Women in comedy are not okay.

Which is the kind of sentence that many male comedians will hear and immediately translate as: women are not cut out to do stand-up. We’re too sensitive, too humourless, too easily offended.

Those brochahos need to take several damn seats. Let me be clear — it’s not because we’re fragile or can’t take a joke. And it isn’t because we need comedy to be cleaner, nicer, or softer.

We are not okay because the world keeps giving us reasons not to be — and then asking us to be more palatable about it.

Women’s rights are being rolled back across the globe. The manosphere keeps leaking into mainstream culture like a herpes outbreak with a podcast mic. Comedy rooms still reward men who confuse punching down with being edgy. And online, we’re all being sold endless ways to become hotter, calmer, richer, thinner, smoother, more productive, more desirable, more detached, more optimised — as if the answer to a hostile world is to become less human inside it.

has never been about that. So while public discourse is being dominated by this unhealthy obsession with optimisation, we’ve decided to tell that culture to really, authentically, and truly fuck off.

Fuck looksmaxxing and “ascending.” We’re going to be ugly and spiral.

The bangs were the bit. The breakdown was the strategy.

Sometimes, the most honest response to a broken culture is to pick up a pair of scissors.

Instead of sanding ourselves down before we’re allowed to be seen, Bitches in Stitches is building a room where women, femmes and thems can be messy, filthy, sharp, strange, vulnerable, too much — and actually funny on our own terms.

In April, six of us around the world posted Instagram reels of cutting our own bangs, to soft launch our debut at Edinburgh Fringe in August.

The idea came from Alix Brown, one of the comics on our lineup, who pointed out something painfully obvious to anyone who can make the distinction between British and American English: “fringe” means bangs.

A Fringe show. A fake fringe. A group of women in comedy visibly losing the plot.

The pun was so fucking stupid. Which meant it was perfect.

We posted six reels over the next few weeks, each featuring a comedian on our lineup giving herself an unfortunate haircut on camera. Not glamorous salon-style bangs. Not even the edgy, DIY home haircuts that suddenly make a manic pixie dreamgirl fuckable. No wolf cut with edgy layers. We went for the full, 2am mirror-stare, “I’m fine,” group-chat-intervention bangs.

A disclaimer: Don’t worry, they weren’t our actual bangs, just wigs or clip-ons. No one’s real hair was harmed in the making of this campaign.

But emotionally… it felt very real.

The videos worked because cutting your own bangs is one of those instantly recognisable femme-coded gestures that says everything without an explainer: I am spiralling. I am taking control. I may regret this. Someone should probably check on me.

Which, incidentally, is also the emotional register of taking a global femme/them comedy collective to Edinburgh Fringe.

This teaser campaign let us turn the feeling behind our show, Bitches in Stitches: The New Grrrl Order, into something visual, repeatable and shareable. Before we said the words “Edinburgh Fringe,” we gave people the mood: funny, frantic, feminine-coded, unravelling slightly, and deeply committed to the bit.

Our top teaser reel reached more than 12,000 views, with several others landing between roughly 1,700 and 4,800 views. For a grassroots comedy collective promoting an unfunded Fringe run without a giant ad budget, that mattered.

Not because views automatically equal ticket sales. But because attention is the first conversion.

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Delulu is the solulu

Edinburgh Fringe is not a place where you can simply announce a show and assume anyone will notice.

Last year, there were over 3,000 comedy shows at the festival alone — which is thrilling if you love stand-up gigs, but a total ballache if you are trying to promote your own.

For us, the stakes were not casual. We had performers flying in from the US, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Our international collective was converging in one city for a show that, for the first time, would have Bitches in Stitches members from each of our chapters sharing a stage. We had months of planning, travel, accommodation, admin and emotional labour to produce one hour of comedy at the world’s biggest performing arts festival.

We had one shot to make the show feel distinctive, or risk it getting lost in the programme pages and spend three weeks performing to an empty room.

So we started with a collective breakdown.

Context converts

A good story moves people to action, and data often fails to do this alone.

Ann Kim, Senior Portfolio Director at IDEO, says, “Part of what storytelling allows you to do is get to the why behind the data and provide what it means experientially for people.”

Storytelling expert Jennifer Aaker of Stanford Graduate School of Business is widely cited as saying that information woven into a narrative can be remembered “up to 22 times more” than facts alone.

That’s why Bitches in Stitches started teasing our show before we officially announced it. We didn’t want the big reveal to fall flat because no one was paying attention. So we built a visual world around a shared joke and recognisable emotional hook before we even dropped any specific info.

Of course, that information matters. But it’s not what attracts interest.

If we had opened with “Bitches in Stitches: The New Grrrl Order, 10–27 August, Boston Bar, 8:15pm,” technically all the information would have been there. But the emotional context would not.

Before we asked people to book, share or care, we needed them to understand the promise of the show:

Come for the comedy.
Stay for the community.
Sit up front.
Laugh like you mean it.
Be your messiest, truest, funniest self for an hour.

No apologies. No optimisation. No pretending you are fine.

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Did it actually work, though?

The campaign did what we needed it to do: it got thousands of people watching before we asked them to buy a ticket.

But for me, the win was not just the numbers. It was the feeling that by the time we announced The New Grrrl Order, we wouldn’t shouting into the void. We’d already built a visual pattern to communicate a cultural insight. People had already been laughing with us, worrying about our life fake hair choices, and slowly piecing together the joke.

They were in on the bit before they were asked to buy into the show.

And that, really, was the point.

In the end, the campaign was never actually about hair.

