Coyne Retail Book

We’re not just filling carts we’re building brands.

About Coyne PR About Coyne PR About Coyne PR About Coyne PR

About

Coyne PR

Founded in 1991, Coyne PR has grown to become one of the top independent public relations firms in the United States. Recognized throughout the industry as “The Best Place to Work,” more than 175 talented minds now call Coyne PR – HOME. We have wildly creative offices in New York and New Jersey as well as colleagues in 115 cities, 49 countries and six continents through our partnership in The Worldcom Public Relations Group. Our clients include many of the world’s most respected companies… and those that want to be. Our reputation is built upon three decades of creativity, strategy and service. It is validated by more than 1,000 industry awards.

Industry Experience

About Coyne PR’s Retail Practice

The world of retail is evolving. To be successful, retailers need to be able to connect with their consumers in new ways. Whether it’s navigating inflation or understanding changing consumer spending habits, our team has a pulse on the retail industry and how to not only help our clients manage their PR goals in the short term but how to inspire consumer action for a successful year to come.

At Coyne, we’ve helped some of the most well-known retail brands tell their stories to shoppers. From store openings and highlighting hero products to boosting holiday hiring efforts, booking national business media tours and showcasing community give-backs, our work has helped set our brands above the competition. Our fully integrated approach leverages a mix of media relations, social media, influencer engagement and digital marketing to help drive brand awareness. By immersing ourselves in our client’s business, we become a trusted extension of their communications team.

Integrated Communications

Coyne provides clients with best-in-class, channel-agnostic communications strategies that drive visibility, engagement and growth across all paid, earned, shared and owned channels. This includes deep experience in public relations, a dedicated social media and influencer practice and an award-winning content production studio.

Specialties

Brand Building

Product Launches

Corporate Communications

Business-to-Business

Internal Communications

Crisis/Issue Management

Corporate Social Responsibility

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Thought Leadership Events & Promotions

Sponsorship Activation

Measurement & Analytics

Services Services Services Services

Public Relations

Earned Media Strategy

Media Relations

Press Materials

Message Development

Media Training

Competitive Media Audits

Bylined Articles & Op-Eds

Spokesperson Coordination

Editorial Calendars & News Bureau

Paid Program Integrations

Digital & Content

Branded & Digital Content

Video Production

PSAs

Website Design & Development

Advertising

Animation

CRM Integration & Email Marketing

SEO & SEM

Creative Mailers

Digital Display Ads

Social & Influencer

Brand & Content Strategy

Social Listening

Monitoring & Analysis

Community Management & Engagement

Social Media Advertising

Crisis Communications

Influencer Identification & Outreach

Influencer Negotiations & Contracting

Influencer Payment Fulfillment

Brand Immersions & Creative Briefs

Measurement & Reporting

You’ll flip for our case studies

Athleta

On behalf of Athleta, Coyne PR generates year-round local market media coverage for new store openings in priority markets across the country. To support each opening, Coyne PR conducts targeted outreach to local newspapers and TV stations in each of the markets to generate excitement and draw press and consumers to the opening day festivities. Additionally, Coyne PR secures and manages on-site media interviews with local Athleta store managers and crafts talking points for corporate Athleta spokespeople. As a result of our outreach in support of the first 11 new store openings in 2022, Coyne generated more than 31.9 million impressions across broadcast, print and online media.

Gap Inc.

To ensure a seamless holiday shopping experience for customers each year, Gap Inc. announces plans to hire employees for a range of seasonal opportunities. For several years, Coyne PR has helped support this announcement by generating nationwide awareness for job opportunities across its family of brands (e.g., Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta), as well as select distribution and customer contact centers across the United States. Through an annual nationwide media relations campaign, the Coyne PR team has secured millions of impressions in support of Gap Inc.’s holiday hiring initiative. Additionally, Gap Inc. has noted that significant traffic was seen at each of the stores as a result of outreach.

Old Navy

In addition to supporting new store openings, Old Navy often turns to Coyne PR to support special in-store events. Coyne PR was tasked with supporting a “Shop with a Cop” event at an Old Navy store in Providence, RI which provided disadvantaged children the chance to shop with local officers to brighten their holidays. To support the event, Coyne PR conducted targeted outreach to local newspapers and TV stations. As a result, Coyne secured coverage for the “Shop with a Cop” event in The Providence Journal and with all of the local Providence affiliates (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX).

