Yesterday, Spool's own Katie (Trotsky) Kierna joined several other industry leaders in sharing top tips and insights on how to make an impact for your F&B brands as part of PRSA Chicago's "Hungry for Headlines? Breaking Through Food Media" panel discussion. Like many of our Spoolers, Katie is a seasoned pro when it comes to understanding what it takes to cut through the clutter for her clients -- and she has the stories to prove it (many of which were shared in the room last night)! Thanks to the PRSA Chicago team for putting together such a fabulous evening of learning and networking (and pizza!).
Spool
Public Relations and Communications Services
Chicago, Illinois 1,183 followers
A unique approach to marketing through the lens of equity, partnership and hustle.
About us
Spool was founded in 2018 with the understanding that the world doesn't need another agency, but perhaps it could use a new type of agency. From day one, Spool set out to be different from every other place many of our people came from and all these years later, we're proud of how we have upheld that at every step. Since its founding, Spool has been named the fastest-growing agency in the world (yes, we were surprised, too!), disruptive agency of the year, innovator of the year, agency of the year and while we are a humble midwest-born-and-raised shop, it says something that the industry has taken note, doesn't it? Perhaps it's because we work with our clients in a radically transparent, unique way that is anchored by mutual respect, shared vision and understanding of what success looks like and Spool's promise to always be agile, curious and impactful (which are a few of Spool's core values, look at that!) with al we do. We also expect our clients to embrace a partnership mindset which means we've had to walk away from some of them over the years (breaking up is always hard) and we're okay with that. We're not for everyone, but we sure do love the company we keep who value our partnership. One of the things we are most proud of is being a people-first agency. This doesn't mean we have Spring Green for lunch everyday, but that we expect everyone at Spool to live big, full lives outside of work. In fact, it's not just something we tout, but if people are working late into the night, we consider that a red flag, not a badge of honor and we'll do what's needed to get them in a good spot to logoff and get to their improv class or kid's piano recital. Turns out, being people first isn't just good for our people, but it's also good for our clients. Everyone at Spool brings an energy, curiosity and tenacity to their work because we care and aren't burnt out. Win win! Reach out if you'd like to work at or with Spool: outreach@spoolmarketing.com is a good place to start.
- Website
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http://www.spoolmarketing.com
External link for Spool
- Industry
- Public Relations and Communications Services
- Company size
- 11-50 employees
- Headquarters
- Chicago, Illinois
- Type
- Privately Held
- Founded
- 2018
- Specialties
- Public Relations, Brand Marketing, Digital Marketing, Corporate Reputation, Content Creation, Strategy, Creative, Advertising, and Influencer Engagement
Locations
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Primary
500 W Madison St
Chicago, Illinois 60661, US
Employees at Spool
Updates
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We met some of our fellow 205 W. Wacker tenants this week, and let's just say it was a bee-yond cool experience. Our building rooftop is home to a colony of 18,000 honeybees all working to protect their queen. We learned about broods, drones, and bee birthdays -- plus we got to taste honey straight from the frame! Huge shout-out to Grace Hart at Alvéole for answering our *many* bee questions (and another shout-out to the Spoolers who weren't afraid to get up close and personal with our new building BeeFF's)!
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It's officially summertime here in Chicago, and you know what that means... Yes, it's getting hot and sticky on the 'L' during our morning commute -- but it also means that Spool's summer intern program is in full swing! We could not be more excited to welcome Parker Rhodes & Liam Maves to the Spool team 👏 A recent University of South Carolina grad, Parker comes to us with experience in advertising and marketing strategy, AI marketing strategy, and PR - a jack of all trades! She will be supporting several of our PR clients, and has already made an impact with her research, writing and pitching skills. Liam, a current senior studying advertising and film at DePaul, will be finishing up his degree this upcoming fall and is excited to put his creative, photography, and videography skills to work. Liam will be working alongside our creative team, and we've been wowed out of the gate with his design skills. Stay tuned for more from Parker & Liam this summer!
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While the details around the swift closing of Foxtrot and Dom's Kitchen & Market continue to swirl around the news cycle, the story that’s not being told is the (much) bigger picture of the emerging brands and organizations driving Chicago’s recovering and growing natural products industry. The Spool team was fortunate enough to see proof of this up close and in person at the Naturally Chicago Locally Made Pitch Slam and Financing & Innovation conference last week -- here's what we learned from a room full of experts, investors, and entrepreneurs on the frontlines...