It were about the moment when staying composed stops working. The group chat intervention. The fake “I’m fine.” The urge to leave the house, leave town, or leave behind the version of yourself that has been trying too hard to be acceptable.

That is what we wanted our Fringe campaign to feel like: not a polished announcement, but an invitation to come undone in good company.

Because Bitches in Stitches has never been about proving that women, femmes and thems can be funny.

We already know that.

It’s about building rooms for which we do not have to shrink ourselves as rent to occupy that space. Rooms where the jokes can be filthy, sharp, strange and chaotic without anyone’s identity becoming the punchline. Rooms where the laugh brings people in instead of pushing them out.

The haircuts were fake. The strategy was real. And the need behind it was even realer.

So if the world is telling you to optimise, ascend, calm down, glow up, detach, behave, or become more palatable before you’re allowed to be seen… then, respectfully:

fuck that.

If that sounds like your kind of spiral, come find us in Edinburgh this August.

Bitches in Stitches: The New Grrrl Order runs 10–27 August, Monday–Thursday, 8:15pm at Boston Bar, New Town.

Sit up front.
Laugh like you mean it.
Fake bangs optional.

Your most amazing, unhinged summer begins with a Fringe.

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Can I tell you a secret?

I love that look of astonishment (and yeah, envy) people get when I tell them I’m middle-aged.

I’m all for aging gracefully but am terrified of growing old. That’s why I don’t fuck around when it comes to looking and feeling young—I have an elaborate (and expensive) skincare regimen, a tight-knit circle of Gen Z friends, and a healthy appetite for new experiences.

But at 42, I did not expect those to include being breadcrumbed… and then ghosted.

I mean, it wasn’t by an actual person. It was by a potential employer—which is somehow even worse.

UK Companies are Officially in Their Villain Era

I was contacted by a UK-headquartered employer branding agency last fall, and invited to interview for a social media strategist role.

HR screening call? Check.

Interview with the department head and community manager on Teams? Nailed it.

In-person interview with the department head and digital director? Crushed it.

Build a WHOLE-ASS DECK for the “writing task” they gave me in Stage 3? Piece of piss.

Pitch it to the interview panel—and surprise, also the agency founder and MD—in 15 minutes? Bitch, I ATE. As in, LEFT. NO. CRUMBS.

Imagine how shocked I was waking up to this the next day…

My brothers in Christ, if you told 22-year-old me that I’d still be dealing with this fuckboy bullshit two decades later, I’d have set some money aside to pay for the therapy.

I was not prepared.

I got 99 problems but a pitch ain’t one

It’s taken a while for me to resurface after spiralling from that rejection, but I’m back now. Slightly bruised, but still standing—and with a pitch deck template in tow that I’m going to walk you through right now.

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The Brief

This is the brief they sent me:

The client

The client is a leading off-price retailer of apparel and homeware worldwide. Operating across the UK, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria, and the Netherlands, they bring iconic retail brands to millions of customers through a unique off-price model. They source high-quality, on-trend products from around the world and offer them at great value every day — creating an ever-changing “treasure hunt” shopping experience.

As an employer, they stand out for their entrepreneurial spirit, fast-paced environment, and strong emphasis on trust and collaboration. The key to understanding them lies in their culture: it’s a place where associates are encouraged to be curious, take ownership, and bring bold ideas to life. With a strong commitment to associate development, the brand offers meaningful career progression and a vibrant, values-driven workplace where individuals can thrive.

The challenge

The brand is currently facing a brand perception gap: talented candidates often equate their employer brand with the consumer-facing brand — interpreting it as high street, transactional, and lacking in premium appeal. In the absence of strong employer brand messaging, this misperception is limiting their ability to attract the calibre and diversity of talent they need, particularly for critical roles in HR and finance in the UK, and retail positions in Germany.

The opportunity is to reframe what the brand truly stands for as an employer in 2025: a business rooted in opportunity, loyalty, humility, and long-term growth. There’s a clear brief to create a strategic, insight-led activation that both shifts perception and supports priority hiring needs.

The challenge lies in delivering something that:

• Cuts through preconceived notions of the brand

• Feels authentic to their culture of humility and loyalty

• Resonates across diverse markets in Europe, not just the UK

• And ultimately, helps the brand stand out in a competitive talent landscape

This is a rare chance to move the needle not just creatively, but commercially — redefining the client in the eyes of potential employees while meeting very real recruitment challenges.

The competitors

The client competes with a broad set of brands that are evolving their employer reputations across retail, fashion, lifestyle and FMCG. This includes household names such as Primark, B&Q, H&M, Zara, John Lewis, Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, Asda and M&S.

Each of these brands is investing in some form of employer brand storytelling — whether it’s through high-visibility careers sites, culture-first campaigns, or employee advocacy on social channels.

Common themes emerging across competitors include:

• Progression and purpose (e.g. Primark’s “Make It Possible” initiative)

• Belonging and benefits (e.g. M&S highlighting flexible working and wellbeing)

• Pride in operations (e.g. Lidl and Aldi showcasing retail as fast-paced and respected)

• Style and creativity (e.g. Zara and H&M linking brand identity with team energy)

While these competitors vary widely in tone and strategy, they are all active in reframing perceptions — showing that retail can be a fulfilling, future-focused career choice. That’s the opportunity for the brand: to develop its own distinct voice and narrative that feels confident, values-led, and true to its unique culture of humility, loyalty and opportunity.

