Lessons in Fashion PR – Exhibit A: Mao PR

1.    Deliver a Great Product   
2.    Extend Your Brand   
3.    Be Nice

If there’s anything the YouTube/Blogger/Branded Utility/Social Responsibility Age has taught us about marketing and branding, it’s that it pays to do good. When Walmart was discovered to be publishing a flog about “roadtrippers” camping out in their parking lots, mega-ad agency Edelman was reamed across both the blogosphere and the mainstream press. On the other hand, when Charmin placed free luxury bathrooms in the middle of Times Square, tourists and New Yorkers alike rejoiced at the unsolicited convenience. Product (Red) opened the floodgates for consumer-sponsored charity with an easy campaign extended across so many media. And marketers are also learning that while advertising and marketing can go a long way to bringing your product to the people, if the product doesn’t hold its own weight, no one’s going to buy it. Two examples: Wii completely beating out PS3, and the very loud thud we all heard when the Zune hit the market.

So it follows that there are three basic rules that marketers and advertisers should be following: 1.) be nice; 2.) extend your brand; 3.) deliver a great product. Here at New York Fashion Week, there’s so much advertising and product-pushing going on that walking into the tents is like sticking your head inside a television. But one facet of all the brouhaha that’s conspicuously not branded is the PR companies; those people whose job it is to manage the public image of their clients have somehow neglected to manage their own images.

One PR agency that sticks out from the crowd is Mao PR. This mid-sized organization has completed steps one through three with absolute panache, resulting in a great brand image for itself and, in turn, for the clients they represent.

Deliver a Great Product:
Mao PR represents four designers showing at the FW07 New York Fashion Week: Jason Wu, Jayson Brundson, Aurelio Costarella and Chris Han. While some PR agencies will take almost anyone under their umbrella just to rack up a long client list with the hope of increasing their visibility, Mao goes for quality over quantity. Although they weren’t the most high profile designers at the tents this season, Mao’s four presented among the most beautiful and cohesive collections. They’re also not the most mainstream bunch, which adds to their allure: Chris Han, a native of Korea, showed her first collection here; Jason Wu is sponsored by Brizo faucets.

Extend Your Brand:
Brothers Mauricio and Roger Padilha have carved out a small empire for Mao PR, with their client roster, showroom, casting and production services, and branded magazine. They even used to have a dedicated venue, dubbed Mao Space, created so that new designers would have an affordable location to show their collections.
Similarly, the company’s magazine, Mao Mag (still alive and well), is a platform to support and celebrate emerging talent in fashion and the arts in general. It’s a pretty interesting read, and it’s nice to see a PR company so eager to support underground arts that aren’t (at least not always) connected to their profit margin.

Be Nice:
The fashion world is teeming with catty, self-important, blindingly ambitious alpha females (and their gay male counterparts), and under the tents during Fashion Week, they’ve all got their claws out, ready to pounce. The PR reps are the worst, fielding would-be show-goers with clipboards bearing VIP lists, seat lists, and standing-room lists, and if you’re not on one of them, you’re a nobody. Amidst all the craziness though, the Mao people always remained calm and smiling, trying to accommodate everyone trying to get in. That might be because their shows had quite a lot less draw than, say, Zac Posen (celebrities only) or BCBG (those PR girls are the worst!), but it was still a welcome change after 7 days of sneers and snarls.

Fashion PR agencies could definitely learn a lesson or two from Mao PR, but something tells me they’re not listening. We’ll see if anything changes at the SS08 Fashion Week – if I have the strength to attend it!