Catherine Seeds, Author at Ketner Group Communications

A Passion for Fashion Tech: Speaking with Jackie Trebilcock with the NY Fashion Tech Lab

Posted on January 10, 2023 | by Catherine Seeds

I don’t know about y’all, but after spending months at home during COVID, I was thrilled to be back in “real clothes” and out of lounge wear. Fashion retailers were ready to have us back, too, and technology played a significant role in driving consumers back to their favorite brands.

In fact, according to McKinsey & Company’s 2022 State of Fashion Tech Report, fashion companies invested between 1.6 and 1.8% of their revenues in technology in 2021. That figure is expected to rise to between 3.0 and 3.5% by 2030.

There are so may innovative things happening in fashion tech, and specifically, with women-led tech startups. I just had to go directly to the source of this innovation and learn more, again!

I spoke with Jackie Trebilcock, managing director for the New York Fashion Tech Lab (NYFTL) back in 2020. We recently had a chance to catch up with her again, and what a treat that was!

Founded in 2014, the Lab connects a cohort of women-led B2B, fashion and retail-focused technology companies that are fostering iteration, validation and acceleration of technologies to advance the industry.

I had a blast learning even more about the Lab and what Jackie and her team are doing to support women-owned tech companies. Enjoy our conversation!

For those readers who don’t know you, can tell us a little bit about you and your journey to the Lab?

I joined the New York Fashion Tech Lab at the end of 2014. They were looking for someone to run the cohort that was launching for 2015.

I’ve worked in fashion for over 20 years, and I’ve been an entrepreneur myself, so I understand both sides of it, which is why I was so excited when I had reached out to the Lab’s parent company, Springboard Enterprises. I just thought what they were doing was so cool and I wanted to learn more. And here I am, many years later.

What was the catalyst for the creation of the Lab, and why the focus on women-led companies?

Founded in 2000, Springboard Enterprises is a nonprofit organization specifically focusing on women-led companies. Springboard runs a myriad of programs (i.e., bootcamps, accelerators, etc.) in a wide variety of sectors such as life science, biotech, women’s health, general tech and ad tech.

In 2014, when they were looking to expand into different sectors. They realized that the fashion and retail industries were a bit behind some of the advancements they were seeing in technology in those other industries. That’s when the NYFTL was born!

I describe Springboard as a venture catalyst because their main mission is to help give women resources to raise money and grow and scale their companies. The Lab does that too, but we are more of a business catalyst. We are in partnership with leading retailers and brands that are looking to keep their finger on the pulse of new technologies that address pain points or take out an area of friction for them.

I would love to hear your insights on innovation and the changes that you’ve seen in the fashion tech industry since you’ve been with the NYFTL.

It has been exciting to see the progress that’s been made within the industry over the past eight years. In the beginning, we were mostly engaging with CTOs and CIOs because that’s where technology really sat at some of these larger retailer and brand partners.

Now, there are so many different points of contact within these retailers and brands. We often engage with CMOs, innovation leads, digital strategy, or eCommerce. It’s really everyone’s job to know what’s out there from a technology standpoint. Tech is everywhere and in everything!

We’ve become another way for fashion retailers to keep their finger on the pulse and to do it together. It’s important that they feel like they are not doing it in a silo, but as an industry.

I would imagine that all this work and the things that you’re doing at the Lab inspires you every day!

Yes! I think I have the coolest job in the world as I kind of get to sit in the middle of being in contact with retailers and brands, understanding what’s happening there, and getting the opportunity to meet inspiring women creating these awesome and needed solutions for this industry.

My personal mission with all of this is to be a connector for our retail and brand partners, the alumni companies, the companies in the Lab, and for the industry in general. It’s exciting to see what can happen when you make that connection.

Can you provide a few examples of how the Lab has helped to propel women in fashion tech forward?

We’ve had 69 companies go through the program since its inception. We’ll be onboarding another group of Lab companies for 2023. What we have seen and what we track with the Lab companies are the partnerships and pilots that come from the program, which happens all the time.

There is also so much that can come from candid feedback from the retail executives as part of this program, which can save the startups so much time as they continue to build and iterate on their product. We also have another network of 80 industry experts, entrepreneurs and investors that they get to connect with and get feedback from, and of course opportunity for investment.

The Lab is an ongoing community that is part of the companies’ entrepreneurial journey – whether they are looking to hire, pivot, get acquired or fundraise.

As you look ahead in your crystal ball, what are you most excited about with regards to the fashion tech industry?

On our website, we have this whole list of “areas of interest” and it’s something that we are constantly adding, removing and refining. What excites me most are the things that we don’t even know exist!

If you think about the very buzzy tech trends, like NFTs and Web3, they didn’t exist before a few years ago. I know there will be other new innovations and advancements like that. It’s exciting to think that we are going to get to uncover them, spend time learning about them with the retail and brand partners and make them part of our areas of focus.

I agree you do have the coolest job in the world! As we wrap up, what opportunities are available for anyone interested in becoming more involved with NYFTL?

Application for our 2023 program has already closed, but if you are an entrepreneur interested in applying for the Lab for next year, I recommend getting in touch with us as soon as possible. We start connecting with and tracking companies very early.

If you’re a retailer or brand that wants to learn more about becoming involved, it’s a great time now to potentially join us for 2023, or we can do sessions with you so you can meet some of the alumni.

We also have an active expert network made up of industry experts, entrepreneurs and investors that connect in with the Lab companies as part of the program.

How can we learn more?

To learn more about the NYFTL, email info@nyftlab or visit https://nyftlab.com/.