The audience

We’re speaking to jobseekers across multiple functions and markets, with a particular focus on:

• Corporate talent (e.g. HR, finance, merchandising, buying) in the UK and Ireland

• Retail talent (e.g. store management, operations, warehouse/logistics) in Germany

• Broader support across Poland, Austria and the Netherlands

What unites these candidates is their desire for meaningful progression, stability, and a sense of belonging. They’re looking for more than just a job — they want a place where they can grow, be trusted, and develop a long-term career. Many value flexibility, fairness, cultural inclusivity, and the opportunity to prove themselves.

Right now, the perception of the client (especially for those outside the business) is largely shaped by the consumer-facing brands, which can create assumptions of a purely transactional, discount-led culture. As a result, there’s low awareness of them as a serious employer with strong internal values and development opportunities.

These audiences can be reached through a mix of:

• Job boards and aggregators (Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor)

• Programmatic and social campaigns (especially Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for frontline roles)

• Talent communities and employee referrals

• Owned content on the careers site and EVP-led campaigns to reshape perceptions over time

This is about moving the client from “cheap but cheerful” to “humble but full of opportunity” — in a way that resonates with what this talent pool genuinely wants and values.

The key message

The retailer is a place of real opportunity — where loyalty, humility and hard work are recognised and rewarded with long-term career growth.

In a market where people often mistake the employer brand for the consumer one, it’s vital we show that behind the discount price tag is a culture rich in support, progression and potential. This message needs to resonate across functions and borders — telling talent that the brand is not just a good place to shop, but a great place to build a career.

Observations & Opportunities

I summarised my research using the 4Cs framework:

1. Company Truth: The retailer’s Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is eclipsed by its consumer brand

   1. The company wants to attract top tier-talent but its Employee Value Proposition is overshadowed by its consumer brand, which jobseekers equate with transactional culture where they won’t grow as professionals

2. Category Truth: Turnover rates are surging, while employment opportunities are shrinking

   1. The number of vacancies continue to shrink with hiring rates in the UK at a 10-year low

3. Customer Truth: The target audience is stuck in the grind, but scared to risk starting over in the current job market

   1. Target audience is dissatisfied with their jobs

   2. Half of UK workers want to work for a brand that shares their values, but only 31% feel this is the case

   3. 62% of German workers said they’d change jobs if they had the opportunity

4. Cultural Truth: The client’s off-price image is off-putting to high-calibre talent

   1. Target audience views retail jobs as low-paid, low-skilled, and not for long-term career paths

   2. The client’s discount model has shaped their perception of its EVP

   3. They’re burnt-out and unwilling to risk their current stability for a role that doesn’t map to their ambitions

THE PIVOTAL PROBLEM: Success isn’t achieved by staying put.

The audience shift

Despite the 10-slide limit, I dedicated an entire slide to mapping out the desired audience shift and the barriers preventing it from happening:

To go from giving up… to galvanised.

What’s holding them back?

They can’t seem to get past their doubt:

• Doubt in the company (“Will a retail corporation really grow my career?”)

• Doubt in themselves (“Am I good enough to make a change?”)

• Doubt in the outcome (“What if I leave my stable job and it doesn’t work out?”)

• Doubt in the industry (“Is retail even valued anymore?”)

  ---

Strategic Approach

This was the approach I proposed, summed up on one slide:

And here’s how I mapped it out in a comms plan:

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The Campaign

I proposed an employer branding campaign that would answer the question:

The key message:

A career that helps you build your dream life is worth striving for.

The rationale:

Life’s too short to go without the things you need—or to stop building the life you want.

We believe access is for everyone—whether it’s better products for our customers, or brighter futures for our people.

This is our mission: Opening doors to what you deserve.

Working here isn’t just a 9 to 5. It’s where you thrive.

We invest to help you achieve, and we never gatekeep growth.

Want to succeed? Then we want you.

Let’s build something great, together.

The big idea

I proposed an integrated campaign, anchored on one key visual element: A hand-drawn chart representing the ups and downs that everyone experiences (in one way or another) in their careers.

The creative approach (sponsored by Canva)

Yes, I even mocked up the creative for this “writing test.”

Distribution strategy

Can I just say—given the 10-slide limit for this exercise, the finished product is a serious fuckin’ flex of all my favourite strategy frameworks.

Like this distribution plan:

So that’s it, folks. The whole pitch (sans the top, tail, and budget slides) I put together to apply for this role.

I’m still bummed about not getting it, because I’m pretty damn proud of the work.

Fran Ayala_Employer Branding Pitch 2025

1.04MB ∙ PDF file

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Want a hard copy of the entire presentation? Here you go!

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LinkedIn is basically Tinder, but you want a different type of “job”

At 42 and medicated, the fuckery of rejection stings just as hard as it did 20 years ago. I’m still getting dumped, but it’s by AI-generated emails pretending to be Susan from HR instead of grammatically incorrect DMs from himbos pretending to be STD-free.

But the strategy stands. Good ideas don’t lose their value just because the room wasn’t ready for them. And now you’ve got the blueprint too.

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Here’s a hard truth: The only thing more cringe than personal branding is pretending you’re above it.

We’ve all rolled our eyes at the crypto bros, unhinged oversharers, and pushy MLMers who make it look tacky and desperate. You’re not about that life. But if you keep avoiding personal branding because it gives you the ick, then you’re missing out on opportunities to make serious money.

In 2026, Being Invisible is Worse Than Ick

Personal branding’s not your enemy. It’s your ticket to growth in 2026.

It’s not shameless self-promotion; it’s a story that sums up who you are, what you believe in, what you’re great at, and why it matters. It’s what will make you stand out from your competitors. It’s what your target audience will remember about you. It’s what helps them decide whether to buy your product or not. And it’s what will keep them coming back.

So why does it feel so cringe?

• 📉 Studies show that 37% of female founders say sales and marketing are their biggest growth barriers.