The Container Store

The Container Store, the nation’s leading storage and organization products retailer, turned to Coyne PR to support its national holiday outreach to announce and celebrate the opening of several new locations.

Coyne PR developed a multi-faceted campaign that included identifying and partnering with a local non-profit in each market and area businesses, conducting extensive outreach, working with local vendors to throw an upscale preview party prior to the launches, and providing extensive logistical and media support for the Grand Opening celebrations.

David’s Bridal

With more than 300 stores and 60 years of experience dressing women for all of life’s special occasions, David’s Bridal is built on the ideal that every woman deserves to have the wedding dress of her dreams regardless of her style preference, shape, size or budget.

Coyne PR’s curated events and targeted media outreach for David’s Bridal has helped reinforce the brand as an industry leader and position it as the go-to resource for the bride and her entire bridal party. Coyne PR capitalized on Bridal Market Week as an opportunity to reach national bridal and fashion media with an editorialized selection beyond what they expected – taking the David’s Bridal Preview to new heights in showcasing special occasion, accessories and all designer collections for the first time ever.

Timberland

The start of a busy fall season shone the spotlight on Timberland, as the brand looked to Coyne PR as its Agency of Record to help drive foot traffic and media and consumer interest around the much-lauded opening of its new Fifth Avenue store, and a week of branded events. Kicking off the festivities with an activation deploying a 14-foot Timberland Boot replica, plus an urban sustainability event, the brand urgently sought to generate buzz and up the focus on its new vision. Coyne PR worked with Timberland to elevate brand perception and raise awareness surrounding its full range of products beyond the Premium 6-Inch Boots, centered around the new store and the brand’s continued sustainability efforts.

Jo-Ann Stores

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, the nation’s leading fabric and craft specialty retailer, enlisted the help of Coyne PR to generate awareness for two major company initiatives that were taking place within days of one another - the acquisition of Creativebug, a leading content provider of arts and crafts educational videos along with the introduction of an exclusive home décor fabric collection in partnership with ED Ellen DeGeneres.

Coyne PR developed a comprehensive media outreach campaign targeting both trade and consumer media nationwide. Within the same week, Coyne PR seamlessly executed a number of tactical initiatives including wire release distribution and dedicated nationwide media outreach with a focus on key outlets covering crafting, home decor, entertainment, business and more.

In total, Coyne PR generated over 200 million media impressions for the announcements, helping to further advance Jo-Ann Stores as a leader in the fabric and craft retail industry. Coverage was highlighted by a feature story in the company’s hometown paper – The Plain Dealer – which included details of the announcements along with quotes from Jo Ann Stores CEO & President, Jill Soltau. Additional coverage was secured on major websites including Fortune.com, Crain’s Cleveland Business, Cleveland.com, The Times-Picayune, The CourierJournal, Austin American-Statesman and more.

Toys“R”Us

With competition between the big box stores and specialty retailers at an all-time high and toy sales declining, Toys“R”Us turned to Coyne PR to help further its position as the top toy retailer with consumers by reinforcing its leadership in the marketplace and communicating the key message that the retailer offers the broadest selection of toys to fit any budget.

Coyne PR consistently supported multiple high-profile initiatives throughout a five-week holiday season, including the company’s partnership with the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, Black Friday and the retailer’s extended holiday hours. These programs were executed throughout the sales periods to help drive national and local market media coverage targeting consumer media outlets in top markets around the country and included booking in-store broadcast and print interviews with members of the Toys“R”Us team and the Marines. From Black Friday to the day before Christmas, media were given both exclusive, first look and behind-the-scenes access as well as the opportunity to capture the excitement of customers visiting local Toys“R”Us along with footage/photos of the crowds of shoppers and information on the hottest toys of the holiday season.

Boll & Branch

Luxury bedding company Boll & Branch tasked Coyne PR with boosting its visibility and launching a new mattress, securing its position as a steadfast leader in the bedding category.

Coyne PR worked to amplify the brand’s reach, driving new awareness, and telling the world about co-founders Scott and Missy Tannen’s expertise in the category. The mattress was debuted with a two-day event at a premium branded studio space, where editors met with Boll & Branch executives and brand ambassador Dr. Michael Breus (“The Sleep Doctor”). Editors tried out the new mattress and underwent a custom sleep diagnosis from Dr. Breus, learning all about how Boll & Branch makes the world’s best new mattress.

