Ponsonby-based PR company Bare PR was one of the first of its kind that I dealt with on a regular basis early on in my career, mainly because it had in its stable a line-up of brands very much in line with my own philosophies when it comes to beauty, health and wellbeing.
The company itself has been around since 2004, and was originally started due to the well worn but often very true cliché: that there was a gap in the market that needed to be filled. Its authenticity really went up a notch when a woman called Katie West took the helm almost 18 months ago, and she is proud to honour its legacy.
“The company began because there were a couple of key clients floating around out there in the natural space that were in desperate need of a PR agency that understood what they were all about,” West tells me. “They made contact with Bare’s original owner Rebecca, and things really snowballed from there.”
West comes with 11 years of extensive experience in the media industry across marketing, advertising and sales roles, but prior to Bare she had never worked directly in PR. She also spent 10 years working in the FMCG sector, and “across large media campaigns and in-house projects for large corporate initiatives designed to change the way they do business,” she tells me. “It’s quite funny when I think about the fact that I have worked across pretty much every discipline apart from PR,” Katie says with a smile, but when the opportunity arose to buy Bare the time was most definitely right. “To be honest I never even went looking to buy a PR company,” she explains, “but after my husband and I sold a successful company that we had built up over a few years and had then taken some time off, the chance came up and it intrigued me.”
At the time she was looking for a role within a company that was not her own, but was finding that nothing quite fitted. “I was constantly told I was over-qualified for pretty much every role I applied for,” she says, “so I started looking for a business I could take on and make my own.” A broker eventually put her in contact with the aforementioned Rebecca, and the two met for coffee. “I fell in love with the business straight away,” she says, “and I thought ‘I get this’. I loved the way that it operated in a niche and I understood why the clients were there. It just made perfect sense and I could identify so much potential there for the future.”
Despite her initial excitement the deal wasn’t done that quickly, as she really wasn’t sure if she wanted to buy a PR/media company. “We talked for six months,” says the petite company director, “and then when we were at a point where Rebecca and I were both happy we made a deal. Rebecca knew she wasn’t able to give enough time to Bare as well as her new company, but she also had to be sure that the person who bought Bare approached the concept with the same passion that she did when she originally founded the brand.” She adds that the move “had to be within the best interests of both sides, and had to consider the future of Bare’s clients as well.”
Key to honouring those clients is creating the perfect environment for them to feel fully supported in. “Even thought I don’t have a background in PR,” says Katie, “I believe in bringing in the right staff who do and pairing them with the correct clients. I am constantly blown away by the passion and knowledge my staff members have about food, skincare, health and beauty, which combined with our client’s knowledge makes for a great resource.”
She adds that the whole team “really believes in what we do and the brands we represent. Being able to work with such passionate brands and assist in getting them in front of consumers is hugely satisfying.
“We also have the opportunity to do not just traditional, historical PR, but to give our clients more depth and variety and that’s where we come together really nicely.” (HELENE RAVLICH)