Former CBC publicist Erin Richards has formed her own boutique PR firm that is seeking to hype her clients.
Hype PR specializes in media relations, media training, publicity, events and social media.
“Everybody wants hype. It’s very applicable to my agency. It’s exactly what I do,” says Richards.
After working as a senior consultant at Veritas Communications, Richards joined the CBC in 2012 and left last October. While she loved working at the public broadcaster, “I just got to the point where I felt I had kind of learned what I could learn there.”
After leaving the CBC, Richards planned to freelance and do some film and TV publicity. But “very quickly, the types of clients and the challenges that were being thrown my way were different and required sort of a more hands-on deck approach. That’s how it all came together.”
Hype PR has one full-time employee and Richards is looking to hire more soon. She’s also tapping into freelancers, noting that the freelance economy has provided access to talent who would normally be working full time for an agency.
The firm is operating as a virtual agency and Richards would like to keep it that way. “I feel like creativity really flows and you can change up your location; you’re not always in the same place – it allows us to work from client offices.”
Hype PR is specializing in the health and wellness, technology, startups and entertainment sectors, and has eight clients in its portfolio. These include RGK Entertainment and Open Road Recordings, fitness studio Spokehaüs, natural beauty line Age Quencher and “eco forward” office supplies and furniture company The Raw Office.
Ovarian Cancer Canada, which won a PR Lion at Cannes last June for its Ladyballs campaign, is also a client. While freelancing, Richards collaborated along with Grey Canada and Pollin8 on the awareness campaign. Her mother, media veteran Lauren Richards, provided a testimonial for the campaign as someone who has battled the disease.
