Type 2 Campers

Sometimes you just look at a product and know it will be a hit. Type 2 Campers had found their tribes in the Volkeswagen and camping worlds, but antiquated production methods and materials made it cumbersome for the company to scale. A rebrand and a new revolutionary stamped steel design primed the pump for a product relaunch. To publicize the “T2.3”, we focused on enthusiast and general consumer outlets alike.

Live Wire Radio

Live Wire first appeared on the Portland culture scene in 2004 as a variety show, conceptualized by its founders as “variety for the ears, vaudeville for the mind”. Two decades later, Live Wire has produced over 500 live recordings broadcast nationwide on over 200 radio PBS stations, with a weekly listening audience of over 300,000. As a performing arts enthusiast, I was honored and delighted to be brought in to spearhead the regional media outreach for the 20th Anniversary Festival in March 2024. 

Highline Spirits

Single-barrel, single-origin, single-distiller messaging had long been prevalent in the world of whiskey. But why has blending been such a taboo topic? In working with the woman-led Highline Spirits, I crafted a unique story of bringing together the art and flavor of blended whiskeys, noted by a mythical chimera representing the blend of region and culture that lived within each bottle. Our multi-pronged PR effort focused on a tasting room opening in Michigan, as well as launching the brand to the spirits media, and a concentrated sampling program to cocktail/whiskey influencers.

Rob Brooks, fort West

The groundswell of attention surrounding AI tools like ChatGPT and MidJourney had taken over the cultural dialogue in early 2023. I happened to notice that the Group Creative Director at my agency had been experimenting with character generation mixing his photography skills with AI. His results were jaw-dropping: incredibly realistic woodland creatures seamlessly inserted into photographs with his family. Certain that I could turn this into a news story, we strategized how to publicize this very controversial subject while navigating the hand-wringing sentiment that was prevalent in the creative services community.

  • Placed 12 articles in local Portland news and national media, including The Oregonian, Fox News 12, WillametteWeek, and DIY Photography.

  • The day the first article hit, the agency experienced a 600% increase in organic LinkedIn followers.

  • Efforts led to an AI project with Intel and a speaking opportunity with a national financial services company.

“Heather wasted no time in identifying opportunities to turn our creative work into PR-worthy stories. One project in particular, my personal work in the AI space, caught her attention. Heather recognized its potential to generate buzz and immediately came up with an idea to pique the interest of local publications and national photography publications. Her intuition was spot-on, and the story gained significant traction, resulting in a series of news stories and coverage across various forms of media.

This PR boost was a valuable form of attention for our agency and myself as a creative professional. Heather’s ability to identify and capitalize on opportunities helped us gain exposure and recognition having previously been flying under the radar.”
— Rob Brooks, Group Creative Director, Fort West

Southern Distilling Company

A new whiskey brand started to gather steam and awards within the spirits world. My very talented team at Fort West created an all-encompassing brand and go-to-market strategy, culminating in a beautiful new website. Time to keep the buzz going! With a tiny budget investment, I created an influencer campaign to seed the company’s award-winning Wheated Straight Bourbon Whiskey amongst prominent cocktail and spirits aficionados, ranging from nano to macro.

  • Secured 27 influencers for gifting, 59% response rate

  • 15 of 27 gave feedback, all positive

  • 10 influencers posted = 2 IG posts, 8 IG stories, 1 TikTok Live, garnering $15k in EMV.

  • Campaign summary

CookIt Media

I served as the agency’s Director of Talent & Strategy, overseeing a roster of 20+ creators, photographers and videographers, ideating new services and income paths to align with ever-shifting social media trends.

  • Sourced, vetted, and grew influencer roster by 61%. 

  • Negotiated lucrative brand deals with agencies and CPG/lifestyle brands, including Impossible Foods, Chinet, Walmart, Kikkoman, and Siggi’s.

  • Developed actionable strategies for Talent to grow their social media platforms, evolve as a brand, and diversify revenue streams.

  • Created foundational agency processes for talent recruitment, talent on- and off-boarding, strategic counsel, and legal contract review.

  • Tripled internal staff; led hiring, training, and career development.

“Heather is a whip-smart, dedicated and likable individual who approaches challenges of all kinds with a strong desire to learn. During her early days at CookIt, she worked diligently to understand the business of talent management and our systems, quickly mastering both and proving herself to be a strong talent manager and an important voice on the team. She made systems, organization and efficiency an ongoing goal, and helped us streamline our processes. She was also a thoughtful and effective negotiator, working tirelessly to create well-aligned opportunities for our roster. Heather was both an inspiration and a pleasure to work with.”
— Laurie Buckle, CEO + Founder, CookIt Media

Pix Pâtisserie

Pix Pâtisserie was a beloved dining destination for 18 years in Portland. When the pandemic hit, owner Cheryl Wakerhauser knew it was time to put a longtime dream into action and migrate her business to the only way she could think of keeping everyone safe: a vending machine. She bought a 20-year old refurbished machine and stocked it with her gorgeous desserts, macarons and other high-demand commodities like toilet paper, fresh eggs and sourdough starter. The “Pix-O-Matic” paid for itself within the first 3 days of business. Thanks to Cheryl’s willingness to openly speak about the financials of concept, I pitched national, trade, and local media for business and human interest stories, as well as tapped local influencers to visit the machine and post their experience.