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Welcome (back) to team Spool, Austin McClelland! 👏 🎉 That’s right, Austin was a Spooler back in our formative years and we could not be more excited for his return. Austin re-joins us as a VP of PR & Earned Creative, dividing his time between leading client accounts as well as working alongside our VP Creative Director (the talented Colin Ofloy) as an earned creative and strategist. We knew we needed someone with deep earned and media engagement experience to work in tandem across account and creative teams so that earned engagement layer is embedded within everything the agency touches -- and we also knew there was no one better for the role than Austin!
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Yesterday, a few of our resident media relations experts attended a pitching and networking event hosted by Publicity Club of Chicago at Guaranteed Rate Field. Tommy Derken, McKenzie Jester and Steph Ford spent the afternoon connecting with fellow PR professionals and gaining valuable insights from reporters (ok, and they may have had a little fun on the field, too). Here’s what they learned: - Developing relationships with media goes far beyond sending a pitch to their crowded inbox and taking the time to build rapport is important - Highlighting the story behind the story is crucial—writers seek that emotional connection and enhanced storytelling aspect - Using keywords in subject lines such as the key topic combined with a phrase like “expert source” helps writers easily search for and find relevant emails for their stories A huge shoutout to Tweed Thornton for hosting an incredible event! 🎉 And a heartfelt thank you to all the reporters and producers who took time out of their busy schedules to share their invaluable insights! Christine Flores Ava Martin Evrod Cassimy Mike Berman
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We spent yesterday afternoon with Nallely Suárez Gass and Kevin Reilly from Drop Needle Drinks Company and a few of our favorites at WGN-TV's Spotlight Chicago sipping on our favorite new sparkling wine-based cocktails. Sarah Jindra & Ji Suk Yi couldn't pick a favorite between Modern Mimosa, California 75, and Berry Rose Sparkler -- but to be fair, neither can the Spool team! Check out the full segment here, and then go try a can (or three!) for yourself: https://lnkd.in/gEvFv_66
Sparkling-Wine-Based Canned Drinks
https://wgntv.com
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We welcomed McKenzie Jester to the Spool team last week, and to say we are excited is an understatement. McKenzie is a true media relations maven and has hit the ground running. We can't wait to see more of her creative thinking, commitment to curiosity, and positive energy! We're so glad you're here, McKenzie!
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Yesterday was a big one at Spool. While furniture was being assembled on the 7th floor of 205 W. Wacker in our new office (!) our team was preparing to host some of the best and brightest in our industry for an afternoon discussing the opportunities, pitfalls, exploration and caution of AI in the work we do. Thank you to all our panelists, to our esteemed guests Paul Holmes and Diana Marszalek from PRovoke Media and to everyone at Spool who helped make this a great, first event in our new work home on Wacker. If you missed it, Jack Hiltner wrote a great overview with key insights from the three panels which you should check out.
On April 25, we hosted our “Communicating in the Machine Learning Era” panel with PRovoke Media to discuss the impact and implications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the marketing, communications and creative industries. Featuring Paul Holmes moderating and Holly Fisher Skillin, Charlie Baldwin, Shilpa Gadhok, Justin Kaufmann, Chris Perry, Bradley Akubuiro, Colin Ofloy, Brian Cason, Alan T. Kercinik and Alan Parker. Here are the takeaways:
Communicating in the Machine Learning Era, a Panel From Spool and PRovoke Media
Spool on LinkedIn
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On April 25, we hosted our “Communicating in the Machine Learning Era” panel with PRovoke Media to discuss the impact and implications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the marketing, communications and creative industries. Featuring Paul Holmes moderating and Holly Fisher Skillin, Charlie Baldwin, Shilpa Gadhok, Justin Kaufmann, Chris Perry, Bradley Akubuiro, Colin Ofloy, Brian Cason, Alan T. Kercinik and Alan Parker. Here are the takeaways:
Communicating in the Machine Learning Era, a Panel From Spool and PRovoke Media
Spool on LinkedIn