Wild Strawberries

Planting the Strawberry Seed ( The History of Strawberry PR )

My name is Abier working at Leo Burnett, handling PROCTER & GAMBLE PR account with over 15 brands and brand managers. I just got into an accident.

Rahma, also at Leo Burnett, handles FMCG clients, sampling activities and over worked. The evening of my accident we met for dinner at Japengo on Shk Zayed Road and were just chatting about work, PR and our future over Sushi and noodles when the topic of “If we had our own companies, how they would be” came up.

Stronger media relations, targeted communication, creativity, personalised service, and CSR were just some of the aspects that we wished to include in our companies. And it hit me, why don’t we open our own PR company? Combined we both have the skills, experience and the vision. It was agreed, we will start our own PR agency. We started to envision this PR agency and what we wanted it to stand for, what kind of clients we wanted, how we would be as managers and so on.

We headed to our respective homes and started jotting down ideas.

At lunch and coffee breaks, we would be huddled over a note book whispering and writing. We met everyday after work and during the weekends. We were consumed. Our PR company was born on paper, but with no name.

One evening, I was sitting on my red couch in my small apartment and I noted down over 40 suggestions for our agency’s name, a name which will reflect our character, our ideology and our vision. I called Rahma to share with her my ideas. As I was about to read my list, I blurted out “what do you think of Strawberry?” Strawberry? Rahma agreed. Strawberry….it is fresh, full of vitality, bright, with a tad of exclusivity, and it is good for you… it was perfect. 

We couldn’t have chosen a better name. Ideas started flowing, Strawberry book club, Strawberry sweets, Strawberry jokes etc…. Soon after, we both resigned from Leo Burnett.

Unemployed, naïve and ambitious, we met everyday at my cosy flat with our laptops and started setting up Strawberry. Emails were up, logo was developed and the company profile was completed, we were ready to test the water. Within days we were out meeting potential clients. 

Storing Strawberries

February 10th 2005

By this time we realised that we desperately needed wireless (I only had ISDN connection and we kept sharing the cable) and graduated to French Connection. French Connection was our office for the next three months. It was spacious, bright and well equipped but it was a bit busy. It had to do for now.

Through word of mouth, we were approached by two separate companies and we were ecstatic. We developed PR and event campaigns, spent hours in meeting and on the telephone with them. Instead of a contract, we received our first slap of reality, clients want everything for nothing. Bruised yet undeterred, we woke up the next day and went to our “office”.

We now needed to become legal; little did we know that that was going to be yet another struggle. We couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer to do our papers so we started the process ourselves and later, relying on friends to help. In the meantime we secured a fashion client and we received our first cheque, which was addressed to me since Strawberry didn’t exist.

Another slap, friends are not reliable and we were nowhere near to legalizing Strawberry. In an attempt to cheer me up, I met up with a friend for dinner (Teatro) who wanted to introduce me to two young men who owned their own marketing company in DMC. Over dinner, we discussed our companies and it was apparent that there was a synergy; they were a marketing company in need of a PR Division and we are a PR company in need of a license and office.

Having discussed it with Rahma we agreed on a working relationship whereby we will work under their trade license, lease an office in the CNN building and have our own bank account. Strawberry will be a division of this marketing company and work together to provide holistic marketing strategies.

Harvesting Strawberries

Moving from French Connection to the CNN building was our first step to becoming the Strawberries we are now. It was an exciting and nerve wrecking move, it was becoming almost too real.

Our CNN office was a tiny office but to us, it was perfect. We furnished it and made it as Strawberry-like as possible, with red huge bean bags and pictures of strawberries.   

We have the bank account, we have the office, we have our brainstorming room (the bean bags) now we need to introduce Strawberry to the media.

Playing on our brand, we sent the media a series of teasers revolving around strawberries. Our first teaser was an email shot of a Strawberry Shortcake recipe, the response was amazing. We received emails from the media asking us “when will you be sending us a real Strawberry Shortcake?” This was followed by another email shot which was a Strawberry joke. Now was the right time for the unveiling. For the unveiling we wanted to treat the media for their anticipation and patience so we courier delivered Strawberry jelly sweets with a letter introducing ourselves.