• 📉 But only 24% of them feel comfortable expressing themselves online.

Women have been conditioned to be modest. To believe that being loud is unbecoming. That showcasing our strengths comes off as arrogant.

So I get it. Even if you’re excellent at what you do, you’re hesitant to own your expertise and risk looking like a wanker.

But if your marketing strategy hinges on the belief that “the work will speak for itself,” you’re going to be outpaced by people with half your talent, shouting their way to the top.

If you want to grow in 2026, stop waiting for permission to be seen — and start acting like your voice deserves an audience.

Visibility isn’t ego. It’s strategy. It’s power. And it’s about time you got over the ick and started taking up space.

Wait, What Even IS Personal Branding?

Every other month, I run an online workshop called Brand Strategy Bootcamp, a two-hour, hands-on course that helps female founders start marketing their businesses online.

📧 Yesterday, I received this email inquiry:

Many solopreneurs, freelancers, and solo artists hesitate to sign up for my course because they say, “I don’t have a brand.”

Here’s the truth: you do.

You don’t need to be a registered company with a website — or even a logo — to qualify as a brand. Your brand is all about how you’re perceived by others.

It tells people:

• ❓ Who you are

• 🎁 Why you’re special

• 🥰 What you care about

• 🤷‍♀️ Why they should care too

And whether you’ve actually built one or not, you already have a personal brand — the impression you make on people.

“Your personal brand is the story people tell about you when you’re not in the room.”

— Aaron Orendorff (formerly Shopify)

Gabrielle Dubois writes, in “Personal Branding is the Blueprint for Your Life”:

Increasing your visibility online isn’t about shouting the loudest. It’s about having clarity on how to show up.

A founder’s personal brand is an important part of why people choose to buy your product, repeat a purchase, and promote your company. Learn more in the recap of my Live Q&A with PR director Aless Tinio, where we speak at length about how founders can raise their profiles:

Build a Cringe-Free Personal Brand

To build an ick-free personal brand, you need to identify the elements that make you unique and understand how they add value to your target audience.

1. Start with WHY

Know your purpose, or your WHY. What’s your reason for existing beyond just making money?

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

— Simon Sinek, Leadership Expert & TED Speaker

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2. Write Your Purpose Statement

The next step is to articulate your WHY in a purpose statement. This should be the length of an elevator pitch.

It should cover:

• Your overarching reason for being

• What you contribute to the world from a big-picture standpoint, beyond your products/services

• What actions you’re taking to deliver on your promise

3. Identify Your Brand Values & Use Actions as Proof Points

Think about the non-negotiable principles that define how you show up in the world. These brand values are meant to guide your choices and reflect your purpose.

Need an example of different brand values? Check out this article by Lisa Furze.

Once you’ve narrowed down your top five, go deeper with examples of how you embody each one. Make sure to list specific actions.

4. Outline the Impact You Want to Make

Finally, think about the way you want your target audience to experience your brand. How will you influence the way they think, feel, and act?

Personal branding isn’t about ego, aesthetics, or acting like a wanker. It’s about clarity. It’s owning your story and how you’re perceived — instead of letting the internet decide for you.

Don’t stay invisible in 2026. Your voice already matters. Your work already has value. Personal branding is simply the strategy to help others see it too.

Download the PDF with prompts to start building your personal brand:

Download the Worksheet

Here’s a question I hear all the time from new strategists: how do you build a portfolio before you’ve done any strategy work?

The answer: Retrofit strategy onto existing campaigns.

This was the advice I got from strategy consultant and trainer Julian Cole, whose Strategy Finishing School helped me sharpen my skills and build a portfolio for strategist roles.

Want to check out the finished product? Download it here:

Download My Portfolio

Use These Strategy Frameworks to Plan Your Next Creative Campaign

If you want to launch a creative campaign to promote your brand but aren’t sure how to get started, here are a few frameworks I used in my portfolio to create an strategy upfront for SK-II’s “Meet Me Halfway” campaign.

The Brief

The Client

SK-II is a Japanese luxury skincare brand best known for its products containing PITERA — a proprietary natural bio ingredient derived from yeast fermentation, made of over 50 micronutrients.

Its origin story began over 40 years ago, in a Japanese sake brewery. Scientists noticed that while their elderly workers had aged faces, their hands remained smooth and youthful. Their hands had been constantly immersed in fermented sake “mash,” which sparked research into fermentation, leading to the discovery SK-II’s signature ingredient.

The Ask

SK-II wanted to increase its share in China’s luxury skincare category, which accounted for 50% of all sales in the country’s cosmetics market.

Its target audience was millennial women under 35, China’s largest and fastest-growing consumer group. These single, urban professionals were growing in numbers and had money to spend on premium skincare products.

Research Framework: The 4Cs

Always start with research. You can’t develop a creative strategy without knowing your shit — where does your brand currently stand, how does it stack up against competitors, and what your audience actually cares about.

The 4Cs framework helps you understand your positioning and identify opportunities to stand out, by categorising your data into four sections:

1. Company Truth

2. Category Truth

3. Consumer Truth

4. Cultural Truth

These were my findings for the SK-II campaign:

1. Company Truth — SK-II’s messaging is focused on transformation — not just skin, but also lives

2. Category Truth — The core messaging of most skincare brands at that time was focused on validation and addressing flaws, focused on “anti-aging” and “skin whitening”

3. Consumer Truth — Despite their achievements, these successful, millennial women are bombarded with judgement from their parents for being single, so they choose to distance themselves from their families to escape the constant pressure to marry

4. Cultural Truth — In China, single women over the age of 27 are looked down upon and referred to as “leftover women”

Storytelling That Sticks: The SCQA Framework

I’ve been using the SCQA framework from my very first day working at a marketing agency. And tbh, I fucking hated it at first.

