For 30 years, Kaplow has been a respected name in the PR world, and by consistently fine-tuning its approach to performance PR in order to meet clients’ needs, they continue to solidify their spot at the top. For example, as racial inequity and social injustice issues continue to be a top priority, the agency increased its risk mitigation consulting service. They’ve also evolved their standard media training offering to adapt to current virtual times, address new ways editorial outlets are working and provide executive guidance for developing a leadership presence across virtual and in-person engagements. The Kaplow team has found success in leveraging social listening, which ultimately leads them to better understand what brand-relevant conversations and trends matter most to clients’ key audiences. Finally, they’ve doubled down on their creative and design services, and capabilities now include content creation, social media, packaging and print, event production and video development. Having signed more than eight new clients this year, it’s safe to say Kaplow’s leadership team updates were a smart move: Liz Mefford joined as Executive Vice President, Health and Jessica Klavens as Head of Media Strategy and Thought Leadership.
Leadership team:
Liz Kaplow, CEO & Founder
Randi Liodice, President & Chief Strategy Officer
Notable long-term clients:
CVS Beauty, Target Home, Fidelity, 23andMe, wet n wild, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Conair, PVH (Warners Bras)
New client wins:
Target Food & Beverage, LovePop, Colorescience, Jane Iredale, Bondi Boost
What have been some of the agency’s greatest successes of the past year?
“Throughout the pandemic, Kaplow has maintained and expanded its best-in-class TREE culture – Trust, Respect, Energy and Enthusiasm. A dedicated TREE Team, including representation of staff across all levels of the agency, plans various monthly celebrations that foster Kaplow’s commitment to health and wellness, CSR, socialization and education. In our work-from-home climate, the TREE team continues to ensure all employees feel Kaplow Culture, hosting quarterly outings, bi-weekly virtual workout classes, Friday team lunches, digital monthly Kaplow Book Klub and Binge Bunch (a TV series-watching club) Zoom meetings, and a Teams Pop Culture Chat thread to replace in-office ‘water cooler’ moments at-home. Plus, a bi-weekly agencywide newsletter, Biz Bites, and employee-spotlighting podcast, Branch Break, continue to connect and motivate our team. Through Kaplow Gives Back, we also provide staff members with time to volunteer during the day. New this year, the TREE Team introduced its Grant Program, which will give employees the opportunity to take an extra five days of paid time off within a specific quarter to learn something new, give back to the community or discover a passion project. In a 2021 end of year survey, 100% of employees agreed that Kaplow has created an agency-wide sense of community, flexibility and positive culture.”
Founder Laura Bindloss took Nylon Consulting to a new level this year, launching a new, YouTube-first media brand called Designer Home Tours – which hit one million views in just over three months. It’s this out-of-the-box thinking that has helped the home and lifestyle PR agency pivot into winning accounts that are focused in the hospitality and commercial industries; the agency is now working with Mint House and the New Work Project – two companies pioneering new business models and concepts in their given fields (hospitality and co-working). After two-and-a-half years, Nylon Consulting’s social media offering has evolved, and as such the agency has amended its retainers and launched scalable products that are on track to become a significant portion of Nylon’s revenue. Bindloss and team are also in the midst of formalizing a content division, which will handle independent photo shoots (even for clients that are not agency clients), social first content capture, renderings and the ability to produce branded content (something they’re already doing for a longtime client).
Leadership team:
Laura Bindloss, Founder
Notable long-term clients:
Christopher Peacock, The New York Design Center, Artistic Tile, Liz Caan, McKinnon & Harris, WallPops + A-Street Prints, de Gournay, Sasha Bikoff
New client wins:
Mint House, Dixon Rye, Samplize, New Project Group, New Work Project, Royal Green Appliances, Wovn Home, Bennett Leifer
How are you innovating and moving the industry forward?
“By creating opportunity where it was lacking. In our industry, media brands are shrinking, and there is no landscape for video-first editorial, so we created it ourselves. Our media brand has featured our own clients, but it also means we're working with additional publicists and independent designers to highlight and showcase their work. We're also challenging the traditional retainer model – not every client who contacts us needs an annual retainer (nor can they afford one), so we've developed a number of products more suited for a fast go-to-market strategy and launch. It's opened us up to new types of clients and opportunities that we wouldn't have been able to work with before.”
