel with The EDITION Hotel, Fashion Week with Vogue Italia, through to Def Jam Records – who represent international icons such as Kanye West, Rihanna and Justin Bieber through to Axwell x Ingrosso from Swedish House Mafia.

Our forthcoming work with BMW will be hubbed from London and we hope to continue spearheading pan-European/regional work, as we recently did for Absolut Masterbrand in seven countries.

You’ve run UK and European campaigns for the likes of Absolut, BMW and Davidoff Cool Water. What, as a young agency, enabled you to attract these famous brands?

Big brands want dynamic and creative thinking, a hunger and passion to deliver, and the ability to move quickly and opportunistically. Some of this can be challenging for a large agency.

With regard to other boutiques, we set ourselves apart by representing a wealth of different sectors while delivering high-level strategy and thinking versus being execution-led only.

Given Issa PR’s focus on luxury brands and concepts, what types of PR activity have worked best for you? Is there anything you’ve tried which hasn’t worked?

Events, experiential and content are the most successful. We launched Absolut Elyx’s first pop up club at Schrager’s EDITION Hotel when it first opened on South Beach during Art Basel, which incorporated all three elements.

We also launched the first Elyx House as an extension of the brand (copper pineapples, copper flamingos, tropical wallpaper etc.), where we hosted events with Alessandra Ambrosio and Mumford & Sons to Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and the cast of Breaking Bad.

Unless it’s a strong story, avoid pitching during key events like Fashion Week, Tribeca Film Festival and Coachella, if you want coverage and visibility.

A number of Issa PR’s campaigns are influencer-driven. How do you deploy them and what benefits do they bring?

We work with influencers who truly stand for something vs a fashion blogger or social media influencer. We’ll work with macro and micro influencers, as needed for clients and campaigns but still believe a holistic 360 approach is the best strategy for success.

What’s the most memorable campaign you’ve been involved with?

The Vogue Italia campaign with the late Franca Sozzani and fashion designer, Johan Lindeberg. We wanted to stand out from the crowd during NY Fashion Week by creating a photography exhibition in a raw, gritty space to celebrate real “Women of Integrity”.

To redefine notions of power and integrity, we highlighted Cuban activists, scientists developing cures for cancer, Palestinian actresses and a best-selling writer from Turkey instead of celebrities, models or influencers. The event was oversubscribed with supermodels, designers, director Paul Haggis (“Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby”), musicians and art luminaries, and generated buzz and coverage all over the world.

Finally, which influencers would you most like to work with on a campaign in the future?

As we like to create emotionally inspiring work, in fashion, I have tremendous respect for Elaine Welteroth and Edward Enninful, who are both galvanising a new type of social consciousness.

Jonathan Rosen is a conceptual artist, whose body of work is powerful and thought-provoking. Karl Lagerfeld is a fan. Jonathan also gives back and created a piece of artwork for fashion powerhouse, Colette in Paris after the terrorist bombings. Proceeds were to be donated to victims of the attack.

Finally in music, DJ and producer Oliver Nelson from Perfect Havoc is one to watch. Kygo has already heralded him as a genius.

  • Pictured: Viet N’Guyen (centre) with the Issa PR team

Do women have equal opportunities and pay in the media?

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This was the debate chaired by senior editor of The Economist, Anne McElvoy to a panel that included, Miriam Gonzales, Founder of Inspiring Girls and partner of law firm Dechert LLP, Sue Ryan, head of training for The Mail Publishing Group, Charlotte Ross, deputy editor of The Evening Standard, Dazed weekend editor and gal-dem.com deputy editor Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, and editor emeritus of The Telegraph, Ian Macgregor.

Sponsored by Cision and organised by the London Press Club, the discussion took place at the Grand Stationers’ Hall in London.“Right now it’s a good time to be an ambitious young woman” said Ross.

But at the same time she argued that, “entry level positions are not the same as senior positions” and women have to ask much more often than men for promotions or salary increases and when they do, are more likely to be seen in a bad light.