Coyne PR also led the charge to spread the word about the launch of the new Boll & Branch Flagship Store at the marquee Mall at Short Hills. To drive buzz around the opening, Coyne PR helped to plan the opening party and tailored a media and influencer outreach strategy to deliver immediate social media impressions and on-site local and regional coverage, in addition to follow-up stories in national outlets like the Associated Press and Good Housekeeping.

Solstice

Solstice Sunglass Boutiques needed to generate local market consumer excitement for its grand openings across the country and position the boutique as the leading designer eyewear retailer. Coyne PR immersed itself in the sunglass business to determine what set Solstice apart from its competition. We identified two specific aspects of the business as major points of difference that added both credibility and substance to its position as the category leader. The first was Solstice’s exclusive and unique “open sell” retail format – allowing consumers to browse and try on the many styles from each designer. The second was its fashion-forward and knowledgeable sales force. Coyne PR used these two assets to pitch the new locations in tandem with a story about the trends around eyewear. The team positioned Solstice executives and local store managers as trend experts and “Shade Consultants to the Stars,” packaging the hippest trends in eyewear along with our brand’s top celebrity style picks for the season. The result was a wealth of story angles for local market openings, including in-studio broadcast segments and in-store print and broadcast media opportunities, as well as national stories around the Solstice seasonal trends in eyewear. Each of Solstice’s store openings generated numerous local, broadcast and print stories and national media coverage remained consistent throughout the year, including appearances on E! Entertainment Television.

Lane Bryant

With dozens of beauty brands putting inclusivity at the forefront of innovation, many American fashion brands are still behind the times and lacking diversity when it comes to size, shape, tones, etc. As an established leader in inclusive fashion, Lane Bryant became – once again – a pioneer in the fashion space as the first major retailer in North America to roll out a set of revolutionary mannequins featuring a variety of skin tones, reflective of the brand’s ethnically diverse consumer base. To support Lane Bryant’s diverse mannequin program, Coyne PR conducted targeted media outreach to top business, trade and fashion outlets. Through wide pitching efforts, the team coordinated placements on sites like People, Good Morning America, Forbes, HelloBeautiful and Chain Store Age – positioning the brand as a trailblazer in the retail industry.

Cacique

Intimate apparel brand Cacique is an inclusive, body-positive brand that features both plus-size and straight-size lingerie, swim and loungewear. Coyne PR’s role is to help the brand spread its message of self-love, inclusivity and femininity by celebrating its mantra for the Love of Curves and its beautifully designed and impeccably crafted offerings and seasonal collections. While Cacique had traditionally focused on plus-size lingerie, the brand announced a size expansion allowing women of all sizes to have the opportunity to experience the flawless fit and beautiful design that is offered throughout its assortment.

Cacique now offers bras in band sizes 32-50 and cup sizes A-K. Panties, as well as sleep & loungewear, are available in sizes 0-28, and Coyne PR shared the news of the size expansion far and wide. To celebrate Cacique’s newly expanded sizing and continued inclusivity message, Coyne PR invited top-tier media, celebs and influencers to the brand’s unexpected pop-up booth at BeautyCon in NYC. Offering bra fitting & panty embroidery, as the standalone fashion offering at an iconic industry beauty event, Cacique was able to build buzz as a brand that makes consumers not only look good but feel beautiful.

ShopRite

Coyne PR was challenged to raise awareness among ShopRite customers about the organization’s charitable division, ShopRite Partners in Caring – a year-round, community-based, hunger-fighting initiative that works with more than 70 food industry manufacturers to provide donations to charitable agencies in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

Through a partnership between ShopRite and Kraft, Coyne PR helped coordinate and promote the New York Jets Taste of the NFL and the Taste of the Giants food tasting fundraisers to benefit ShopRite Partners In Caring. The team created an essay contest that encouraged local ShopRite shoppers to nominate a hunger-fighting hero in their community to be featured on a limited edition Cheerios box. Coyne PR also teamed with Proctor & Gamble to promote the limited edition Pringle’s cans, the team coordinated “Stack Up For Hunger,” an event coinciding with the sale of the limited edition Pringle Prints, where Professional Cup Stackers spent the day in Philadelphia teaching young children how to stack cups.

Coyne PR’s efforts have been worth checking out – a poll boasted that 36 percent of consumers were aware of ShopRite Partners in Caring, which is up 10 percent in the past three years.

