Crosby Noricks, Founder PR Couture: Don’t Confuse PR with Sales!

crosby_noricksFashion PR is not a very famous field in Romania, neither in the academia, nor in practice. Curious to find out what are the elements that characterize fasion PR, we interviewed Crosby Noricks, a specialist with over seven years of experience in public relations and fashion, and who is full of passion for what she does.

You are the founder and editor of PR Couture, a blog that explores the ever-evolving role of public relations, marketing and social media in the fashion industry. How did it all begin?
I had written my master’s thesis on fashion PR and spend 2 years in the industry. I had noticed that there was very little written online about the profession, so I decided to scrape together what I had learned during my research with what little experience I had and start to blog about it.

How have you seen Fashion PR evolve and change since you got started PR Couture?

The greatest change is the way that social media has shifted and expanded PR’s understanding of target publics and the importance of making sure clients are accessible and aware of the online conversations going on around them. In addition, reality shows like Project Runway and Kell on Earth have engaged public interest in the behind the scenes aspects of fashion.

If you could go back in a time machine to the moment when you were just getting started this blog, what business related advice would you give yourself?

I would have reached out to bigger PR agencies and successful bloggers to establish relationships early on. I would have spent more time commenting on other people’s posts and generally being more confident in my concept and knowledge.

What is your favorite part of the work that you do each day?

As much as email can be overwhelming, I love checking it. I really do. So many things can happen in a day – opportunities, ideas, news, and I love days when my email is full of great things that are in the works!

From your point of view, are there guidelines to measure the effectiveness of social media in promoting fashion brands?

It all depends on what goals you have created, though typically it’s a measure of brand awareness, customer engagement and sales. Figure out how you are going to track each of those and let those goals guide your strategy.

What trends do you see for the use of social media in Fashion PR during the next few years?
I think checking in is going to become as routine as checking your Facebook page. Retailers would be smart to figure out ways to integrate their digital strategy with their offline efforts.

In Romania, Fashion PR is at the beginning of the road. What advice would you give to the Romanian PR specialist in order to develop this field?
Don’t confuse PR with sales but don’t limit your service offerings to just mainstream coverage. Branding, customer service, in-store experience, short-term campaigns, events, runway shows – all of these are within your domain.



Crosby Noricks has nearly seven years experience in fashion and consumer marketing.

Tired of the stereotype that fashion publicists are more concerned with air-kisses than credibility, Crosby Noricks launched PR Couture, an online resource that explores the ever-evolving role of public relations, marketing and social media in the fashion industry, in 2006.

In addition interviewing the likes of the senior web editor at Marie Claire and Nine West's creative director about social marketing for PR Couture, Crosby is also Senior Social Media Strategist for Red Door Interactive, an Internet Presence Management company.

Crosby has taught fashion communication courses at both both FIDM and the Art Institute, and regularly speaks about her field at industry and student conferences.

Crosby holds a Master’s Degree in Mass Communication and Media Studies from San Diego State University and a B.A. from Pitzer College

Interview by Raluca Rogoz. Copyright PR Romania