Retail Sustainability Is So Hot Right Now

Posted on July 19, 2022 | by Catherine Seeds

Sustainability has been a huge topic in retail for more than five years now. But the trend keeps on evolving, a reality Catherine Seeds explores in her latest video. Listen to her thoughts in our latest video, or read the transcript below to learn more!

Catherine Seeds presents: retail sustainability

Hi y’all! I’m Catherine Seeds, president of Ketner Group, coming live to you from beautiful Austin, Texas!

If you’ve been listening in to my KG ABs (audio blogs) I appreciate you coming back for another go-round.

In my latest AB installment, we dug into the shopping habits of Gen Z with my daughter Madeline and, most recently, tried to peel back the initial layers of the metaverse.

Sustainability is what the people want

Today, we are going to dive into something very hot right now in retail – sustainability. For anyone listening who thinks this is just a fad, let me back up this statement with some truth bombs.

According to a recent survey by Capgemini, almost 80% of retailers believe that their sustainability work increases customer loyalty. Couple this stat with insights from a recent Sensormatic consumer survey that indicate that American consumers consider sustainability when making at least some purchases, and the sustainability trend becomes even more evident.

In that same survey, research shows that 80% of nearly half of those surveyed believe the responsibility to be more sustainable falls on retail organizations. What’s more, 70% said they would change their shopping habits if they discovered that a store or brand was not operating sustainable.

Think of that for a minute!

Now more than ever, a significant number of shoppers are taking a “stand” by showing their support at the checkout for more sustainable retail practices.

Consumers, young and old, continue to be conscious of how their lifestyle and shopping habits can affect Mother Earth, and they are putting their money where their mouths are to ensure that retailers are also stepping up to the plate when it comes to sustainable practices.

As with anything, if you want to make big changes happen, you must often take baby steps. Here are a few examples of what some retailers are currently doing to galvanize their own sustainability practices.

B Corporations for the win

For retailers who looking to get the jump on becoming “official” when it comes to sustainability, B Corp status is the way to go. Organizations who are designated B Corp, “are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.”

According to the B Corp website, B Lab assessment measures a company’s entire social and environmental impact.

Examples of B Corp Certified retailers include Toms Shoes, The Body Shop and Allbirds. These and over 4000 retailers in over 70 countries are, as our friends at Business Insider describe, helping drive a global movement that uses businesses as a force for good.

What’s old is new again in fashion

As I discussed with my 17-year old Gen Z daughter a few months ago, thrifting is all the rage, and it is only gaining in popularity. According to my cost conscience youngling, thrifting allows her to double down on her own unique style at a lower cost.

According to BYU professor Michelle Hyde, “I believe thrifting is a huge trend that will continue to grow, particularly pushed by the younger generations that are environmentally conscious. Never have young adults been so in-tune and so environmentally aware of the negative impact of conspicuous consumption.”

In an interesting twist to the thrifting trend, retailers have adopted their own resell programs. Examples include Patagonia’s “Worn Wear” program and Ikea’s Buy Back and Resell program.

Online marketplaces for resale luxury goods, as Ketner Group’s Jeff Ketner talked about in a recent blog, are also doing their part to drive the circular economy.

Saving the Earth one store at a time

Although the business and popularity of digital commerce continues to grow, shoppers like me are creatures of habit and still enjoy doing business in person, in a good old-fashioned store. The store will always be the gathering place in modern society, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need an Earth-friendly facelift.

Sustainable US women’s fashion brand, Reformation, has implemented several strategies to save energy, improve water efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions in their stores. This includes incorporating materials like LED fixtures, rammed earth, and recycled fabric insulation in its buildings, and offsetting its construction footprint and electricity usage.

Not to be outdone, fashion designer Stella McCartney’s flagship store in London has sustainable sourced furnishings, biodegradable mannequins and an air conditioning system that cleans the air using nano-carbon technology.

If sustainability were easy, everyone would do it

Sustainability is top of mind for retail CEOs, which is certainly a good thing.

At this year’s NRF Big Show, the big guns at several of the top retailers made this topic front at center. From Walmart’s John Furner who discussed concerns about climate change and the importance of diversity and inclusion, to Pepsi CEO Steven Williams who talked about sustainability as it relates to the value chains of products from farm fields to packaging composability.

On the flip side, being a “sustainable retailer” is not an easy gig, and according to Home Depot CEO Ron Jarvis, there’s really no such thing as an environmentally friendly company. According to Jarvis, “Unless you’re an organic garden grower that has your garden by the river, and you deliver all your products in a wagon and a buggy, then you’re not environmentally friendly.

Jarvis goes on to say that everything that retailers do has an environmental impact. Retailers have the burden of looking at all the factors and deciding which ones are acceptable risk, which ones could hurt the greater good, and which ones could hurt society.

We want your thoughts on retail sustainability

When it comes to sustainability in retail and all that entails, I’ve only just scratched the surface on this topic. There is so much more we could dish about, including Earth-friendly packaging, rental business models, incentivized recycling, eco-energy delivery options and more. More to talk about on another day!

If you have any comments or insights on this topic, our crew would like to hear from you! The Ketner Group team loves to talk retail, give us a shout to learn how our retail expertise can help elevate brand awareness and support your marketing goals.

Direct-to-Avatar (D2A): Retailers, Are You Ready for It?

Posted on May 17, 2022 | by Catherine Seeds

According to our president Catherine Seeds, one of the best parts of her job is learning “the next big thing” happening within the retail industry. Her latest video discusses the latest trend: Direct-to-Avatar.

Prefer to read a transcript of her video? We’ve included one below!