We have succeeded in stirring their interest. We received emails and phone calls from media, some to introduce themselves whereas others remembered us from Leo Burnett and wanted to congratulate us and all of them to praise our efforts. That was the start of the fruitful partnership we currently have with the media.  

Our teaser initiative also created an interest in us personally and interview opportunities flooded in. The media was interested in our story but we felt it was too early to start publicizing Strawberry and turn down most of them, but we did agreed to Arabian Woman, they were quite determined. (Appendix 1)

At that point we had secured Poltrona Frau, Language and DJ Dion as our clients. We were finally able to put our ideas into practice. Press releases were distributed to the media to introduce the clients, each representing the client’s equity through the words used, the overall feeling of the release and the presentation.

Being creative has its draw backs as I came to realise when putting together the media pack for Language’s new collection. (Appendix 2). The concept was a diary-like book, with images of the different items, with prices and handwritten scribbles. On paper the idea was brilliant, but 4 days later, with glue all over my hands, aching arm and back and paper cuts, I realised that some creative ideas perhaps should be left as that, ideas. But my hard work didn’t go un-noticed. The media loved it and sent me lovely emails praising me on my hard work. The coverage we received was immense.

In the meantime, Rahma was busy planning DJ Dion’s PR to launch him into stardom. Dion approached us with a clear request; “I want everyone to know how I am and climb up the international Top DJ List”. Dion was a warm up DJ at the Peppermint Club and ranked number 13,000 on the Top DJ List, we never say no to a challenge.

Rahma set out to know as much about Dion as possible, which then allowed us to develop different angles and target different magazines with an angle that compliments their publication. Dion plays golf, so we contacted On Course and proposed a feature/interview on a DJ who is an avid Golf player. Dion was half Indian, and had the pleasure of being interviewed by Ahlan! Masala.

Interviews were set up with lifestyle, entertainment and men’s publications. Photo shoots were organised for glossy and fashion publications. Photographers and TV cameras were invited to join Dion on his club nights.

After a year campaign, the result was that everyone knew Dion, he was fast becoming a local celebrity. He had reached number 56 in the International Top DJ list, signed up with a UK music management company, secured gigs internationally and established his Blush brand which consists of a nightclub, and clothing line.

Dj Dion has stirred our interest in the entertainment industry and we were quick to realise that there weren’t many PR agencies that provided Entertainment PR or Local Personality PR as a matter of a fact. This was an aspect that should be looked into.

Opportunities started flowing in, there were some clients who simply didn’t have a PR budget but genuinely needed our support. So we started bartering. One was a multimedia agency which was advertising at Global Village that needed sponsors and advertisers, so we secure sponsors for them and in return they created an advertisement (see CD) and aired it all day long on huge screens around the grounds. Bartering turned out to be a great short term solution for Strawberry.

Thinking back on how many services we bartered and our salaries (1,000aed each every 4 months or so) still makes us laugh.

The marketing company we were affiliated with wasn’t doing very well and it was agreed that Strawberry needed to be an independent company. This time we were more experienced and prepared. A lawyer was hired to handling the trade license process, we looked for an office and within months, Strawberry was officially its own company. We had to make an announcement to the media and staying true to Strawberry’s character; it had to be fun, fresh, and creative.

Over 100 hand made cards were made and distributed to the media. (Appendix 3). We were again quite taken back by the response the card received. Again interview requests started coming in and we agreed to do one for the Buzz. 

Wild Strawberries

14th March 2006

Family, friends, the media and clients supported us through out this journey and sometimes believed in us more than we believed in ourselves. Moving and setting up an office on Sheikh Zayed Road was a monumental step in Strawberry’s history. It was a time of taking financial risks and embracing the responsibility of establishing a company. When we were affiliated with the marketing company, we had a safety net, we had resources and people we can rely on, people who were experienced in running a business. We were now alone.

Strawberry still wasn’t profitable enough to rent an office, decorate and furnish it, so we looked for an investor. We found one and his investment went on the office.