As the only male on the panel, Macgregor echoed the need to “employ more women in senior roles.”

He said, “it’s time for men to speak up for women” especially considering the disproportionately low gender split in media caused by an “unconscious bias” which favours employing people who “look like you.”

Brinkhurst-Cuff exposed the “imposter syndrome” experienced by underrepresented groups in the media. She said that, “We need to recognise the duality of gender and race” especially considering her observation of the room in which the lack of women of colour present was “sad.”

For her, “it’s hard to work for a publication which attacks your identity” because discriminatory stories can prevent potential job applicants who may come from minority backgrounds.

Macgregor boasted how the Telegraph now implements a “blind CV approach” which masks the gender, race and socio-economic background of its applications for a fairer recruitment process.

The audience were also quick to call out the lack of flexible employment, as Gonzales highlighted that “women are expected to be primarily responsible of childcare and the home.”

The industry stunts women’s ability to climb the ‘career ladder’ with a number of barriers, including having a family and the lack of job shares or part-time opportunities made available.

Ross advised that “there is no reason why the industry can’t be more flexible” and Macgregor also suggested we should be putting deadlines on achieving equality in the workplace.

Ultimately the panel concluded that more work still needs to be done with Gonzales stating, “I would like to live in a country where no one says who wears the trousers in this relationship.”

How to build a tech brand with earned media Steph MacLeod and Marc Chacksfield

How to build a tech brand with earned media

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Kaizo director Steph MacLeod and Marc Chacksfield, TechRadar’s interim global editor-in-chief, outlined how to build a tech brand with earned media in this week’s Cision webinar.

MacLeod said the most successful brands excel in six core areas – original thinking, entertaining ideas, multiplatform content, data insights, ambitious personalities and workforce engagement.

“At the end of the day, business performance counts,” she added. “Make sure you’ve got that halo effect. Without that, to be honest it doesn’t matter what you do.”

“A brand is always built on its content,” agreed Chacksfield. “That’s exactly what we tried to do, even when we were just a start-up.”

Communicators need to make technology real

Over the course of her career, MacLeod has run tech PR campaigns for clients including Apple, Samsung and Facebook. She said the most successful brands are the ones that make a technology real for their audience.

“Nobody cares about ‘massive processing power’ and petabytes of data that sit in a storage box,” she said. “But maybe they do care that it’s helping Mercedes win Formula 1. Maybe they do care that it’s helping to cure previously incurable diseases.”

Ronan Cloud, a Weber Shandwick associate director who watched the webinar, agreed: “No matter how mind-blowing the tech, it’s the impact on people that truly matters. So, cut the science – and the acronyms – and keep it real.”

When it comes to SEO – you can’t cheat the system

Chacksfield pointed out that great headline writing and SEO best practice are the modern equivalent of when he used to move his magazines to the front of the pile in WHSmith. But if you want people to engage with your content, it also needs substance.

“The biggest thing to remember is that you can’t cheat the system,” he said. “Once people click through and you’ve just got clickbait or nothing compelling to read then they will get put off your site.”

“Thought leadership is probably the most overused phrase in B2B tech PR,” added MacLeod. “To be effective it needs to be properly insightful and visionary or controversial and ballsy. And to be honest, the best kind of thought leadership is all of these.”

Exclusives got TechRadar ahead of the game

TechRadar pulls in an awe-inspiring 30 million unique users each month and has established itself as one of the UK’s go-to sites for exclusive tech news, in-depth reviews and the latest tech rumours.

Chacksfield said PRs should always bear this in mind when pitching in a story – and offer the title something no one else will have access to.

“Try and make it feel like the pitch is just for me, or try and get something that’s a little bit more that will grab my eye,” he said. “That doesn’t mean an entirely exclusive story. It could just be an exclusive line for that story, or a quote from somebody.”

He added: “It’s pretty easy to see a cut and paste email now. And unless it’s a really enticing press release, we won’t reply to it.”