SCQA stands for Situation, Complication, Question, and Answer. It’s used by pros (not just marketers, McKinsey and BCG are big fans) to structure information to effectively communicate a key message.

Here’s a breakdown of each section:

1. Situation — What is the current state of play (Refer to the 4Cs)?

2. Complication — What are the causes/consequences in relation to the situation? How do they create barriers to achieving your goals?

3. Question — What is the real-world problem that you need to solve for your target audience?

4. Answer — What is the solution you need to communicate in your messaging across all aspects of this campaign?

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Here’s my SCQA analysis of the SK-II campaign:

1. Situation — China’s single, Millennial women under 35 are the country’s largest and fastest-growing consumer group

2. Complication — Unmarried women over 27 are referred to as “leftover women,” impacting their confidence

3. Question — How can we turn a label of lacking into a symbol of self-worth?

   

4. Answer — Choose yourself, instead of asking to be chosen.

   

Now, Build Your Overarching Narrative

Based on your SCQA analysis, write the overarching narrative (AKA key message) you want to communicate about your brand.

This is not a tagline. It’s the one point about your brand that you want all of your communication efforts to drive home.

In the absence of an example for SK-II, here’s an example from a brand refresh pitch I made to a Philippine real estate company:

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I used the answer to write this brand narrative:

We build to transform.

We’ve built a 60-year legacy on our power to transform:

• From its evolution from a small business to a leading, trusted real estate development corporation

• To its properties, which act as catalysts for helping people jumpstart the life they’ve been dreaming of

• Which ultimately, builds communities that are reshaping the face of the Philippines to thrive over the decades

The Philippines is a place where big dreams can manifest into real opportunities. In the face of trying times, the Philippines has thrived over the decades and is now ushering in a period of economic growth. Its major cities have become more cosmopolitan, with improved infrastructure development and overall quality of life, making them prime real estate locations for both residential and commercial properties.

For the last 60 years, we’ve evolved in stride with the Philippines. From our humble beginnings in a small, family office, the company has since solidified its reputation as one of Davao’s’ most trusted real estate companies, committed to developing and nurturing vibrant residential and commercial communities across Mindanao and the Visayas. However, one thing that hasn’t changed over the decades is the transformative power of our properties.

When people buy property from us, they trust that it will change their lives for the better. Whether you’re a family buying your very first home to welcome your newest member, or an entrepreneur closing on a retail space to grow the small business that started in your living room, our spaces are built to transform your dream life into a reality.

Strategy is About How You Think

You don’t need to wait for permission to be qualified for strategic thinking — you need to practice.

Strategy is a way of thinking you can apply to any brand, campaign or brief. Retrofitting strategy to existing campaigns is a great way to practice, and also prove your thinking.

If you’re a founder working on your first creative campaign, you’re not behind — you’re right where strategy actually begins. You already have everything you need to make strong, intentional choices. Use the frameworks in this piece as anchors — to trust your instincts, sharpen your thinking, and back your decisions with clarity. Strategy isn’t about getting it right on the first try. It’s about showing up with conviction, learning fast, and building something you believe in.

Need more guidance to plan your first creative campaign? Book a 1:1 call with me and let’s map it out together.

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***FOREWORD: Babes, I know you’re here for the PR tips, but first, I’m going to give you some context with a very empowering origin story.***

In 2018, shortly after ending a 7-year relationship, I was living in Hong Kong and had officially entered my Feral Party Goblin era (or whatever’s on the opposite end of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl spectrum), partying every single night. My friends were concerned, so they suggested that I get a hobby.

I decided to try stand-up comedy. I figured it would be easy; I could just talk about all my horrible Tinder dates, and still get the validation I needed from the audience.

When I started comedy, I was kind of awful. Then stand-up gave me the plot twist I didn’t know I needed — and the purpose I didn’t know I was missing: empowering women to take up space, unapologetically.

Serving Laughs, Smashing Ceilings, Making Headlines

In April 2021, I joined five of the funniest women in the scene to put on an all-female comedy night at Bobby’s Rabble, a rowdy watering hole for expats in Hong Kong’s Central district. We called our show “Bitches in Stitches.”

It sold out in six hours.

The venue invited us to do a repeat performance the following month. And again, the month after. Before we knew it, we had a monthly residency there.

Our shows continued to sell out. We’d perform for girls, gays, and theys, who were happy to squeeze into packed rooms where they felt safe enough to sit up front and laugh out loud. The vibes were electric. But also felt like coming home.

I thought, “This could really be something.”

So I put myself to work, tapping into my PR powers to build the Bitches in Stitches brand. On top of organic and paid social media marketing, I focused on earned media, a space that no one else in the comedy scene was using to. promote their shows.

PR Tips for Founders: How to Pitch to the Media

***Yay, you’re still with me! This is what you came for.***

Before I show you what we did, you’ll need a blueprint for how things are normally done in the PR world.

What The Media Want

Think about the impression you want to give your target audience, and how you need to show up in the media in order to make an impact.

Here’s how:

• 📐 Know your angle

Have your key messages (no more than three) and supporting proof points memorised so you can answer the questions confidently. Remember, an interview should be message-driven, not question-led.

Think about the kind of story you’re pitching — Are you launching a product? Is it a 1:1 interview with you, the founder? Are you giving a quote as part of a bigger story?

Build a story outline with your messages and the TRUTH (see above).

