PR Is Word of Mouth at Scale: What Producing Live Events Taught Me About Choosing Partners

Ask most founders what public relations is, and they will describe press coverage. Headlines, features, a

row of outlet logos on the website. Those are the outputs. The work underneath is older and far more

human.

PR is relationship building. At its best, it is word-of-mouth marketing at scale.

Trust travels through people. A colleague recommends a practitioner. A professional association shares

an event with its members. A journalist you respect writes about a founder, and you pay attention

because that journalist earned your attention years ago. Every one of those moments is a

recommendation passed from someone trusted to someone listening. Good PR builds the relationships

that make those recommendations possible, then multiplies them.

Nowhere is this clearer than in a live event. This year my agency, Catalyst Brand Strategy, supported two

very different ones: a women's health conference in North Carolina for doulas, nurses, lactation

consultants and clinicians, and a sensory-friendly fashion and community event in Los Angeles. Both

brought together a remarkable mix of partners: speakers, sponsors, venues, creators, associations and

brands. Each partner brought their own audience and their own reputation into the room, and ours

went into theirs.

Those projects sharpened four practices I now recommend to any leader weighing a collaboration,

whether with a thought leader, an influencer or another brand.

1. Check the reputation history before the reach

Audience size tells you who a partner can reach. Values tell you whether they belong in your story.

Before any conversation about deliverables, look at what a partner has stood for, what they have

endorsed and how they behave when something goes wrong.

That standard applies to venues as much as people. For the Los Angeles event, we assessed every

shortlisted venue against the event's promise of inclusion. One looked ideal on paper and photographed

beautifully, but had stair-only access, so we chose a venue where every guest could arrive with ease.

Values alignment applies to every name on the run of show, and it is far easier to assess at the start than

to repair in public later.

2. Get it in writing, especially anything involving email lists

Warm conversations create warm expectations, and expectations that live only in memory tend to drift.

Our sensory partner for the Los Angeles event signed a memorandum of understanding that set out

scope, cost, how changes would be agreed and how their brand marks could be used. It made the

collaboration smooth and confident, because everyone knew where they stood from day one.

The best agreements answer three questions plainly: what each side delivers, who owns each step, and

by when. When those answers are on paper, partners can focus on the creative work and the goodwill

stays intact.

Be most precise about audience data. Joint activations often invite a quiet assumption that lists will be

shared. Our default is that each partner mails its own community, using copy we prepare for them, and

that attendee data stays with whoever collected it. If a list is ever to be shared, agree in writing who

owns it, what it may be used for, how people were told when they signed up and what happens to it

afterwards. People trusted a partner with their inbox. That trust is not ours to spend, and privacy rules

vary by market, so take proper advice on the specifics.

3. Request approval over assets, and honour theirs

A brand narrative is built through consistency. For the North Carolina conference, we agreed early that

our client's own event deck would be the single source of truth, so every graphic, speaker listing and

release drew from one approved version. Speakers supplied their own approved headshots, bios and

session descriptions, and we checked before using them anywhere new.

Approval runs both ways. When we co-branded gift bags with a partner, we signed off the mock-up

before anything went to print. When a production company contributed graphics, they took them to

their own partners for approval and sent back notes, which we applied. The strongest collaborations

sound like both partners at once, and that only happens when each side respects the other's voice and

guidelines.

4. Start small and build on milestones

Some of our most rewarding partnerships began with a no.

A national professional association was not in a position to sponsor the conference. We kept the

relationship warm and found a different way to work together. They shared the event with their

community, members of their leadership attended, and the footage they captured is now shaping how

we tell the event's story. Conversations about next year are now under way.

In Los Angeles, a music partner could not commit fully because they had their own fundraiser the same

day. We redesigned the ask into something light: a curated playlist, a small ticket allocation and cross-

promotion. They said yes, and gave written permission to be named in coverage.

A contained first step lets both sides prove they deliver. Each milestone met earns the next

conversation. It also means that when a partnership grows, it grows on proven ground.

Relationships are the strategy

Leaders often treat partnerships as a shortcut to reach. I see them as a leadership responsibility. Every

partner you choose speaks on your behalf to people who have never met you. The care you take in

choosing them, the clarity you bring to the terms and the patience you show in building the relationship

shape what those people will believe about you.

Word of mouth has always been the most trusted form of marketing. PR gives it scale. Partnerships,

chosen and nurtured well, give it depth. You can see more of how we approach this for health and

wellness brands at Catalyst Brand Strategy.

About the author

Katherine Tuominen is the founder of Catalyst Brand Strategy, a PR and communications agency for

impact-driven health and wellness brands, headquartered in New York with roots in Melbourne. She

began her career in entertainment and film marketing with global studios including Fox and Warner

Brothers before founding Catalyst, which operates on a one-brand-per-vertical model to protect

editorial integrity. She speaks on ethical marketing and credibility-led growth. Connect with her on LinkedIn.