Intern Insights: Kelly Gilbert

As part of my time as an intern at Access NY, I had the opportunity to work on my first consumer brand account:  Philips Avent, which focuses on mother and childcare products. I have been embraced as a member of the team and encouraged to dive right into all of the exciting demands of the account. Working on Philips Avent has proven to be a great learning experience and has exposed me to some of the most integral parts of PR — media relations, celebrity seeding and mailers, event planning and so much more!  

A few insider insights that I have noticed:

Celebrities Love Free Stuff, Too

To help place a spotlight on the brand and reach a wider audience, each quarter the team and I gather a list full of expecting celebrities and send them a basket filled with Philips Avent goodies, often tailored to gender of the baby and/or personal interests of a particular celebrity. As a result of our efforts, we often receive organic mentions from these celebrities, posting with the products on their social channels. Not only does this help garner impressions for Philips Avent, but it also extends brand awareness to the celebrity’s following and promotes Philips Avent as a popular and reliable brand. If Chrissy Teigen uses it, then it’s got to be great!

Celebrity & Expert Partnerships

Philips Avent recently partnered with Olympian and first-time mom, Shawn Johnson, and expert pediatrician, Dr. Natasha Burgert for an exciting media day in New York City to promote the brand, as well as products including the Philips Avent Natural bottle and the Philips Avent Soothie snuggle. The event included morning interviews with outlets such as US Weekly, OK! Magazine, and People.com, followed by a cocktail reception at the Langham Hotel, which was attended by media. Guests had the opportunity to view the entire portfolio of Philips Avent products within their natural settings to showcase their benefits and advantages. The team worked diligently to execute a flawless event – all media attended, the spokespeople were on message and in the end, the clients were very happy – the trifecta! The intricate planning and detailed organization that led up to this event really helped make it a success! As this was my first client event, a takeaway I learned is that there is no such thing as over planning or over anticipating.

Industry trends

A broader trend I have noticed is that Moms are becoming more and more open about sharing their pregnancy and motherhood journeys – earlier and publicly. Long gone are the days of fake smiles and perfect babies on social media. Instead moms are getting candid—discussing sensitive topics such as miscarriages, post-partum depression, sleepless nights, worries and more on their blogs or various social channels. This newfound sense of openness in the motherhood community is affecting how brands market to their consumers, pushing brands to showcase their understanding that not every day is filled with smiles and happy babies, but that they are here to solve problems and be with Mom on her journey. I am interested to see how various mother and childcare brands run with this idea in 2020!

Check out some of the coverage we secured from this event here, here, and here!