The biggest PR wins and sins of 2023

This year we have seen the demise of many brands, with some sectors such as retail facing significant challenges.

A unique brand concept that is sustainable and provides consumers with an enduring experience appears to be the winning formula. At the same time, an ability to weather the economy and demonstrate upfront leadership during a crisis will support your business in avoiding hot water.

PR sins of 2023

BWX

Zoë Foster Blake made headlines in 2021 when it was reported she sold a 51.5% stake in her Go-To Skincare brand for $89 million to BWX. But by April this year, BWX announced it was placed into voluntary administration and seeking a buyer in the brand only for Blake to purchase back her controlling stake. Go-To Skincare wasn’t the only high-profile casualty for this skincare juggernaut with the organisation’s share price slumping to 20 cents from its former $7.50 just 5 years earlier and $100.8 million loss to December 2022.

Entrepreneurs put their heart and soul into their startup cultivating and building their brand – it gets 100% of their attention. While the attraction of a purchase of your SME into a greater holding organisation is strong, there is definitely a risk of how it will perform within a family of additional brands rivalling for attention and being swept by the performance of their counterparts. Customers can remain loyal to the ‘original face’ they see as the brand and the comfort of it as a ‘local startup’ rather than a distant entity.

Tupperware

In 1942 Tupperware was launched with its appealing product range coupled with a unique marketing approach which enabled it to generate significant awareness. By the 1950s, Tupperware sales soared, hitting $25 million in 1954. Tupperware was ahead of its game – insightfully tapping into social circles and peer reviews for its advertising and sales strategies. This year the company came to the brink of a collapse. Ongoing reinvention is essential for businesses as they age. For some products and services – their idea is timeless and only slight adaptations are needed. For others, it’s about understanding customer insights and the competitive landscape and continually evolving to adjust.

Optus

When 10 million customers could not make or take a call or access the internet for nine hours, the Yes of Optus underpinning its ethos became a resounding No. Businesses were forced to shut down and suffer financial losses and downtime. The then CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin was nowhere to be seen with no upfront communication as businesses were seeking to determine the extent and duration of the outage. Finally, when she did confront the media following the height of the crash, she was criticised for her lack of empathy and the meek offering of free data which didn’t even scrape the top of the damage companies endured.

As a telecommunications business, communication should be the first port of call – and Optus should know this better than anyone following their data leak crisis last year. Recognising and owning the issue, communicating, and determining a way forward should be the immediate approach for any business in damage control.

Jenny Craig

Weight loss company Jenny Craig, which was founded in Melbourne, filed for bankruptcy in the US and administrators failed to secure a buyer in Australia forcing the collapse of the long-held company. Once one the most notable weight loss companies, Jenny Craig was unable to seal its fate. From ambassadors who found it challenging to maintain the weight loss, such as Magda Szubanski who disentangled after regaining 36 kilograms only to return years later, to infringements issued by the ACCC. Jenny Craig has not been able to attain today’s modern consumer. Traditional diets are long gone as new nutritional beliefs and trends take hold with a number of new enterprising businesses ceasing these opportunities.

Shein

Shein has become Australia’s number one online clothing retailer, interestingly, favoured most by eco and socially conscious generation gen Z, for its cheaply priced fashion, accessories and homewares. The company now operates in more than 150 countries and achieves $688 million in sales on our shores. Shein has announced its intention to list in the US stock market in 2024. While typically the popularity, sales and expansion would be ‘a good news story’, the company has been hit with allegations of labour abuse, poor quality and unsustainable manufacturing output. Worldwide the fashion sector is under more and more scrutiny for its sourcing, social and environmental practices. Surely the success of this brand will reach a tipping point, unless it undertakes a significant refocus into the integrity of how its products are made.

PR wins

Milkrun

Milkrun, the grocery disrupter that challenged the ‘big two’ and touting a 10-minute delivery service was a publicity dream with plenty of media engaging in the concept. By April, the startup announced it was closing its doors following continual rumours of its future. The business was opportunistic, tapping into the artificial lockdown economy. With rising inflation and operating costs along with the lifestyle shift of the nation back into stores and regular life, delivering on its model could not be sustained. Resurrected by the very company it was competing with, Woolworths purchased Milkrun with orders fulfilled from its network of Metro stores giving customers the choice of more than 10,000 product lines but offering a 33-minute delivery service.

It takes disruptors to reimagine heritage sectors and plunge into the risk of new territory. But forecasting beyond the realms in a displaced economic and social structure is crucial to sustain it. Certainly, the brand notion and publicity value aided the attention it yielded from its subsequent buyer.

AI

Artificial intelligence is a movement that took hold in 2023 with many businesses recognising the potential power of the technology — from automation to providing additional lines of thinking without increasing headcount. IBIS World 2023 cites 551 Artificial Intelligence businesses in Australia as of 2023. One example is engineering consultancy startup Vision AI, which is launching new machinery that will automate how growers grade fruit.

Just as social media took hold in the early 2000s, AI and adaptation are not likely to disappear. Businesses should be monitoring the technology, especially within their sector, trying out some of the tools to familiarise themselves and determining when is the right time to adopt it for their business.

Untitled Group

Tapping into a population of restless Australians desperate to immerse into the physical music scene off the back of lockdown, Untitled Group smashed the year with accelerated annual growth of 597.41%. The organisation started with four founders running nightclubs together and now sells 450,000 tickets a year and is a team of 65. Surviving the industry’s crash, clever marketing, and navigating the after-effects with events that give its customers a memorable experience have pulled its success and made this organisation a winner.

Nicole Reaney is the CEO of InsideOut PR.