Ollie’s

Ollie’s, America’s largest retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory, has tasked Coyne PR with helping celebrate its 40th Anniversary. The team kicked off the year-long campaign with a national contest to find “America’s Biggest Cheapskate.”

More than 6,000 self-proclaimed cheapskates entered the contest, sharing their money-saving hacks. The winner was crowned during an in-person event at an Ollie’s store to coincide with National Bargain Hunting Week. The multi-tier media approach led by the Coyne PR team included support across the contest announcement, top ten finalists’ announcement and grand prize winner announcement, in addition to a survey that delved into how far the average person will go to get a great deal. This generated hundreds of millions of impressions and even more in consumer goodwill!

To continue the celebration, the Coyne team helped Ollie’s break the Guinness World Record™ for the Largest Bobblehead. Standing 16 feet 6.73 inches tall, the fully functioning bobblehead is an oversized replica of a bobblehead of Ollie himself, the company’s beloved mascot. The record-breaking event occurred at Ollie’s flagship store in Harrisburg, PA. In addition to being covered by all local TV affiliates, national pitching efforts and a b-roll package resulted in thousands of placements and nearly a billion media impressions.

Gander Mountain

Collaborating closely with internal stakeholders, Coyne PR created and implemented a comprehensive yearlong communications program to raise Gander Mountain’s profile during relevant times of the year and build strong relationships with traditional outdoor media along with key influencers. Coyne PR targeted a strong mix of both national and local media outlets, leveraging key brand experts and new product offerings during key seasonal triggers to generate coverage and conversation. To complement these efforts, the Coyne PR team targeted impactful online influencers and developed customized programs with each to create Gander brand buzz within their communities. A yearlong grand opening and grand re-opening activation schedule across the country was supported with comprehensive outreach efforts that helped drive excitement and store traffic. A focused hometown campaign complemented the consumer outreach efforts by generating positive business exposure for the company.

Hard Rock Rock Shops

Throughout a longstanding partnership with Hard Rock International, Coyne PR helped to promote Hard Rock’s Rock Shops, complete with music-inspired apparel and charity-driven fashion collaborations with some of the biggest names in entertainment. Coyne PR worked to raise awareness for Hard Rock philanthropic endeavors and supporting merchandise by leveraging artist partnerships, maximizing their time and engagement with media and influencers. Celebrating a decade dedicated to supporting breast cancer research and awareness, Hard Rock International challenged Coyne PR with finding a way to make noise for the brand’s PINKTOBER™ program, which included a series of live music and fundraising events at Hard Rock establishments around the globe and limited-edition merchandise designed to raise awareness and funds for the cause. The answer – a global launch unlike any other. Featuring “artist ambassador” Melissa Etheridge (breast cancer survivor, Oscar® and two-time GRAMMY® winner and multiplatinum recording artist), the launch incorporated a three-day series of interviews and performance-based events that literally took flight! Designed to empower women and survivors, the launch included a concert at Hard Rock Cafe New York, after which Melissa Etheridge boarded a pink plane and performed for breast cancer survivors, fans and media.

Naturalizer

Naturalizer, a brand that bridges the gap between comfort and style, came to Coyne PR to position its shoes as must-haves for women who want and need both attributes in their footwear. Originally thought of as a brand for an older demographic, Naturalizer’s newest collection featured on-trend, editorial-esque styles that most definitely didn’t sacrifice the trademark comfort they were known for. The Coyne PR team utilized these two features as the base of a strategic activation plan, inviting media through both traditional and social platforms to engage with Naturalizer in fresh and exciting ways. As Naturalizer’s fashion Agency of Record, the team conducted seasonal outreach for both its spring and fall collections. This included media and in-store events and executions, FFANY appointments, sponsorships and consumer advertising campaign support, as well as showcasing the brand’s newest styles.

Why Coyne? Why Coyne? Why Coyne? Why Coyne?

Why Coyne?

Creativity: As Creative Agency of the Year, we think of ideas others don’t.

Service: Clients come to us for our results, but they stay for our client service.

Strategy: Our plans are built on strategic insights that deliver real business results.

Experience: Our experienced teams have an unmatched depth of industry knowledge.

Integration: A true full-service agency, we take an integrated channel-agnostic approach.

Leadership: Senior involvement provides day-to-day access to strategic counsel.

Teamwork: With one profit center, you hire a team, but you get the whole agency.

Continuity: With the industry’s highest retention rate – you keep the team you love.