Pietryla PR & Marketing

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder of Patten Place, and we designed a bootie that’s worn over high heels. It’s essentially a contemporary take on galoshes, offering style, functionality, and versatility.

What challenge were you trying to address with Pietryla PR Marketing?

We relied on Pietryla PR Marketing to promote our product via media placements.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were initially focused on a local Chicago launch, especially since Christine (Founder) is from Chicago. So, earlier on in the engagement, we worked on media placements and local influencer marketing. Christine secured a TV interview and some publication mentions in both the US and UK.

What is the team composition?

We almost exclusively worked with Christina.

How did you come to work with Pietryla PR Marketing?

I believe my business partner came across them on UpWork. We interviewed a number of PR professionals, but we were blown away by Christine’s access, contacts, and creativity. We had a great opportunity to meet in Chicago for a three-hour meeting. She was just great.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere in the ballpark of $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in January 2020. We’ve recently made the decision to hold off on PR and to invest more of our dollars in digital marketing. We’re waiting to see where the pandemic takes us.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It’s difficult to give you hard data, but the media placements she secured definitely led to upticks and spikes in sales. We also gained some social media followers, thanks to her work.

Christine was very willing to be flexible in her pricing since we were a newer, smaller business. We really appreciated her grace around not requiring a monthly retainer.  

How did Pietryla PR Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Christine followed through on everything she laid out; she’s very organized in that way. She was always bringing new opportunities to us. We really got the sense that we were getting value for what we were paying.

Despite having many projects going on, she never dropped the ball on things. She was always available, responsive, and extremely flexible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Christine is an amazingly creative thinker who has a lot of insight. She puts a lot of thought into her work with clients. She always impressed me with her fountain of ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think that in our realm of work, working with influencers has become very important. I think that’s one piece that she could continue further developing. She definitely sees the importance of influencers; it’s just that PR firms all need to adjust to the newer parts of the game.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Like with anything, lay out your goals and have a clear idea of what you’re looking for. Decide what your end game is, and be able to communicate it properly.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing officer of an environmental engineering company. We’re attempting to eliminate single-use plastics from the food industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with Pietryla PR & Marketing?

We needed someone to start building our messaging and relationship with the media and press.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked on brand positioning and key communication talking points. Given that our industry is fairly complex – and we were a new leader with only a B2B background – we wanted influencers to learn about our company, create awareness, and inform.

What is the team composition?

Christine (Founder, Pietryla PR & Marketing) was my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Pietryla PR & Marketing?

Christine was recommended to me by a friend in the Chicago area.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together form May until December 2019.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We had a few very successful press coverage events. It was about a test market we were doing in the Denver region. We had over one billion impressions on that.

How did Pietryla PR & Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Christine and I would have weekly calls. We used Excel tracker documents to outline what our plans were and phone calls to check-in.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The direct access was great. Also, I liked the ability to work with Christine, who has a wealth of background throughout various industries.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the time, they weren’t global, and we needed support within our UK facility.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get clarity around the goals and the metrics.

Please describe your company and your position there.

AS CFO / CIO of Oval Fire Products Corporation, I built the financial and technical systems, process and procedures to support the business from inception to maturity. Serving as a member of the senior leadership team, my responsibilities included all aspects of financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting and analysis, capital raising, investor and board relations, operations (legal, contracts, human resources), all systems and electronic communications.

For what projects/services did your company hire Pietryla PR & Marketing?

Oval was a disruptor in an industry that hasn't changed in decades. We introduced new innovation that solved specific problems and had to find ways to draw attention to the issues and our solution. We hired Pietryla PR & Marketing to help us drive traffic to our site and get publications out to the market.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to drive traffic to our website, ensuring that it was high quality visitors that were coming for the right reasons. We also wanted to get some of the many articles we've published out to a bigger audience. This required coordinated campaigns.

How did you select this vendor?

Their founder, Christine, has been a well known marketing whiz in our geographic area, and after meeting, we knew she could take her skills and work magic to our small business. We had a limited budget and she was able to formulate a proposal that worked for all sides.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Christine put together several marketing campaigns and implemented an electronic marketing solution for us. She helped streamline our web content and worked with us on SEO. She also was able to get us featured in a number of industry-specific publications.

