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PR Interview with Charlie Mason-Pearson, MD of The Lifestyle Agency

About the agency

What industry sectors does The Lifestyle Agency specialise in?

We specialise in all areas of luxury lifestyle PR/marketing. This spans all sectors including airline, automobiles, travel, clubs, bars, restaurants, charity, awards and FMCG. However, we are not limited to these categories alone as our latest client Gorilla Circus shows; a trapeze school situated in Regents and Battersea Park!

What is special about the agency’s approach to PR?

We are a one-stop shop for all luxury lifestyle marketing and PR needs.

How are you gearing up for the London Olympics? Are any of your clients involved?

Apart from sheer footfall the Olympics will bring through the doors of our clients, a number of clients are creating a buzz around the show of the century in their own ways. These include straightforward PR but also sponsorship and third party associations.

However these are confidential until launch…

How do you ensure your clients get the right coverage in the press?

I have brought together a killer team of publicists who have perfected the art of ‘selling in’ in their chosen lifestyle field. Approaching the right journalist with the right news/feature is something they have learnt in the past and perfected at The Lifestyle Agency.

What has been the biggest challenge for the agency?

Finding staff that look at lifestyle PR as a career and not a social vocation.

About clients

Can you list some of your most well-known, or respected clients?

Dick's Tea Bar, La Folie Douce, Dorsia, Gorilla Circus, 88 Delicious, The Sport Hotel.

Tell us about one of your clients you recently worked with.  What was the company’s brief, your approach and the result?

Leading London nightclub Raffles Chelsea approached The Lifestyle Agency to run a PR/marketing campaign to highlight their new membership package.

The Lifestyle Agency negotiated and arranged an official link up with Val d’Isere for the season of 2011/12 and also arranged for a weeklong trip to hold a Pop-Up Raffles at Dick's Tea Bar and La Folie Douce, two legendary institutions, creating a Raffles in the Alps.

We arranged for 15 Raffles founding members to come over to Val d’Isere for three days to attend the launch of Raffles at Dick's Tea Bar and Raffles at La Folie Douce, which we arranged to have covered exclusively by Tatler.

The second half of the trip saw publications such as GQ and Quintessentially Magazine join the party to review and cover the proceedings.

What advice would you give to recent business start-ups on their PR strategy?

Perfect Planning Prevents Pathetic Performance.

About journalists

Which areas of the press do you communicate with the most and which media outlets or journalists do you find you work with the most often?

Consumer, national, online and high-end consumer magazines, national supplements and their respective websites.

How do you build and maintain strong relationships with journalists?

Have a mutual respect for one another’s profession, coupled with a “no bullsh*t” policy.

In your experience, do you think the relationship between journalists and PRs is always harmonious, or is it more of a love-hate affair?

Harmonious… I believe we feed off each other.

About you

What media do you seek out first thing in the morning?

BBC News, City AM, Metro.

If you could work anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

If I could work from anywhere in the world it would be from a boat sailing off the coast of Belize. Sun, sea and Wi-Fi is all I need.

What’s the first rule of good PR?

Today's junior is tomorrow's editor.