Catherine Seeds presents: Direct-to-Avatar

The best part of my job is learning and researching “the next big thing” happening within the retail industry. For more than 20 years, I have had a front seat for hundreds of game-changing innovations. It’s always exciting to see what’s coming next.

Hi, I’m Catherine Seeds, president of Ketner Group – thanks for listening in.

Right now, there is a huge momentum shift for brands to create strategies around direct to consumer (DTC). We all know that the customer experience is everything.

This means it is critical for brands to figure out how to create closer connections with their customers. Whether that means bypassing the more traditional retail model or even opening retail concept stores. Our very own Jeff Ketner talked about this trend in his most recent blog.

When it comes to creating closer consumer connections, the “next big thing” on the retail horizon is a step beyond the DTC trend. To be more accurate, it’s a step into the vast virtual world of avatars.

Direct-to-Avatar: changing the digital economy game

The Direct-to-Avatar term, or D2A, refers to the business model of selling products directly to shoppers’ avatars. The model sidesteps the management and logistics of sending an actual physical product to a consumer.

It was described in a recent Decode_M article, as this, “The DTC business model forever changed how we shop, cutting out the middleman. The next evolution of sales channels (D2A) will bypass humans completely, selling straight to our avatars instead.”

This might sound like a trend for only future generations. Wrong! Direct-to-Avatar is here and now. According to Crucible, Direct-to-Avatar expects to be the largest digital economy in history, topping $1 trillion during this decade.

Need further proof?

According to Nicola Mendelsohn, vice president of global business group at Meta, “Within the next decade, the metaverse will reach one billion people, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce and support jobs for millions of creators and developers.”

The complete potential of the Direct-to-Avatar business model has yet to be realized. The fashion and luxury industries, however, have certainly already taken full advantage of this movement. More on that later!

Roblox and Gen Z: a match made for the metaverse

If you are familiar with the Direct-to-Avatar trend, then you have most certainly heard of Roblox. As the biggest player in the metaverse, Roblox has more than 50 million daily active users with nearly 10 million developers on the platform.

67% of Roblox users are under the age of 16, also known as Gen Z. For fashion brands, Roblox is a perfect gateway to Gen Z – a generation whose disposable income has reached an estimated $360 billion, according to Gen Z Planet.

Brands dipping their toes into the metaverse should also be paying attention to Generation Alpha, those born after 2010. These young consumers influence $500 billion in purchases per year.

As Christina Wootton, VP of global brand partnerships at Roblox says in NYLON, “Self-expression is a huge part of any shared experiences, be it in real life or in the metaverse. The Roblox community, over half of which is over 13 years old, is very engaged, spending billions of hours on the platform every month, and digital fashion plays a hugely important role in our community’s creative self-expression.”

According to Wootton, 25 million virtual items were created by the Roblox community in 2021 alone, and over 5.8 billion virtual items (both free and paid) were acquired on the platform.

Becoming fashion-forward with D2A

Given their proclivity to all things digital, it’s easy to understand why the Direct-to-Avatar model is so attractive to younger consumers. This is especially true for the fashion industry. It creates an easy way to access and engage with younger demographics. It also provides a more impactful way for companies to connect with their shoppers beyond digital ads and content.

Here are a just a few examples of fashion brands releasing D2A digital collections, as featured in a recent Wunderman Thompson blog:

Ralph Lauren released a 50-piece digital clothing collection in August 2021, available for purchase in social networking app Zepeto.
American Eagle announced a digital clothing collection for Bitmoji avatars in July 2021.
Gucci and The North Face released a joint collection for avatars on Pokémon Go in January 2021.
In March 2021 Gucci released virtual sneakers that can only be worn with AR, using technology developed by Wanna.
Digital fashion house The Fabricant has partnered with brands like Adidas, Puma, and Tommy Hilfiger to virtualize their garments.

Most recently, youth retailer Pacsun, announced its first dedicated experience on Roblox called PACWORLD, a fantasy interactive mall experience where players are the owner and operators of a new mall. Their objective is to make the mall as profitable and popular as possible.

Is Direct-to-Avatar the future of shopping?

Time will tell if the Direct-to-Avatar movement will stick. Looking at the stats, however, the odds are certainly in its favor. Digging into this topic has encouraged me to borrow my son’s Oculus headset and journey into the world of the metaverse.

The Ketner Group team will be keeping an eye on this trend as it continues to develop. For brands, Direct-to-Avatar brings endless financial and customer loyalty possibilities.

As WGSN Insight’s Cassandra Napoli said recently at NRF 2022, “The possibilities are truly endless for brands in this avatar economy, as avatars will extend the scope of storytelling for brands. And while digital fashion is not a new concept, it’s gaining momentum. It provides brands with a potentially more sustainable and inclusive — not to mention lucrative—way to reach consumers.”

Thanks for joining me today. Let’s keep the conversation going!

Get in touch today to find out how our retail expertise can help drive brand awareness and support your marketing goals.

Dishing With My Daughter: Interviewing “Gen Z” About Shopping Habits

Posted on March 22, 2022 | by Catherine Seeds

Today we are digging into a topic that I find incredibly interesting – Generation Z and their shopping habits. Gen Z, the group of 72 million youngsters born between 1997 and 2012, can’t remember a time before the internet and widespread digital technology. According to McKinsey, Gen Z has a greater interest in human rights, race and ethnicity issues, LGBTQ+ equality, and feminism than generations before them.

Gen Z has never known a country not at war. As well, most have seen first-hand the financial struggles of their Gen X parents. In my opinion, they are old souls always searching to find their unique identities but are grounded in fiscal and social responsibility.

And I should know – I have two!

