However, it is not just your inner self that craves this annual overhaul; your beauty regime needs it too. This is why here at Brand PR; we have compiled our top 3 products to revamp your routine this January.

Natio Clay and Plant Face Mask Purifier (£10.80)

Rejuvenate skin with Natio’s Clay and Plant Face Mask.  It contains plant essences and clay properties to absorb excess oils and draw out impurities. Kaolin absorbs impurities whilst Bentonite calms the appearance of blemishes and redness resulting in clear and soft skin.

www.debenhams.com

National Trust Body Butter (£12.50) 

Keep skin smooth with National Trust Body Butter. This rich and nourishing cream restores moisture levels and protects skin against dryness from external aggressors.   

www.boots.com

Superdry Neon Purple (£35.00)

Update your fragrance for the winter months with Superdry Neon. This gorgeous scent contains an intriguing blend of Fresh Figs, Green Leaves, Lily of the Valley, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Dry Amber, Coconut, Tonka and Musks that merge to create a memorable, signature fragrance.  

www.superdry.com

Smooth Operator – Slough away dead cells and revitalise skin with National Trust Body Scrub formulated with walnut shell extract to smooth and polish.  Available in four variants Woodland, Garden, Coast and Countryside.   £12.50RRP www.boots.com

Glowing Skin – Nothing finishes off a little black dress like glowing skin.  Natio’s Wellness Body Gloss contains cocoa butter and vitamin E that deeply nourish and restore radiance.   £12.00RRP www.debenhams.com

Flawless Face – Accentuate your best features without harming your skin using Natio’s fantastic Mineral Colour Palette in Deep Berry.  Featuring a trio of eyeshadows for the classic smoky eye look, blusher and bronzer for contouring and highlighting and three shades of lip gloss for a customised finish.  £22.00 RRP www.debenhams.com

Festive Fragrance – Superdry has created the perfect gift for the indecisive girl, with a set of four mini fragrances from their new feminine Neon Collection.  Choose from oriental inspired Pink, citrus flavoured Orange, floral Blue or creamy ozonic Purple.  The good news is there is also a men’s version so your date can smell great too.  A steal at £29.50RRP www.superdry.com

1. Ensure you have a clear strategy for how you will take your brand / product to market. Do you know your market thoroughly? If not, get researching and become an expert!
2. Collaborate with your PR agency and let them help to steer your brand down a press worthy path. A good PR will identify opportunities that will leverage your brand beyond just product on a page. It’s not enough to just be featured on a page anymore, but developing stand out collaborations, partnerships and relevant initiatives will certainly help to push the boundaries for your brand. Allow budget for opportunities such as these to ensure PR is maximising your awareness, coverage and kudos within your field
3. Listen to your PR – if you’ve chosen wisely, they know what they’re talking about and will offer sound advice that will deliver against your expectations
4. Your PR will generally have contacts beyond just PR and communications, so make sure you utilise them! PR’s almost always come into contact with distributors, trainers, social media and marketing agencies, designers, photographers, celebrities and their agents etc
5. Build a relationship with your PR and ensure they feel like they’re part of your team. A strong, thriving business is the result of a strong, collaborative team
6. Work with your PR to deliver a strong PR campaign that will deliver against your expectations. A strong PR strategy that incorporates, marketing, social media and NPD will propel your business in the right direction from the start
7. To properly build a brand, you need time to develop it and that doesn’t happen overnight or rarely in 6 months. Set aside a realistic budget for PR that gives longevity and provides a reasonable timeframe for your business to achieve greater awareness, following, kudos and coverage.
8. Give your PR something to work with. Is the brand new? Is it unique? Any experts? New innovation? Is there budget to create something different to create standout? Collaborations? Media spend? Without this, a good PR has nothing to work with and it’s likely to result in one unhappy client
9. Planning and timings are integral to launching a product or a brand so make sure you allow a 3-4 month lead time before you launch. Long lead media work far in advance and if they don’t get your product in time, then you’ve missed the boat. It’s also worth bearing this in mind when preparing imagery and stationary to send out your products. There is nothing worse than sending a journalist a product and then not being able to follow up with the image once they’ve requested it
10. Honesty –be honest with your PR and vice versa your PR should do the same. If something isn’t working, a good PR will voice it and let you know that the strategy isn’t performing and a change of direction is needed

• Beach-babe Hair – update your look the easy way with Lauren’s Way clip-ion hair extensions.  Made from high-quality human hair and available in 10 shades these hair pieces are the fast way to fuss-free tresses.  £80 RRP at www.laurensway.com
• Glowing Holiday Skin – for that fresh look you get on holiday try Natio’s Illuminating Skin Primer for a perfectly smooth and radiant complexion.  £10 RRP at www.debenhams.com
• Sunkissed Tan – Create the perfect holiday tan with Lauren’s Way fake tanning products that give an all over glow. A selection of lotions, mousses and sprays in a variety of colours to suit any skin type or tone – priced from £11.95 – £19.95 RRP at www.laurensway.com
• Holiday Fragrance – A spritz of National Trust Coast will give the impression you’ve been sunning yourself by the sea and evoke blissful holiday memories that remind you of being on the beach.  £19.50 RRP at www.nationaltrust.org.uk
• Beach Body Fabulous – Natio Wellness Body Gloss gives you an all over body shimmer which leaves your skin silky smooth and smelling of rich antioxidant Pomegranate. Made only with pure plant extracts, cocoa butter, vitamin E and essential oils offering a delightfully fresh fragrance, this light moisturiser leaves a bright luminous glow for youthful looking skin.  £12.00 RRP at www.debenhams.com
• Flip Flop Ready Feet – Fluff away that city skin with a Filthy Gorgeous London Gelish Pedicure, feet are buffed to perfection to create silky soft feet with perfectly polished toes which last for up to 6 weeks! Priced at £45 for more information please visit www.filthygorgeouslondon.com

According to CIPR the definition of Public Relations is:

Public relations is about reputation – the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you.

Public relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics.

What exactly does a PR do?

A day in the life of a PR is incredibly varied, which is one of the benefits of the job.  Contrary to popular belief we don’t spend our time smoochzing and boozing with press.  Any PR worth their salt will be on the phone to journalists ‘selling-in’ a good story trying to generate the maximum amount of exposure for their client.

PR is an ever-evolving discipline and with the advent of Social Media there are now more ways than ever to communicate brand messages.

For PRs our job entails a multitude of skills including writing anything from press releases to statements and promotional copy, setting up media appointments, briefing company executives, evaluating press coverage post-launch, mailing out product samples, generating insightful stories that excite the media and responding to journalists’ requests.

In this current climate a PR’s role has evolved considerably and needs to adapt to their client’s needs.  A PR has now become a business advisor, offering valuable advice and input on all aspects of the commercial arena.

What’s a typical week like? 

There really isn’t a typical week, but recently our diary has included:

• accompanying a celebrity client to various appearances at a well-known department store
• arranging a shoot with a weekly magazine
• presenting new products to journalists
• co-ordinating a forthcoming press launch

The media never sleep and PRs always need to be a step ahead, predicting trends, capitalising on topical stories and often reinventing existing products and brands.  Part of the challenge of PR is creating constant news that is thought-provoking and relevant.

A PR’s work is never done and that is the beauty of our business!