Pitch to yourself before contacting the press

Chacksfield said the secret to crafting the perfect tech PR pitch is putting yourself in the journalist’s shoes and understanding what they’re looking for.

“Ask yourself the following,” he recommended. “What value am I offering? Would this be something a TechRadar reader would be interested in? What’s the benefit of having this pitch on TechRadar?”

Ronan Cloud agreed: “Engaging your friends – who can be a tough crowd when talking about work – is a great litmus test. Doing the same with one’s own work is an essential stage of every pitch. If you can’t get excited by your own storyline, you’re not doing it right.”

Meet the Journalist: Esquire's style director Charlie Teasdale

Meet the Journalist: Esquire style director Charlie Teasdale

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Charlie Teasdale, Esquire’s new style director, discusses his role, changes to the magazine’s Style section and his most memorable moments at the publication. 

How much will your role change after being promoted from the deputy style editor position?

It is still my job to pitch ideas and write for each of the Esquire titles, and to represent the magazine at events and fashion shows, but now, alongside my colleague Johnny Davis, I’ll be writing and editing Esquire’s Style section, and much of the style content in the Big Black Book and the Big Watch Book, too. I don’t know if it sounds like a lot, but it’s a lot.

Are we likely to see any changes in content following your promotion?

We’re planning a shake-up of the Style section. It’s in great shape already, but we’re going to hone a few things and give it a refresh. I think it’s important to take stock and gauge opinion when you can. But fear not, there will still be fashion, grooming, tech, travel, fitness, food & drink, watches, cars, comment; everything you need in a good front section of a men’s style magazine.

Can you describe a typical day at the magazine?

It really varies, and it’s very rare that I’m in the office for the duration. I have internal and external meetings throughout the day, and shoots, and I’m lucky to travel a lot, so it’s not often that I’m in London for the full week, let alone the office. We’re moving to a new building in Leicester Square in the summer and I’m looking forward to that.

What differences are there across all of Esquire’s publications?

Esquire is as it’s been for over 80 years: the most stylish, insightful and engaging men’s magazine on the newsstand. The Big Black Book is our luxury biannual, but it’s from Esquire, so ‘luxury’ doesn’t just mean expensive, it’s about good taste at the highest end of fashion and lifestyle. And we now have the Big Watch Book, too, which is our unique view on watches, the horology industry and the stories that come from it.

Which content do you find is of most interest to Esquire’s readers?

Esquire readers are catholic in their tastes. They like pop music and politics, and fashion and films and football. When it comes to style-focused content, over recent years we’ve found that watches have been a huge point of interest for our readers, it’s why the Big Watch Book has been such a success.

We opened a dialogue with our readers a few years ago now, and we understand better than ever what they want to see in the magazine. It’s one of the reasons that the Esquire Townhouse project was launched back in 2016, and now Esquire readers can come and experience everything we talk about first-hand.

What is your relationship with PRs? How do you look to work with them?

The relationships I’ve built up with PRs over the past few years are invaluable, and a big chunk of my time is spent corresponding with them and meeting them. I’m now at a point where I can be frank about ideas, and potential coverage, and it works both ways; there are lots of people on the PR side that will bring stories to me first, and there are many that I can rely on to only give me leads that are right for the magazine.

What’s your most memorable moment from your time at the magazine?

I’ve been very lucky to have done an inordinate amount of cool stuff during my time at Esquire. Riding in a fighter jet over the Nevada desert is probably the best ‘thing’, but I’m still most proud of my first Esquire cover line. Believe it or not, one of my teenage ambitions was to write a feature for Esquire, so when my name was on the front cover, amongst the various luminaries, it was huge achievement for me.

Finally, if there’s one thing item of clothing you could own from the past or present, what would it be?

It would have been great to own Paul Newman’s ‘Paul Newman’ Rolex Daytona, because it’s so incredibly cool. But it just sold for £13.5 million, so I can’t see it appearing on my wrist any time soon.