I recently sat down with the oldest of my two Gen Z’ers, Madeline. Born in 2005, Madeline is a high school junior busy with her various school and volunteer activities. She also holds down a part-time job at a local pizza restaurant. But just like any high school teen, she loves hanging with her friends and, of course, shopping.

I was able to pull Madeline away from her very busy life to have a conversation with me – her Gen X mom who still doesn’t understand exactly how Snapchat works – to spill the tea on her likes and dislikes when it comes to retail shopping.

What I found was not surprising at all. Madeline’s habits match up to the general characteristics of Gen Z. She is digitally connected all the time, but fiscally aware when it comes to spending her hard-earned money.

Check out our full conversation in the video or transcript below!

Transcript from “Dishing with my Daughter”

Tell me a little bit about what you like about shopping in the store and what you don’t like.

I like being able to see all the clothes in person and being able to know what kind of material is really used, because different styles and materials all fit differently.

I like knowing exactly how everything will fit. What I don’t like about in-person shopping is all the other people around me. As well, in my experience, retail workers are sometimes rude.

When shopping in store, do you like having the help of a retail worker?

Sometimes. But I mainly do things by myself because they (the retail worker) are not in my head. They don’t know what I really want. I could tell them what I want, but I would rather not.

I know you do a lot of online shopping! I’m curious, what do you love about online shopping and what is maybe frustrating about shopping online?

I like it because there are more options–in terms of sizes and other options. You could find something you like in-person, but they might not have your size or the color you want. With online shopping, they’re more likely to have your size. It’s easier to find things online because you can just search the style you are looking for. It also seems more organized to shop online than in the store.

Tell me a bit about the brands that you like to shop at online and why you keep going back to those shops?

I really like Shein because they have so many options. As soon as you think you’ve found all their options or you got to the bottom of the list, there are always hundreds of more items to view. And it’s also very cheap, for the most part. I don’t think I’ve ever spent over $15 or $17 on one thing at that store.

With online shopping, you can take as long as you want, instead of feeling like you’ve been in one store too long. I feel like the retail workers are thinking, “What is this girl doing here for so long? Is she lost or something?”

I’ve spent almost two hours just on one website making sure I got all the colors in, the size and the style. I spend my own money when I shop, so I want to make sure I’m getting exactly what I want.

Let’s talk about social media shopping – very popular with Gen Z. Can you give us an example of how you use this?

I find a lot of the things that I’m interested in on Instagram and Facebook the most. Because of the algorithms, I think they (the social media channels) consider what pages I follow and what things I like on Explore pages. I really like a lot of Western, 60s, 70s and early 2000 styles, so I follow a lot of people and small boutiques that carry those styles.

As I’m going through my feed, I’ll see a pair of jeans or a cute blouse in the styles that I like, so that’s helped me a lot when I’m shopping. It’s helped me expand and learn about new stores, and it’s also helpful for smaller boutiques too. Tiny boutiques will pop up on my feed that I’ve never seen before, so I often end up buying things from them, too. In that way, I feel like I’m doing my part to help small brands.

My thing is that I come up with my own style in my head, but I don’t always know how to search for what I’m looking for on an online site. For example, I was trying to find my prom dress online last month. I was looking for a dress on Lulus and I knew exactly what style and theme I wanted for my dress – an icy platinum look. But on so many online sites, you can’t really look up icy platinum in their little search engine. So, I went to Pinterest to find what I was looking for.

With Pinterest, I literally typed in icy platinum prom dress! So many options came up and I was able to find some dresses that I liked. From there I looked at the names of the dresses, did a Pinterest search again and ended up finding the exact icy platinum dress I wanted!

Let’s talk about thrift shopping! Tell us a little bit about why you like thrift shopping and how that’s helped you with your style.

I like thrifting, and feel like I’ve been thrifting before it was a trend! I like it because the clothes are super cheap there. I’m also a big fan of early 2000 styles. There are a ton of options in terms of clothes and accessories items from that decade at stores like Goodwill. And, like I said before, it’s also cheap. My friends and I can walk in there with $50 to spend and can buy probably close to that number of shirts! How could you not want to go there?

Side note: After speaking with my Gen Z’er for this blog, I took a closer look at the thrift shopping trend. According to according to a report from GlobalData and the online thrift store ThredUp, the secondhand market is projected to reach $77 billion by 2025 and is growing at a whopping 11 times the rate of the broader retail clothing sector. The drivers of the growth are younger consumers who are drawn to thrifting for its sustainability and eclectic and cool styles.

As a Gen Z’er, what else helps influences how you shop, either on social media or online or in a store?

A big part of my influence in what I like to shop for and wear is honestly music. I love older music, like Fleetwood Mac and Lynyrd Skynyrd – mostly bands from the 60s and 70s. I like the styles from that era. Sharon Tate is another style icon of mine. I would say she a big influence on the clothes and accessories that I buy.

Let’s talk retail!

At Ketner Group, we love digging into all things retail – even with our kids! Get in touch today to find out how our retail expertise can help drive brand awareness and supporting your marketing goals.

Top Four Ways for Building a Long-Term Relationship With a Reporter

Posted on November 16, 2021 | by Catherine Seeds

Our president Catherine Seeds has worked in public relations for many years and one of her favorite parts of the job is building long-term relationships with reporters. Those looking to build their own long-term relationships should check out her latest audio clip, which shares top tips for media relations. Can’t catch the video or prefer to read? We’ve included a transcription of her recommendations below.

Build long-term relationships with reporters:

If you are in PR, then you know how hard it can be, especially in today’s media landscape, to get in front of key media contacts in a meaningful way. Hi, I’m Catherine Seeds, president of Ketner Group Communications and I’m so glad you are listening in. Today, we are going to talk about building long-term relationships with reporters.