  • Coverage in Inc. Magazine, The Manual, Portland Monthly, KPTV Fox News12, Portland Business Journal (cover story)

  • Honorable Mention for Michael Smart’s Inner Circle “Pitch of the Year 2020”

  • Media and influencer attention allowed Cheryl to purchase a second machine, as well as a disco ball, lights, and selfie camera.

Santé Nuts

A Bay-Area private-label snack nut company was ready to launch retail and DTC. Not only were the products deliciously addictive, but the founder had a great entrepreneurial story. Over our 9-year relationship, I created their foundational marketing programs that allowed the company to attract national accounts like Safeway and American Airlines, ultimately quadrupling company revenue.

  • Drove 12 industry tradeshow activations, from booth development to promotion to on-site staffing.

  • Created sales and marketing collateral for retail launch.

  • Directed product and lifestyle photo shoots.

  • Developed storyline for the single mother, Israeli immigrant founder, and placed CEO profiles in business media.

  • Garnered emphatic product reviews for 19 SKUs in national press such as Good Housekeeping, The Wall Street Journal, and Food & Wine.

  • Advised on inaugural e-commerce designs for new website.

  • Instituted company’s first social media strategy and influencer campaigns.

  • Collaborated on product packaging concepts.

  • Sourced and managed creative agencies.

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“I hired Heather to help introduce a new gourmet food brand & product to the specialty food industry. Heather drafted a spot-on PR strategy and set to executing it, getting coverage in Food & Wine, Wall Street Journal, Good Housekeeping, and many specialty food blogs & magazines. She also drove with many of the online marketing strategies - website, blog, social media presence, etc. She is creative, works seamlessly with clients and a complete joy to work with.”
— Denise Robinson, owner, Spinnaker Consulting
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Oregon Fruit Products

Beloved by generations of bakers, Oregon Fruit’s canned berries and cherries enjoyed widespread brand loyalty for over 85 years. When I joined the team in 2015, the company had done little to evangelize the full scope of the business, which now included a foodservice line of fruit sauces, and fruit purees for the brewing industry. I partnered with the company for a full public-perception overhaul, transforming their marketing efforts from dated and disjointed to integrated.

  • Led media relations efforts for the launch of 50 SKUs across 4 business units. Generated 1.7 million earned media impressions alone in 2020.

  • Created inaugural influencer program; and numerous gifting and paid campaigns. Doubled influencer engagement rate and cut CPE by 50% ‘19-’20.

  • Placed 10 different corporate stories highlighting the company’s evolved business direction and the CEO.

  • Garnered podcast interviews and earned media placements in the craft brewing and foodservice sectors.

  • Wrote all press materials and company backgrounder.

  • Advised on retail packaging updates and future product concepts to address today’s “clean label” shopper: no HFCS, non-GMO, BPA-free cans, simple ingredients.

  • Sourced and vetted creative vendors: social media strategist, recipe developer and photographer.

“Working with Heather has given me an appreciation for her talent in the public relations world. Heather spent time early getting to know the organization as well as our company story and then quickly began sharing the story with the press and getting results. I am impressed with her creative ideas and willingness to help us navigate the PR world as it was new to our company. I would enthusiastically recommend Heather if you want to get your story properly told to the public or to the trade.”
— Chris Sarles, former CEO, Oregon Fruit Products

FARM SPIRIT / FERMENTER

Aaron Adams’ restaurants drew diners from all over the globe, eager to taste his plant-based menus, ranging from playfully conceptual fine dining dishes, to the best damn tempeh sandwich you never knew you needed in your life. But make no mistake: Portland’s “vegan mayor” didn’t play around when it came to redefining new parameters for what it meant to be a restaurateur. Starting from a humble 14-seat chef’s counter, he instituted fair wages and benefits for his employees, eliminated tipping, and supported local farms by exclusively sourcing ingredients within 105 miles of the restaurants. I was proud to work with the chef for over five years on his two concepts to craft his messaging and publicize his ever-evolving vision.

Mingle Mocktails

A high-powered, health-conscious software sales executive pivoted to become a beverage entrepreneur after not being able to find non-alcoholic beverages that suited her taste or lifestyle. With just an 8-month contract, we promoted her four flavors to thousands of trades show attendees and instituted a media campaign for holiday and #DryJanuary coverage. The timing aligned perfectly with statistical trend information pointing to Millennials drinking less than any previous generation. The resulting publicity helped catapult the brand into regional contracts with Bed, Bath & Beyond and Wegman’s.

  • Garnered over 100 million media impressions, including placements in BevNet, The Washington Post, LA Times, Refinery29, Food Network, and HealthMagazine.

  • Placed entrepreneur story feature in the Philadelphia Enquirer.

  • Drove promotion efforts at the Fancy FoodShow, garnering buzz that attracted Kiwi, The Today Show, Oprah Magazine, Forbes, and Good Housekeeping to the booth.