Here at the Coop we’re immensely proud of our close-knit team and the fact that so many of our PR rockstars started their careers as interns, moving up the pecking order to become account execs, account managers and so forth. But of course, good things don’t last forever and today we wave goodbye to account director and original intern Izzy King, who after seven years with the business is heading off to pastures new. In her final blog for Little Red, we asked Izzy to delve into her ‘bangers’ and ‘belters’ one last time before heading off on her next adventure…
What has been your proudest achievement at Little Red PR?
Mainly I think it would just have to be my journey from intern to account director. I started Little Red as a shy Masters student and I’m leaving a very different person. I think I can hands down say nothing or no group of people have shaped me more in my adult life than the team at Little Red! For me, a pivotal moment was when I started to win my first pieces of new business, culminating in Caesarstone earlier this year. This was a dream client for me and I know I’m leaving the brand in excellent hands with the team here. Also, playing a part in the organisation of our annual summer showcases – such a huge project and by far the biggest and best thing we do as an agency!
In terms of press coverage, what is the one piece you got most excited about when it landed?
I have a few from my early days that I’m still super proud of. A full page for Bisque in The Times Bricks & Mortar was a pivotal moment for me and my first big broadsheet feature that came from relentless pursuing of a particular journalist that I was super keen to get in with (and still am to this day!) Another was a full page for Victoria + Albert in Wallpaper* back in 2015 – when we first signed with the client I was told its dream coverage was to be in Wallpaper* and I managed it within our first six months. It’s still one of my favourite shoots to this day. And earlier this year I got a business profile for Screen with Envy in the Telegraph. Vic always championed me getting a big business splash and I never thought I could do it – or that it would happen – so it was a real sense of achievement when this came off, and even more so for the fact it supported a small, female-founded start-up.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting out at Little Red PR what would it be?
Read as much as you can – immerse yourself in the media. In particular, reading the broadsheet newspapers and interiors magazines massively helped me develop my own writing style. Be open; be friendly; be proactive – ask questions, share information, support one another. And always stay one drink behind your manager and the media. I wish someone would have told me that one from the beginning!
Favourite press event?
I’ve worked on quite a few during my time here! I’ve been on so many amazing press trips with Victoria + Albert Baths – a stay in Chewton Glen’s treehouses and a takeover at Somerset’s At the Chapel have to be up there as real highlights for me. Vic and I got used to quite a few press trips together over the last seven years which were always a giggle. But I will always have a very special place in my heart for Smeg events. Launching the Regent Street store was perhaps the biggest project I ever worked on that meant so much not just to us as an agency, but to the brand – and the clients I had worked with for so long. We had over 300 press through the door, the entire team pulled together and there was such a buzz on the night. Smeg’s Italian team invited international flautist Andrea Griminelli to perform and it was one of those moments that sent shivers down your spine (for the right reasons!) – you could hear a pin drop as the entire crowd fell silent in awe. And of course, the Dolce&Gabbana launches in Milan were something else. You’d never imagine little old me from Twyford would be at a party with supermodels and fashion designers three years in a row. It was a real ‘pinch me’ moment; I’ve never been to an event with such theatre, drama, and so much excitement. And Dolce&Gabbana branded pasta! I wish every event had Dolce&Gabbana branded pasta.
Launching Smeg’s London store with head of marketing John Davies
Favourite product launch?
This is a tough one but I think my favourite has to be the launch of Loewe’s bild 9 TV in 2017 that Emma and I worked on together. I loved the brand and the way it straddled both luxury tech and design and had such a rich, incredible heritage (Loewe invented the electronic TV as we know it back in the 1920s during war-torn Germany). It was such an incredible product, beautifully designed by Bodo Sperlein, and Emma and I loved selling it in together and securing coverage for it. Between the two of us we lined up some fab pieces in a wide range of top tier titles such as Dezeen, Wallpaper*, Wired, GQ, Elle Decoration, House & Garden and The Times. It’s made all the better when your clients really appreciate the work you do, and the team at Loewe really did.
Favourite memory of Little Red?
It’s not so much a memory of my time here per se but I’m so thankful for my six-week sabbatical I was awarded when I hit my five year anniversary. I spent it hopping buses and camping across Africa – it was the most unbelievable experience. I would have never got the chance to do it and I’m so glad and grateful that I did.
What is the one element of your time at the agency that you hope will continue at pastures new?
Little Red has nurtured my passion for design and interiors and it’s thanks to my time here that I’m moving to an in-house role in the same industry. Vic and the team have always encouraged me to be curious and to be interested, and it’s through this that I’ve learnt so much about design. During my handover period in particular I’ve loved going ‘back to basics’ as it were, reading all the interiors mags, seeing what all the design journalists are up to and writing about, the newest brands and latest trends, and I’m excited to be doing this on behalf of a new brand moving forward. I never want to lose this passion for the media and I think that’s definitely something that’s been fostered during my time here. But mainly, I’ve made so many incredible, lifelong friends here – ‘frolleagues’ as one journalist friend of mine lovingly referred to them – that I know I’ll stay in touch with for years to come!