Let’s get to it!

So, I like to think of relationships with reporters as a marriage. What do the best marriages consist of you ask? Well, a lot, lol! Relationships are not always easy and they take work, but when you and your partner get it right – it can result in something extremely special. The same goes with your relationships with journalists!

Let’s talk four easy things you can do to create a lasting rapport with a reporter:

1. Be a good listener (aka research!):

This is one of the first things we all learn as PR practitioners. When we think about listening to journalists, this means really understanding what topics they are most interested in and what is going to get their attention. Listening is all about doing your homework on the journalist, reading their previous articles, knowing how they prefer to be contacted and understanding their passions as writers. You can’t possibly expect to build a relationship with an editor or reporter if you don’t LISTEN to the things that are important to them.

Listening and identifying what will make a journalist think “this PR person gets me” could be, as Humphrey Bogart says in the movie classic Casablanca, “the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

2. Be patient:

Once you’ve done your homework, listened and established a connection with a journalist – that does not mean you or your client will grace the top fold of the Wall Street Journal right away. Patience, especially in today’s very competitive media landscape, is critical to long-term PR success. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “To lose patience is to lose the battle.” But that does not mean you have to sit back and wait for things to happen.

As our friends at Muckrack recently wrote, as a PR professional, you need to remember that you are planting seeds – not shot-gunning beers. Having a quality relationship with a reporter does not mean only reaching out to them when you need something – it means putting in the work and planning for the long game to achieve optimum results.

Make it a practice each week or month to simply engage with those reporters that are most important to you. Send them a nice note about a recent article they’ve written, give them a shout out on social media or offer to meet them for coffee to catch up. They key here is to keep developing that relationship while also staying top of mind with the reporter the next time they write about a topic that could be a fit for your client.

3. Be relevant:

As PR pros, it is our job to stay on top of breaking news, relevant topics and differentiated points of view. In short, you need to do what you can to make a journalist’s life a little bit easier!

When pitching a journalist, it is important to bring fresh ideas to the table! In Cision’s “2021 Global State of the Media” report, one of the important key takeaways is to be a trendsetter. In the report, Cision reminds us that “journalists are looking for stories that speak to what’s happening in the world right now, so the better you are at delivering stories with timely narratives, the more of an asset you will be. Sage advice indeed!

Once you’ve secured an interview, make sure you or your client continues to bring their A game to the table with valuable information, such as:

What does this news mean for your customers and the industry, and why should the journalist’s audience care?
What is one key thing that (your customer or industry watchers) should consider or think about as they are digesting this news?
How can you or your company provide further analysis and a point of view for this news? Do you have unique data to highlight the story, or can you point to outliers or differentiators in the story?

In short, think like a journalist would, and not just what is important to you or your client.

4. Be human:

At the end of the day, it is important to remember that journalists are people, too. They have the same worries, fears, joys, anger, wants and needs as we do.

Journalists are pressed for time more than ever before, and they do not need PR people following up repeatedly on a pitch, especially, if it is not something they are interested in. (Remember, be a good listener!) According to the same Cision report I cited earlier, nearly three in 10 journalists say they never want follow up at all, while many want at least two days to look over a pitch first.

No one appreciates getting annoying emails that are not relevant to us, and journalists are no different. Be human, be kind and be thoughtful when it comes to communication with the media – it will be a win-win for everyone if you do!

There are many other ways to develop long-term relationships with journalists, but the most important thing to remember is approaching it like you would any other relationship. Build trust, create thoughtful communication and above all, be helpful.

Keep the conversation going:

For more tips and advice on building relationships with the media, please visit our blog. Are you Interested in doing more with your media relations strategy? We’d love to see how we can help jump-start your activities and support you for the long-haul. Email us at [email protected]

Until next time, work hard – play hard – and be nice to people!

Parenthood at Ketner Group: Creating an Inclusive Environment for Working Parents

Posted on August 24, 2021 | by Catherine Seeds

I’m just going to say it, being a working parent is not always easy. No matter what age our kids are, the juggling act that we as full-time working moms and dads perform is not for the faint of heart. We must figure out how to coordinate and balance countless doctor appointments, dance practices, baseball games and various school functions with our work priorities. We sometimes have to be two places at once, all the while worrying how we are going to get it all done.

Life happens, which is why at Ketner Group, we do all that we can to make the surprising and wonderful world of parenthood a little bit easier for our team.

This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart, as I was the first employee in the agency to go through the maternity leave process (twice), and I know first-hand what it is like to be a working parent at Ketner Group. We put a huge emphasis on being a family-first agency, making sure that all employees have a healthy work-life balance.

That’s not always the case in this country. According to Small Business Trends, 66% of full-time employees do not have a good work-life balance and 33% of Americans are working on weekends and holidays.

We have worked very hard as an agency to keep a family-friendly culture, ensuring that working parents feel supported, heard and understood. Let’s take a closer look at how.

“I’m expecting!”

Telling your company that your family is expecting should be a joyous occasion, not one filled with anxiety and fear.

At Ketner Group, we have always rallied behind our employees anytime there is a birth announcement. (Full transparency, we have had a total of three employees, including me, that have gone on maternity leave while working for Ketner Group.)

Ketner Group currently provides three months of paid maternity leave to employees. This is a policy that we wanted to provide, ensuring that families do not miss a paycheck during those very special three months and reinforcing our commitment to being a family-first agency.

We feel very fortunate to be able to offer this to our employees, given it is not something many small businesses are willing to do. According to a Department of Labor survey, only 12% of employees at businesses with fewer than 50 employees have access to explicit paid parental or family leave benefits and only 28% have access to paid medical leave.

