In the highly competitive media, public relations and marketing space, Christill Cave continues chart a course for herself and her young enterprise. Ms Cave is the founder of Lets Talk PR, a PR and marketing agency and she talks to us about her growing business.
Tell us a bit about the history of Let’s Talk PR
WOW! So just to tell you about LETS TALK PR, if you remember my PR company was called Christill Cave Relations before but as time and the years went by I realized that CCR was not really fully representing our clients and what we do but rather it was about me, I mean after all the name of the business is my name so I decided to shut down CCR and started thinking about something more creative and catchy, a name that will not only describe what we do as business but something that will start a conversation. So one day I was taking shower lol and boom I said to myself I want to start a talk show to start a podcast that will focus on all things Public Relations & Media and I said the name of the show will be called LETS TALK PR. Long story short I changed the business name to LETS TALK PR and we are a creative PR firm that specializes in providing PR counsel & reputation management to help our clients enhance their brand equity and corporate reputation. Call us the doctors of PR haha.
There’s quite a number of PR companies; how do you keep up with the competition?
Yes there’s quite a lot of PR companies especially here in Gauteng but one thing I love about the PR industry is that its very broad and diverse. We might all be doing the same thing but we have different techniques and solutions on how we handle different brands and clients. At LTPR, we like treating our clients as family rather then just us providing a service for them and collecting a cheque; we have created lasting relationships through the quality of work we provide and trust is something we have given our clients and we have also received that back. Another thing we do for clients is host networking hang out sessions because we also believe in educating our clients about the importance of PR & Marketing and them investing in it, understanding it and learning how PR works in each career field. Another thing is having a good strong team who understand not only the vision of the business but our clients, I’m truly blessed to work with an amazing team because people always ask me how I manage my team and clients at LTPR and my answer has always been that I push them to follow their passion. You can’t motivate people who aren’t passionate about the work they’re doing.
So let’s talk about PR. What can you tell us…
Well firstly let me just put this out there, PR is not marketing. Marketing and PR are cousins, they can work together but doesn’t mean they are the same, they are just good relatives. In marketing we sell, which we don’t do in PR. In a simple form, I can define PR as more than an investment, it’s a dialogue – a relationship, a trusted commodity. We build, create, save and develop in PR and that’s the Value of PR.
What project been your biggest challenge so far?
There’s been so many but if I can think of one it has to be when one of our clients needed a strategic plan from us for their product. Also hosting 3 major events for them in less then a week. That was challenging due to time but we pulled through.
What local brands or personalities would Let’s Talk PR desire to work with?
Well as LTPR, we aspire to work with your big brands which I can’t mention as we are currently putting proposals together and having meetings with currently. But stay tuned to our media platforms as we will be announcing exciting news in the following months.
Most PR agencies are owned or run by ladies. Is there something about PR and Communications that best suits a lady?
Well you know I read an article online recently and it explained that 30 years ago men were actually the majority at PR agencies, Today women dominate at most PR firms. Some say we are better multi-taskers, others think it’s because we are natural relationship builders. Ugh I mean those explanations seem simplistic and a little insulting to both men and women. PR is fun, flexible and easy going and I know quite a lot of men who run successful PR companies so I cant give you an exact answer why so many women are in PR.
What are some of your future goals as a PR Agency?
Our future goals as an agency is to be the number one leading PR company in our industry both locally and internationally, create more job opportunities within the PR industry for PR graduates. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.