The space which was soon to be the Strawberry office was situated on Sheikh Zayed Road in one of the oldest towers on the strip. I can remember the excitement when Rahma and I went to see it for the first time. The building itself didn’t quite reflect Strawberry or our outlook but we didn’t care. It was our own office. We needed our office to compensate the state of the tower. We purchased the most beautiful office furniture, had the office re-painted in the Strawberry colours. We needed some signage and a website with an interactive game which will allow the visitor to know how Strawberry differs from other agencies. We bartered our PR services.

Our office was completed, our collateral was finalised and our client list was growing. Rahma and I took the roles of owners, business development, PR managers, executives, and office administrators. We had to hire someone to take off the load and decided to look for a Media Coordinator, someone who speaks Arabic, who can update our media list, monitor Arabic publications and run the office, our first hire. A couple of months later we had an addition to the Strawberries.

Our client base started to expand and we had event companies, luxury furniture brands, IT companies and restaurants in our books. Things were looking like they were starting to come together. Our salaries though still minimum were regular.

Strawberry is a PR agency but it is also a socially responsible organisation which believes in giving back to the community and encouraging others to be charitable. Our first CSR initiative was to raise funds for a Manzil, a school for special needs children in Sharjah. They needed a new playground and we wanted to help. During DSS, we planned an auction road show whereby people can bid for the student’s art pieces and all of the money will go towards the playground. We organised the road show and supported it with PR, the school received over 40,000aed.

Today we support Gulf for Good, by providing them with Arabic PR and Manar Al Iman, with Strawberry organised events, such as “Toy Story” and “Back to School”. We are currently working on a non profitable project to create an awareness of Parent Alienation Syndrome which affects children as a result of their parents’ actions.

The wonderful thing about PR is when you actually see the impact that your hard work has done; whether it is raising money for charity, contributing to the success of a client or making people aware of a cause.

The Strawberries

August 1st 2007

We are growing everyday as a business and as professionals. When it was only Rahma and I, we only had to be responsible for each other and for Strawberry. Today we are 5 in the team. Managing employees has proven to be yet another struggle. Apart from feeling great responsibility for the livelihood of our employees, our patience, management skills and communication skills are tested on a daily basis. But we have also been allowed to experience pride in our employees, feel their dedication and share our passion for Strawberry with others who feel the same. 

The Strawberry philosophy of having fun, being fresh and creative doesn’t only apply to our work but also to the way we work and our environment. We are committed to giving and getting the best out of our employees. We do this through celebrating their birthdays, religious holidays, praising them when they do good work, do something fun when they are down, when we are down.

Our methods for staff motivation may not be conventional but they work. We invited our Feng Shui client to Feng Shui the office and do everyone’s chart. Another client is a Life Designer and a Hypnotist; he came in and showed us how to be the best that we can be in our work life, as well as, our private life. 

It has been over 2 years since Rahma and I began our journey. We were two ambitious, naïve girls on a mission. With less that 20,000aed to invest but an abundance of ideas, we set out to materialise our own PR agency. Today, our bank account reads  a healthy revenue to date and a team of dedicated and bright employees. We started off with a handful of clients and today we are in a position to hand pick our clients, from my living room to an office on Shk Zayed Road.

A Taste of Strawberry

Today Strawberry is recognised as a credible agency; bring new trends to the PR field and adding value to the region. This is reflected through the appreciation of our work, the quality of our clients and our market reputation.

We first started realising the Strawberry’s impact on the PR scene when members of the media started speaking highly of us and referring clients. This was supported by the fact that our clients were generating business for us and recommending us to their friends. We were especially flattered when we received a request from a Masters Degree student from the UK asking to interview us for her thesis on Women in PR in the Middle East. It would seem that she contacted a couple of publications in the region asking for information and recommendations of women who can assist her with her thesis and our name came up several times.

Our expertise and contribution to the region’s PR industry were also recognised by IIR, a conference management company organising the annual Public Relations Congress. We were invited to participate in their PR work shop on Developing, Implementing and Executing Effective PR Campaign Strategies.

Strawberry’s potential is tremendous but we are careful not to grow too fast or steer away from our unique personality and offering. We are looking to diversify Strawberry but still stay faithful to that small seed that Strawberry once was.