During the time between the official announcement is made to the team and when an employee goes on maternity leave, we get to the business of planning for that leave. That includes making the announcement official to our clients, making adjustments to team leads and handing off any other agency tasks to other team members.

And of course, Ketner Group loves to celebrate, so we throw baby showers for the parents-to-be! The past year has not slowed us down in that department, either – we have already thrown two virtual baby showers for Amanda Reed and Kirsty Goodlett – complete with sweet treats and fun baby gifts! (For a good laugh, check out the song Jeff wrote celebrating Amanda’s baby.)

During leave, we make sure to only reach out to those employees for important updates and fun company gatherings – otherwise, we want them to enjoy their time with family.

“My kid has strep throat…again!”

Being a parent is truly a full-time job. The needs of children don’t just stop during the 9-5 workday. That is why we have created a culture of flexible work schedules for all employees, but this is a policy that is especially critical for working parents.

When my kids were younger, I felt like I lived at the pediatrician’s office! I can’t tell you how many times I had to email my team early in the morning, and a few times in the middle of the night, to let them know I wouldn’t be in because of a sick child. There were also many, many times I had to stop what I was doing during the middle of the workday to run to the daycare or elementary school to pick up a sick kid or leave work early or come in late because of a special occasion at school.

Never once, however, did I worry about how these parent errands or last-minute emergencies would affect my job. I knew I had the support of my team and would not be penalized or judged for needing to do what I needed to as a parent.

When it comes to being a parent at Ketner Group, flexibility and support is the name of the game.

During the summer months, my kids often spent time with me at the office when I didn’t have a summer camp planned or childcare available. They always enjoyed those days because it meant getting to draw for hours on the big white board or getting to have a cool “grown up” lunch with Mom! Never once did my team make me feel bad for bringing my children up to the office, they were always kind to them and made them feel welcomed.

“I got a promotion!”

Of course, the elephant in the room when it comes to being a working parent is whether planned and unplanned time away from the office will affect one’s career. In short, at Ketner Group, it doesn’t.

We believe that bringing a new life into the world and putting family first does not mean the end of someone’s long-term career goals. All of our employees are important to us and being a parent doesn’t require anyone to take two steps back.

In my time at Ketner Group, while also going through two pregnancies, maternity leaves and the countless times my children needed to come before work priorities, I continued to work hard and was promoted to account manager, director, vice president and most recently as president of the agency. Being a parent at our agency does not put a warning mark on you, and it never will.

2020 and 2021 have been tough years for all working parents, especially mothers, and we continue to do all that we can to make the transition of a being a hybrid remote/in-person company as easy on working parents as possible. There have been plenty of Zoom calls over the past year that have included our kids on the screen, whether it was planned or not!

“I can have it all!”

I’m not going to lie, being a working parent can often be a hard gig, no matter how wonderful your company is – and that is the truth!

There is the ever-present parent guilt combined with the worry that you are never doing enough at the office. But there is a silver lining! Once you get the hang of things, it is the most rewarding experience you could ever have, especially if you work for a supportive and parent-inclusive organization.

At Ketner Group, I get to have the best of both worlds, and my children get to see first-hand the aftereffects of a family and employee-first company. More importantly, they know that it is possible to have a successful career and be there for them no matter what. I am grateful for this and hope this kind of support for working parents will become the norm in the near future, rather than the exception.

30 Year Anniversary Video: A Picture is Worth…Countless Words and Memories

Posted on January 28, 2021 | by Catherine Seeds

When we began planning our 30-year anniversary campaign we knew early on that we wanted to do something really special to celebrate digitally since we would not able to host a big, in-person soirée.

Of course, we wanted to incorporate all the elements of a good PR and marketing campaign, but it was equally important that we include our industry friends and family, who have been such a great support to the agency over the past 30 years.

Voila! I present to you the KG 30^th Anniversary Video, which we think meets all these goals!

Sharing the video with Jeff was a treat

We surprised Jeff with the video a couple of weeks ago via Zoom, and it was so special to watch his reaction to all the fun memories shared and the wonderful accolades spoken from friends, peers, former co-workers and his family.

I wish we could have included all of those who have been a part of the KG team over the years, but you know who you are, and I am so thankful for each one of you. You are equally a part of our story!

A special thank you to those who shared a video

I’d like to thank the following for taking their time to send in their kind words for Jeff and, in the words of our good friend Dave Murphy, the entire Ketner Group dynasty.

Brian Kilcourse
Debbie House
Joe Skorupa
Caitlin New
Valerie Martin
Dave Murphy
Terry Barnes
Molly Ketner
Elizabeth Winterroth
Andrew Ketner

Keep the anniversary celebrations going

If you have any pictures of your time at Ketner Group, we’d love you to share! Feel free to post and tag us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter!

We hope you enjoy the anniversary video, especially our motivational speech towards the end! In true Ketner Group fashion, we manage to inspire through laughter. Just the way we like it!

jeff ketner and catherine seeds 30 years

Lessons Learned and Memories Made: 30 Year Anniversary Q&A

Posted on January 12, 2021 | by Catherine Seeds

It’s been 30 years since Jeff Ketner founded Ketner Group Communications, and it’s been an absolutely incredible – and sometimes wild – journey. To help us celebrate, Jeff and I kicked back for a stroll down memory lane. Check out the full video below or read our summary to learn more about some of the highlights of the last 30 years!

How Ketner Group began: striking out on his own

Catherine: Tell me about the day you decided to strike out on your own. Did you have any memorable conversations with your family? Or friends or peers?