👇👇Check out Rosie Taylor’s pitching guides for more tips:👇👇

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How to pitch a story, not an idea

You can easily beat off competition from 90 per cent of the pitches that land in any editor’s inbox by making sure you are pitching stories, not concepts…

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a year ago · 7 likes · Rosie Taylor

• 📰 Build your list of media targets.

Find journalists who already cover your industry, audience, or values. Read their work. Stalk them on social media (LinkedIn is a pretty good platform) and learn as much as you can about the types of stories they write.

Know what they actually care about before you send them cold emails.

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• 💻 Write your press release.

Reporters are drowning in unread emails. They’ll scan your press release in 30 seconds flat. That’s your only shot to make them care — so structure your story like it matters.

Think of your pitch like a an inverted pyramid (see above):
Impact first → context next → action last.

1️⃣ Top of the Pyramid: The 5Ws (Most Important Info)

This is your subject line + first 1–2 sentences.
It must answer who, what, when, where, why immediately.

Ask yourself:

• What is the actual news?

• Why should this journalist care right now?

• Why is it different from everything else in their inbox?

• Start outreach.

• Follow up.

2️⃣ Middle of the Pyramid: Context & Colour

This is where you add personality, meaning, and depth — without losing clarity.

This section answers:

• What problem does this solve?

• What trend does this connect to?

• Why is this culturally interesting?

• Why are you the right person to tell this story?

3️⃣ Bottom of the Pyramid: The CTA (Call to Action)

This is where you make it easy to say yes.

Your CTA should be:

• Clear

• Specific

• Low-friction

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The Golden Rule of the Inverted Pyramid

The #1 rule in media pitches? Get right to the point.

If the journalist only reads the first three lines — your story should still land.

Everything below that just makes it richer, not necessary.

Sample Press Release Outline

Subject line:
Clear news + angle

Paragraph 1 (5Ws):
The headline in sentence form

Paragraph 2 (Context):
Why it matters + what makes it interesting

Paragraph 3 (Colour):
Human detail, quote, trend, or insight

Paragraph 4 (CTA):
Exactly what you’re offering them

Here’s What We Did Instead…

Now that you’ve read the bullet points on how you should be pitching to the media, I’m going to show you how we went rogue.

Most press releases are PDFs of Word docs, zhuzhed up with spokespeople’s quotes and product/event photos, two pages max. Ours was nearly 20 pages, written and formatted the way I would a campaign pitch deck.

On the cover slide, I wrote: “This isn’t a presentation. This is a set of conversation cues for feminists with very short attention spans.”

How could a 20-page deck possibly cater to a time-poor journalist’s goldfish-level attention span? It’s because we nailed the shit outta the content. 🔥

I wanted our press kit’s style to work equally as hard as its substance in telling a stand-out story — complete with key messages, proof points, and visuals.

If you’d like to see Bitches in Stitches’ full press kit, download it below:

Download our Press Kit

This document, paired with intentional outreach and personalised pitch notes to each journalist, has landed us coverage in Tatler, Rolling Stone, Vogue, and many more publications across our different markets.

If your content’s failing to convert your audience into customers, you don’t need to buy more ads.

You need to change the story.

BikiniFit was the first group fitness programme in Hong Kong that catered exclusively to women. The startup experienced exceptional growth in its first year, consistently selling out memberships as its waitlist doubled in length.

To capitalise on this momentum, the company rolled out an aggressive expansion plan the following year, branching out to three more locations around the city.

Unfortunately, its ambitions outpaced the market demand, and signups rapidly came to a standstill.

The company ramped up its marketing efforts to address the slump in memberships, using social media to promote its diverse types of exercise programmes and skilled team of coaches.

It didn’t work.

When No One Gives a Crap About Your Product

I was hired by BikiniFit to revisit its social media marketing strategy and optimise its content to reach a wider audience.

The initial ask was to ramp up and produce a greater volume content — at-home exercise videos, printable travel workouts, nutritional advice, and diet trackers.

Instead, I took a step back and to look at the overall strategy. To better understand the target audience, I interviewed several BikiniFit members about their goals, motivations, pain points, and barriers to purchasing a membership.

Their answers revealed the real issue:

They weren’t buying the bootcamp.

They were buying belonging.

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Don’t Create More Content — Change the Story

This might sting, but your target audience doesn’t give a shit about the product you’re selling.

They care about the problem you’re solving.

BikiniFit was selling exercise but not addressing what was actually holding women back.

It was fear.

They weren’t scared of lifting weights.

They were afraid of being judged.

I told BikiniFit that the problem wasn’t the type of content they were creating — it was the story they were telling.

A Strong Story is What Really Sells

When brands don’t spend time on developing a strategy, they fall short of meeting their business objectives.

If your entire marketing plan is, “Let’s get on TikTok,” or “We should boost more content,” then I hate to break it to you, but those aren’t strategies. They’re tactics. And a purely tactical approach without an overarching strategy to connect the dots is a waste of time, because it won’t achieve your long-term goals.

A strategy is an informed opinion rooted in insight, that shows us a new way around the problem.

I came to BikiniFit with new strategy:

Don’t change the product. Change its meaning.

Customer Benefits > Product Features

The narrative shift was simple, but deliberate:

• Exercise ➝ Empowerment

• Conditioning ➝ Community

• Bootcamp ➝ Belonging

I transcribed hours’ worth of my audio interviews with the different bootcamp members, and used their most powerful soundbites to build the voiceover for a video script.

The content stopped asking, “Are you fit enough?”
And started saying, “Everyone fits in here.”

That one shift unlocked BikiniFit’s growth.

We stopped glorifying physical transformation, and started championing self-acceptance.