What was the team composition?

We had a direct relationship with Christine, the founder of the organization. She was our direct point of contact .

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We had tremendous success given our limited budget. Christine was able to maximize return with the resources we had to work with!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had and continue to have a tremendous working relationship. Though we have gone through challenging times as a startup manufacturing business, Christine has always been here for us. I have since moved on from Oval and have maintained a terrific relationship with Christine.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They understand businesses of all sizes and are able to tailor their proposals to meet the needs of the organizations they are working with. I also found them to have tremendous domain expertise in a lot of industries and verticals.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of Cask and Kettle. We’re creating a brand new set of K-Cups in the distilled spirits category.

What challenge were you trying to address with Pietryla PR & Marketing?

Given that we’re the first to market, our PR strategy was to hire a firm state by state. I hired Pietryla PR & Marketing to manage our PR efforts in Illinois, and specifically within Chicago.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide broad PR work which includes various tasks. They help think through what storylines and media outlets make sense for us, and reaching out to newspapers, radio, TV, or print outlets for exposure. Christine (Founder & President, Pietryla PR & Marketing) has also helped get me on WebPR to update our media kit, website, and onboard new agencies to work with them on pitches for stories.

Since taking over those efforts and doing a good job, she’s also moved into handling the efforts at a national level. This involves working on strategy for other states, too. 

What is the team composition?

Christine is my point of contact. 

How did you come to work with Pietryla PR & Marketing?

I interviewed 4–5 firms for the state of Illinois, and Christine was recommended to us by someone who worked in tech. She rose to the top because she listened and understood we were creating a new category. Other agencies tried to fit us into their existing model and shove us into a traditional PR system, but Christine flexed to fit what we needed. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2019. 

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

No PR agency has lasted very long with us if we don’t see the right results, so that speaks to Christine’s success.

We have a clearly defined scope of work and metrics, and if they hadn’t done well we wouldn’t still be working together. She’s done a great job and operates at a very high level, so much so that she’s moved into an overall management role on these PR strategies. 

How did Pietryla PR & Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

I don’t use them from a project management perspective—we have a top-to-top relationship working on the high level, strategic goals. Each month we discuss what needs to happen in the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Christine understands my business and knows what we need to be successful. She’s flexible and doesn’t put us in a narrow PR system. Her reliability and ability to go above and beyond what I ask her to do is great. She acts more like a part of our team. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing to be improved. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

This is true for working with any agency: be clear about your goals, objectives, scope of work, and what success looks like.  

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am president/CEO of Secure Applications. I oversee all projects and operations of the company. We provide security products that flow through the supply chain. Our products help to deter the bad guys from taking your goods.

For what projects/services did your company hire Pietryla PR & Marketing?

To bring more exposure to our company. Help to maintain old clients and bring in new clients. Basically wanted to grow the company.

What were your goals for this project?

To bring more attention to Cargo Crime & theft in the Supply Chain Industry. To show a simple and easy application to show a visual for tampering or pilferage of your goods.

How did you select Pietryla PR & Marketing?

Christine reached out to me on LinkedIn. I could see she had a lot of background in packaging and commercial products. We had several emails back and forth on LinkedIn.

Once I spoke with Christine, I was sold. She is very professional and friendly to work with. In the 6 months that I have been working with her I have increased my business.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Our team assists us with media relations, website updates, content creation, and social media content. They assist us with everything marketing-related.

What was the team composition?

Christine Wetzler is our main contact but she has a team of a few folks who different things for us such as article writing and search engine marketing.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Since we began working together I have established 3 new accounts with large volumes of products. Our exposure is 100% better from where in was. She has updated our website after waiting for out IT guy for 3 years to do what she did in one day.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Spot on! If she says she will have something ready for us to review, it it there to review. Everything is dome in a timeframe according to the project we are working on at the time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

This company has been right there for us. It is a pleasure working with this time. Christine has a background in packaging so it was a perfect match. Their knowledge and capabilities are far beyond my expectations.

Are there any areas for improvement?

From where I am right now, they are doing a great job!!