Jeff: It wasn’t planned that far in advance; it was pretty spontaneous. I was vice president at a technology PR firm here in Austin when one day the owner walked and said that she was retiring and shutting the whole place down.

What?!

At that time, I was very fortunate to have Texas Instruments as a client and a strong 5-plus-year relationship with them. So, after the owner of the firm said she was shutting it down, I told her I was going to talk with TI. “That’s fine,” she said. Literally the same day, I talked to TI and they told me not to worry. In just a few days, I was set up as a vendor.

I would like to say that it was planned out. I had wanted to set out for a while, but I was sort of thrust into it.

Indelible memories (alt: Ketner Goofs Communications)

Catherine: There have been a lot of crazy, silly things that have happened to us over the years. What are some of your favorite moments from the past 30 years?

Jeff: I remember the time at NRF when we had a snowball fight with the team from Digby, now known as Phunware, at one or two in the morning. We were in New York City, it was cold, and we were all stranded because the airports were shut down. So, we had a snowball fight on the streets of New York!

Or another time at NRF’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Retail. Just being able to play guitar onstage with some fun people like Brian Kilcourse, Steve Rowen and Cathy Hotka. Just to be able to be onstage — and I used to be pretty good, but I hadn’t played in a long time — it gave me a chance to get the rust out and to have some fun and play with people that became my friends. Plus, I get to tell my grandkids that I was onstage at B.B. King Blues Club in New York.

The fun and silly things that happen around the office are amazing, too. People spontaneously breaking into song or just laughing and being together as a team. The things that make anyone feel special. Like the times when I come back from a day off for my birthday and my office is decorated to the max. Of course, there is Bosses Day – which I didn’t even know was a thing – during which people dressed up like me: flannels and blue jeans.

It just things like that that are fun and make you feel special. We do a lot of that as a team, just to really maintain a sense of caring for one another and trying to each other’s back and have fun together.

The lessons learned in 30 years

Catherine: What lessons have you learned as a founder and CEO of your own business?

Jeff: Well, there are a lot of them. The most important is to build a great team, give them a lot of freedom and just trust them. I think the people really make it work. We have a very collaborative team, and we work together well. That’s what I’m most comfortable with. It’s not really a top-down organization that’s driven by one, singular personality. We’ve worked to establish a culture of openness and trust and collaboration.

As much as anything, it’s about getting the right people in place and doing everything you can to hang on to them and make it an exciting place to work, but also give space for a work-life balance. At the end of the day, it’s the things everyone does outside of work that are going to stick with you for the rest of your life. What you do at work counts, but there is life beyond work, and we give our team the space to realize that.

Finding a niche in retail technology

Catherine: We’re known around town for specializing in retail technology, but what is it about retail tech that is so exciting to you?

Jeff: It’s fun! We’ve worked in semiconductors, we’ve worked in servers, we’ve worked in both the fun and the boring parts of technology. But everyone shops. Everyone eats. Retail touches every part of life and it changes so fast. Ten years ago, all the shopping was done in store, and that’s just totally flipped. Over the last three years, no one used to order groceries online and have them delivered or arrange curbside pickup.

It’s changed, and it’s changed really fast. I can’t think of any technology sector that is changing and that touches every facet of our lives like retail. To me, it’s the most fascinating, fast-paced industry to be in.

Overcoming current and future challenges

Catherine: I’d like you to share some advice on how you’ve overcome challenges.

Jeff: When you have a challenge that comes up you have to do a couple of things. First, face it honestly and straightforwardly. You can’t sweep it under the rug. If there is a tough conversation to be had with a client, it’s much, much better to pick up the phone than send an email. You also have to double down and work through it. Rely on your team. Be honest. Be transparent.

I know you didn’t want to bring up the “pandemic” word but working through this has been something I’m most proud of. The team came together even when clients were having issues and cutting budgets. There was a mass freak out throughout every sector of business. We’ve worked through it, we’ve focused on bringing on new clients, and we did everything we can to take care of our existing clients.

We worked our way through it and I’m grateful for that. The impact of COVID-19 has been devastating for so many people and businesses. It’s really because of the team that we’ve overcome it.

Bad times will happen, there will always be unexpected things that come your way. Look to your team and rely on your instincts. Over time, you will develop a resilience that will allow you to get through things that are difficult.

We Were Remote, Before Remote Was Cool

Posted on October 27, 2020 | by Catherine Seeds

When it came to the topic of remote work and how Ketner Group has addressed it over the years – I immediately thought of the 1981 hit country song, “I Was Country, When Country Wasn’t Cool,” sung by Barbara Mandrell.

In it, Mrs. Mandrell talks about how she listened to music from the Grand Ole Opry growing up while her friends were “digging on rock ‘n’ roll” and how everyone is now trying to be what she was back then.

When it comes to remote work at Ketner Group, this song seems spot on. We’ve been at this for quite some time – way before it was cool, and (now) necessary.

The way we were, and are: Ketner Group and our history of remote work

While I know that Ketner Group is not the only company to have instituted flexible work-from-home policies prior to the pandemic, our agency was founded with an emphasis on offering a good work-life balance for all employees.

That became very apparent to me in 2005 when my daughter was born. My two bosses at the time, Jeff Ketner and Terry Barnes, made it clear that my family was very important and that they were just fine with a work schedule that was best for me and my family.

"we were remote before it was cool (or frankly necessary)" pull quote

This philosophy started even before my tenure at Ketner Group, when Jeff launched the agency in 1990. He was to be at home every night for dinner, and if he needed to work from home, he would lug home a big laptop to finish any client work after his kids had gone to bed.