Instead of focusing on conditioning, we centred community.

The tone of voice softened, and the brand became stronger.

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New Narrative, Real Results

We relaunched BikiniFit with one hero video on Facebook, without and paid social to back it.

The results?

A clearer brand identity. 77,000 organic views. Higher engagement rates. Increased signups.

And a brand women didn’t just buy from — they believed in.

This wasn’t an algorithm hack.
It wasn’t a trending topic.
It was insight, strategy, and storytelling.

When you get the story right:

• Content converts

• Communities are formed

• Growth follows

You can’t uncover insights without understanding your audience first. Get started building your ideal customer profile with this worksheet below (paid subscribers only):

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🎨 When I tell non-marketers about my work in branding, they look at me as if I’ve just shown them an abstract painting. 👩‍🎨

I get it.

A brand is all about perception and resonance; its an emotional experience. So people assume that it’s been willed into existence out of thin air, by a team of creatives in a brainstorm session.

But they’re missing a step. Before the creative team even begins to jot down ideas on a whiteboard, they’re briefed by strategists like me. And all creative briefs are rooted in data.

I mean, all creative work has to be data-led—otherwise, how would we demonstrate the value of our work to clients? More importantly, how else could we push back (and be smug AF) when they ask for changes that would take us miles away from the original idea we pitched?

It makes me think of this quote:

“Being right is better than sex… because it lasts forever.”

That’s what Reese Witherspoon’s character says in Little Fires Everywhere. And she’s not wrong.

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Numbers Don’t Lie, But They Don’t Convert Either

When marketers build a pitch deck, they default to hard stats — market size, YoY growth, attrition rates — to make a case. But there is a such a thing as too much data.

Some marketers drown their strategy slides in data. I’ve made this mistake when I was a baby marketer. I did extensive research and treated my slides like a final exam, cramming an alarming volume of stats (Calibri font, size 9 😆) into a text box so that everyone would know how smart I was.

To all the students, baby marketers, and non-marketers reading:

Don’t ever do this.

It doesn’t work, for several reasons:

• 🤮 It looks super ugly

• 😯 The client won’t remember any of it by the time you get to the last slide

• 🙄 It doesn’t make them care

Numbers provide precise information: amount, volume, scale, discrepancy, and more. They tell you exactly what is happening. But they don’t tell you why.

That’s why qualitative data such as anecdotes, AKA stories, is important. It gives you context. It gives the numbers meaning. And it makes you feel something.

Quantitative data makes clients trust you. But qualitative data makes them care.

When you can make them work together, you’ve got a winning pitch.

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Emotion Isn’t Noise. It’s Signal.

Our feelings aren’t facts. But they come from the same part of our brains that drives decisions.

Qualitative data:

• ♥️ Humanises the information — It gives a voice to the situation you’re describing

• ❓ Reveals positioning gaps — You can’t use numbers to talk about your target audience’s unmet needs or describe a brand’s tone of voice

• 🫂 Helps the client empathise with the consumer — It makes your audience’s problem relatable

Here’s Comes a Case Study…

📸 When I pitched Finnish photo-editing console brand Loupedeck on their Asia launch strategy, I didn’t just pull numbers. I also spoke with professional photographers in their target markets — Hong Kong and Taiwan — to understand how they felt about Loupedeck and its competitors, Adobe Lightroom and Palette.

I put their answers into one slide — to give a snapshot of the target market’s actual voice. It showed frustrations, opportunities, and how the product stacked up in real life.

We won the pitch. 💥

TL;DR — Use a balance of quantitative and qualitative data in your pitch.

Numbers explain. Stories decide.

Design Makes All the Difference

Winning pitches design qualitative insight with with the same care given to charts and graphs. Just because you’re telling a story, it doesn’t mean it needs to be just copy.

If your insight lives in a wall of text, it’s already dead.

Design it. Sharpen it. Give it a voice.

Because the pitches that win aren’t the ones with the most data — they’re the ones with the clearest meaning.

❓Curious — what’s one way you’ve made your research feel more human? Drop an example below; I’m always looking for new ways to bring insights to life. 👇

You can’t get to where you want to be without knowing where you stand right now.

If you want to grow your brand, the first thing you need to do is conduct a brand audit—take an inventory of all the elements that impact how you’re being represented and perceived. Then, go over them in granular detail and identify what’s working, what’s not, and what you need to improve.

Once you know how you’re currently positioned, your marketing objectives will become clearer. A brand audit sets the baseline for your strategy and helps you develop a tactical plan to grow your brand.

Brand audits:

• 🔬 Diagnose which aspects of your brand need tweaking to improve its overall performance

• 📏 Measure how effective your strategy and tactics are

• 📊 Help you report on a campaign’s progress over time

• 📈 Ensure consistency across all your marketing touchpoints

• ✅ Validate your work and help you optimise your marketing efforts

If you want to do a brand audit, but aren’t sure how, I made this guide to help you get started:

Download the Brand Audit Guide

This mini-brand audit guide covers:

• The Media Landscape — How are your company, industry, and competitors being covered in the media?

• Industry Analysis — What’s going on in the market that could have an effect on your target audience and how you communicate with them?

• Competitor Analysis — How do you stack up next to your top competitors?

• Content Audit — Which of the topics and themes in your or your competitors’ content resonate the most with your audience?

Know Your Enemy

Today, we’ll focus on the competitor analysis. This requires you to take a look at your competitors, what they’re doing, and how you measure up.

Why does it matter? Because there’s already so much damn content being churned out by everyone. If you want to stand out and be remembered by your target audience, you need to make sure you’re not shouting into the void, saying what everyone else is.

