Yes, And: Improv Skills for Business

Hi everyone,

You may already be familiar with the “Yes, and…” rule-of-thumb employed in improvisational comedy, but even if you are, here’s a refresher:

An improviser should accept what another improviser has stated (“yes”) and then expand on that line of thinking (“and”). Say you’re in a sketch and the actor beside you hurls out something unexpected — you tee up a great punchline about apples, but they run away with a bit about oranges. It wasn’t what you anticipated, but it kills.

The same is true in PR: Adopting a “Yes, and…” mindset doesn’t just help solve roadblocks. It also improves the effectiveness of the brainstorming process, fosters effective communication, and encourages the free sharing of ideas. PR is all about those things, right? So next time you’re staring down a hurdle with a publicist or editor or client, give the “Yes, and…” strategy a try. Build on what you have, and it could lead to something really great — just take a look at how nonobvious storytelling pays off. For today’s issue of “Office Hours,” we’re highlighting a selection of recent stories that did just that.

As always, if you’d like to learn more, or have any questions we can help answer in our next installment, drop us a line at officehours@jbc-pr.com.

Thanks so much for being here.

‘Til next month!

Jenny & Melissa

Parachute x “How I Built This”

How I Built This Podcast With Guy Raz featuring Parachute: Ariel Kaye

More than 10 years ago, Ariel Kaye started selling a small assortment of premium linens online — with a big vision to take over the home-essentials category. Fast forward to today, and Parachute is one of the most beloved names in its industry, raising the bar for quality goods, ethical manufacturing, and a timeless, distinctly California aesthetic. Since day one of our partnership (nearly 10 years ago now!), we’ve had a shared “dream win”: to tell the Parachute story on “How I Built This With Guy Raz.” We’re grateful today to say we never gave up that dream.

Rally x Inc. #### How two female founders raised $15M for their pickleball club despite a frosty funding climate

We’ve worked on dozens of fundraise announcements in our decade in business — but we never cease to be amazed by our clients’ abilities to pitch their dreams to the country’s most powerful (and sometimes, most intimidating) investors. When we learned that Rally co-founders Barrett Worthington and Meg Charity, two first-time founders, raised $15M in angel investment to bring their modern social club to life, we knew this wouldn’t be just another announcement. There was a story to tell that demonstrated the incredible determination, brilliance, and success of these two women in what is one of the most challenging fundraising climates in our years in business — and Inc. ‘s Ali Donaldson was the perfect person to do it.

Being Health x Axios

Being Health seeds $5.4M to open doors to private practice

In January, Being Health came to market in New York City, providing the best of psychiatry, psychotherapy, innovative treatments (including ketamine infusion therapy), functional medicine, and wellness services (like acupuncture and nutrition) to help people improve their everyday state of being. By leveraging the timeliness of the clinic’s novel offerings — ketamine infusion therapy — and its expert-led practice model by psychiatrist Dr. Allie Sharma, this launch story showcased how Being Health’s integrated approach is set to help patients feel and function at a higher quality.

OLIPOP x TechCrunch “Found”

Where gut health meets hypergrowth with Ben Goodwin from Olipop

Historically a podcast that focuses on tech-heavy entrepreneurship, the show has shown a recent shift to a more consumer lens. JBC noticed this immediately and got on a call with the producer to discuss how best JBC clients can join in on the conversation going forward. Leveraging the power of a roster from which journalists can easily pull multiple sources, JBC was able to secure additional interest and episodes on Magic Spoon, The Honey Pot Company, The Skimm, and Parachute (to come), in addition to OLIPOP.

Dermalogica xInStyle

Tina Fey’s makeup artist says this serum is the key to her “firm, plump, and bright” complexion

Tasked with securing a feature around the brand’s most recent innovation launch (and coupled with utilizing a last-minute celebrity MUA partnership secured with Tina Fey as a part of her “Mean Girls 2” premiere), JBC worked with InStyle to land a headline that pulled from the product’s key messages with the words “Firm, Plump, and Bright” in the headline. This piece took two months of nurturing to come to fruition, with a launch event invitation extended in November, samples sent in December, and the news of the MUA partnership finally sealing the deal in January.

Filson x Inc. #### Even if a Super Bowl commercial is too pricey, brands should still consider TV ads

It’s no secret that advertising during the Super Bowl comes with a hefty price tag: $7 million to air a 30-second ad, to be exact. While JBC didn’t have any clients who were planning to advertise this year, we realized it could be an interesting marketing story to talk about other ways that brands can find success from an advertising POV without a Super Bowl budget. JBC was able to secure quick interest in the idea with a reporter at Inc. centered around American heritage brand Filson’s TV strategy of placing ads next to episodes of “Yellowstone” and Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime, which has helped boost the brand’s bottom line and web visitors over the past few years.