Thus, the roots of Ketner Group’s flexible work standards started to grow, and we’ve never looked back.

Our attitude toward working from home has always been simple: plan accordingly, meet your deadlines, and communicate with your team and managers of your schedule. In normal times, we always encouraged the team to be in the office as much as possible, but life happens.

Whether it be a doctor appointment across town, picking up kids from school, or being at home for the cable guy – working from home to take care of things is sometimes just easier. There are also times when one needs to work from home to concentrate on a big writing or research project – we’ve always encouraged that, too.

We’ve been everywhere

In recent years, Ketner Group has continued to walk the walk and talk the talk when it came to working remote – a sentiment I talked about last November in the Austin Business Journal. One of the most important things we value at the agency is trust, and we have a very high level of trust with all of our employees.

For example, we have had employees take extended vacations to Europe and Asia (learn more about Mariana’s time in Bali here), where they worked remote for a period of time while they were overseas and then take an additional two weeks off for vacation. A few years ago, one of our employees spent a year working from Ireland, and it worked out beautifully.

It is important to support these remote work options because we want our team to live their best lives, see the world and have amazing experiences.

W.O.R.K in the USA

Since March, our remote work game has been in overdrive – along with the rest of the world.

In fact, a global survey conducted by Gartner, Inc. found that 88% of business organizations all over the world mandated or encouraged all their employees to work from home when the COVID-19 virus started to spread at exponential rates.

The move to full-time remote work for the Ketner Group team was seamless, and again demonstrated how much we value and trust each of our employees. Not only is everyone currently working from their respective homes, but we have a few employees that have hit the open road in RVs to fully experience remote work life!

It’s been an adventure for all of us so far.

Our team is spread out across five states, but our productivity and company culture remain strong. The pandemic has been hard on all of us – professionally and personally – but we remain a strong and dedicated team because of the processes and work policies we put in place 30 years ago.

I look forward to when we can all be in an office together again. Until then, we’ll be seeing you on a Zoom somewhere.

3686-festival-ketner-group-communications

Back to Where We Started in Nashville: Ketner Group Participates in This Year’s 36|86 Festival

Posted on August 10, 2020 | by Catherine Seeds

I love anniversaries. It gives one the opportunity to look back at where you’ve been, what you’ve gone through and all the good things that lay ahead.

This time last year, Kirsty Goodlett, our director of Nashville, and I, were putting the final touches on our soon to be Nashville launch. Our anniversary “week” in Nashville kicked off with an amazing launch party, complete with signature cocktails, food and a panel of brilliant, all-female storytellers.

We continued our launch activities by participating in and attending 36|86 Festival, the premier entrepreneur and start up event of the Southeast. As Kirsty said in her recap blog last year, it was truly nothing short of magic!

We were honored to kick off 36|86 with a panel featuring Kirsty, Ben Kurland and Lisa Roberts, chatting about how to win press and influence customers. Kirsty also did a podcast interview with our friend, Clark Bucker, for the 36|86 podcast, and we secured some wonderful media coverage for Ketner Group in Nashville and Austin.

Our launch was perfect, and was made possible against the wonderful backdrop of 36|86. Which is why, when asked if we wanted to participate in this year’s festival and manage media relations for 36|86, we responded with a resounding “YES!” to our friends at Launch Tennessee.

36|86 Festival goes global, interactive and virtual!

Due to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s 36|86 Festival will look a bit different, but will still include all of the amazing speakers, sessions, networking and that Nashville pizazz that attendees have come to expect from the event!

The fully interactive, online experience will take place over two weeks for a global audience from Aug. 17-28. 36|86 will offer human stories, real strategies, 1-on-1 networking opportunities and shared experiences in its most accessible form yet.

Here are just a few of this years “can’t miss” featured speakers:

Garth Brooks, country music superstar
Eddie George, entrepreneur and former NFL running back
Van Jones, CNN host and political commentator and CEO of REFORM Alliance
Ian Rogers, Group Chief Digital Officer of LVMH
Dr. Stacey Edwards Dunn, founder and president of Fertility for Colored Girls, NFP

Ketner Group brings a bit of Austin to Nashville

Our team is so proud to again participate in this year’s festival, bringing our love of PR and entrepreneurial innovation to the 36|86 stage. And this year, Kirsty and I are bringing a few more of the KG team along for the fun!

On August 25, Jeff Ketner and Mariana Fischbach will be talking about all things press coverage in a session titled Ketner Group Wants You to Get More Press – teaching attendees how to craft PR-worthy news messages that hook the journalist, build your brand story, and define a call to action from readers.

Right after the session, Jeff and Mariana will be available for a live “ask the experts” session for festival attendees.

Kirsty and I are also back in full swing at 36|86 this year, judging two pitch competitions with some new and old friends from Nashville! Startup companies and student groups are competing for bragging rights as well as cash prizes. Don’t miss this opportunity to see some of the brightest and most innovative minds in Tennessee!

If that hasn’t been exciting enough, we have also been managing media relations for this year’s festival. It’s been wonderful taking them on as a client and telling the most amazing entrepreneurship stories.

Building community across the global startup ecosystem

Right now, a year after our official launch in Nashville, Ketner Group and the entire world find ourselves in a unique situation. Our lives have become disrupted and turned upside down, but, we’ve all become closer and more connected than ever, and that’s exciting! Think of all the possibilities!

36|86 has embodied what it means for events, right now, to make timely, engaging and entertaining content available to anyone around the world. The show must go on, and the Ketner Group team is thrilled to again share the stage with an amazing collection of game-changers, disrupters and future-seekers!

I hope to see ya’ll there!

Click here to register for 36|86, which kicks off in just a few days!