Here’s How to Conduct a Competitor Analysis:

1. Identify your competitors

Think of 5-8 brands in your field.

Ask yourself who:

• Offers the same product/service — These are your Direct Competitors

• Solves the same problem — Your Indirect Competitors may not have the same product or service, but they are in the same category

• Solves the same problem, but exists outside of your category — These are your Replacement Competitors

• Your brand “wants to be when it grows up” — These Aspirational Brands are the GOAT in your category

2. Review each one according to the same core areas

At the very least, look at:

• Product — What are they offering and how is it different from yours?

• Branding — How do they show up, or how do they look and sound?

• Messaging — What are they saying?

• Promotion — What type of content are they using to communicate their message, and on which channels?

3. Organise and analyse your data

Put all your data into a table so you can do a side-by-side comparison and look for overlaps (where everyone sounds the same), gaps (what no one is saying), and extremes (who ranks the highest or lowest in certain areas)

4. Identify the opportunities

Ask yourself:

• What’s overdone? — You brand ain’t no basic bitch

• Are any of your target audience’s emotional needs not being met?

• Where can you be: Clearer, bolder, more human, and more specific?

I know. It’s a lot. But the more thorough you are, the better equipped you’ll be to develop a new solution addressing your target audience’s pain points.

✨ But if you absolutely do not have the time to do a hardcore competitor analysis, here’s a hack that can help you out.

If you want to conduct a super high-level, mini-brand audit, there’s only one tool you need:

Seriously.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to your top 3–5 competitors’ “About Us” pages.

2. Copy & paste the “About Us” text from each one into a table.

3. Read, and re-read each description.

4. Notice any similarities? Highlight the words and themes that repeat.

5. Analyse where everyone’s saying the same thing — and identify where you can stand out.

6. Summarise your findings and recommendations (but don’t write a novella).

7. Drop it all into a deck.

It should look something like this:

🧐 Example: When I worked on a Japanese denim brand’s social media strategy, each of its competitors I researched led with “quality” in their “About Us” pages.

Diesel Black Gold, Y-3, Replay, Supreme — all talking quality, refinement, craftsmanship.

That insight helped me pivot our message beyond just “quality” to a more unique story, focused on the attitude and lifestyle of its target audience.

Want my full guide to conducting a mini-brand audit? Download it below 👇👇👇

Download the Guide

If you’re not too clear on what exactly makes a brand, read this:

Got any tips for conducting a competitor analysis? Share them in the comments, or restack this with your take!

What no one tells you about branding is that they probably have no idea what a brand even is.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard someone say, “Of course we’ve done branding, see?”

Then they’ll point to a logo.

That’s not it.

Let me explain.

Seriously, WTF Even is a Brand???

Yes, a logo is a visual asset that makes up part of the overarching brand… but it’s only a tiny part of a much bigger picture.

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Jeff Bezos

Your Brand Makes You…

Your brand is all about how you’re perceived by others. Logos, colour palettes, and fonts are part of its visual identity, which is just one factor that impacts your overall image.

A brand tells people:

• ❓ Who you are

• 🎁 Why you’re special

• 🥰 What you care about

• 🤷‍♀️ Why they should care too

Great branding intersects what you want to say with what your audience cares about. In that space, you’re able to influence their decision making and their behaviour.

If you want to grow your brand, the first thing you need to do is conduct a brand audit—take an inventory of all the elements that impact how you’re being represented and perceived. Then, go over them in granular detail and identify what’s working, what’s not, and what you need to improve.

Here Comes a Freebie:

If you want to do a brand audit, but aren’t sure how, I made this free guide to help you get started:

Download the Guide

Start Building a Brand That’s Impossible to Ignore

For founders and solopreneurs, branding hits slightly different.

When you’re running a smaller enterprise — especially if you’re a one-woman operation — and haven’t done any branding yet, you become the brand. Who you are and how you show up is intrinsically tied to how your company’s going to be remembered.

Be Bold, But Stay True to You

Last month, I did a Live Q&A on Instagram with PR director, entrepreneur and indie rock musician, Aless Tinio, where she said that founders who want to grow their brand shouldn’t shy away from the spotlight.

“You are a very important part of why people will choose your company, buy your product, invest in your service, especially in the beginning… People will buy you.”

Aless Tinio

This also means that all the time, energy, and brainpower you invest into building your brand will be a total waste if the end result doesn’t reflect who you are and what you believe.

Don’t build your brand based on what you think people will buy. People can tell when you’re trying to be something you’re not, and that won’t make you memorable or win loyal customers.

Elevating your profile also doesn’t make you arrogant, nor does it mean you can’t have a private life. Show up intentionally, in a way that feels right for you and your business.

What’s Your Brand Personality?

1. Read this article about Jennifer Aaker’s brand personality model, which gives 60 adjectives you can reference to define yours.

2. Which ones sound the most like you? Which ones are the polar opposite of your brand?

3. Once you’ve read through it, download the worksheet below and fill the first page in with your key characteristics, and how your brand embodies them.

   

   IGBDE Substack Worksheet Brand Personality

   261KB ∙ PDF file

   Download

   Download

   

4. On the second page, write down those key characteristics again, but this time, give more context by also listing their opposites.

   

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As you continue working to increase your visibility, don’t ever, ever forget: a brand is not your logo.

A brand is your power.

It’s the vibe, the story, the energy people feel long after the visuals fade.

Build that with intention, clarity, and confidence — and suddenly, your logo becomes the least interesting thing about you.

Because you’re not here to be recognisable.
You’re here to be unforgettable.

What are the five elements of your brand personality? Share them in the comments!

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