Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Claire Bamundo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Claire, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I’m always trying to figure out how to get the absolute most for my clients-whether in the PR vertical of my business, or the management side, and with an ever-changing media and social media landscape, it’s rarely easy. When I’m hitting a stone wall and I can’t figure out why I’m not getting the results I had hoped for (or expected to receive!) it’s really the break-through moment. I have to take a completely new approach and that can mean changing my pitch entirely or trying a new set of contacts (often that I have to mine LinkedIn to find!). I keep in touch with many industry leaders as well as former colleagues and will trouble shoot the problem with anyone who will listen! Insight will come from all directions-most often, its actually not the person directly related to the field I’m working in (ie food PR) that will help me to completely rebuild my campaign strategy and turn it on it’s head. I find when I’m literally stalled with no gas in the tank in the tank is when the biggest break happens, and it usually keeps climbing up from there. To come full circle, I think it takes a village to be successful: having a lot of conversations, looking at something-a campaign, ideal, headline, you name it- with competing perspectives, and most of all-asking what you don’t know! I have been in the industry for over 20 years and there is so much more I need to learn.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

After almost 20 years in the publishing industry and heading up the publicity department for ABRAMS in NYC, Claire Bamundo saw an opportunity to do more than traditional book publicity. She saw the changing landscape of how brand partners interacted with emerging talent on social media and decided that “creative marketing” was the way of the future. She founded Greenspan Creative Marketing which started out a public relations & marketing firm based in Fairfield County, CT and has expanded to managing prominent social media personalities. GCM specializes in lifestyle publicity with a focus on food and influencer campaigns, leveraging industry related experience and longterm relationships to strategically manage book launches, events, social media and media planning and lucrative brand deals and partnerships.

GCM’s model is centered around cultivating relationships. Every campaign is personal. We have a passion for the industry and our enthusiasm for our clients that is unparalleled. GCM has secured numerous New York Times Bestselling books for clients that include: The Home Edit, Half Baked Harvest, The Defined Dish and Rachael’s Good Eats.

We focus on the following tent poles:

● Brand Strategy

● Media Relations

● Strategic Launch Planning

● Event Management and Execution

● Print publicity

● National Television interviews

● Podcast and traditional radio interviews

● Brand deals

● Influencer campaigns

● Social Media and Digital Marketing Consulting

● Creative Consulting

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Instagram has been an incredible tool for my business. I often hear from clients that beyond the initial word of mouth, most will scroll my IG and become convinced that I am the right person to represent them. Mostly, they have come to this conclusion because I post about my clients and share the publicity and events that I have curated for them. If they like what they see, often they are interested in hiring me to product similar results. When it comes to book campaigns, most often that pertains to hitting the the New York Times Bestsellers list!

The other side of IG is the authentic person they encounter when on my Instagram. If they appreciate and connect with my sometimes quirky personality, I know that we will hit it off! I inadvertently curated an engaged following when I was mimicking (my client at the time) Molly Sim’s workouts. I thought I was doing a pretty good job, following her moves and posting my own videos on my account when I noticed people thought I looked completely hilarious and doing a spoof! It was definitely a if you can’t beat em’ join em’ moment and I happily doubled down on “Workout Wednesday” content for years!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

No surprise that the pandemic altered our business in a way that will never recover. I had always operated on creative marketing-pr hybrid approach for events but found that not being able to do anything in person made things very difficult. I ended up using the tools that were available and led to new mediums still used today. For example, we launched an extremely well-produced live book event in the middle of the pandemic for Lauryn Bossitck who founded The Skinny Confidential. This event took place outside with an enthusiastic crowd who were able to engage in the program (alongside our happy hour with Bossa nova tracks!) and interact with their favorite social media personality. Meanwhile, a vast at-home audience bought tickets to the live stream with signed copies, purchased through a prominent bookstore. We had professional videographers capturing the cocktail hour as well as the moderated book talk which made everyone feel like they were there. The format was very successful.

Leaning on our team’s expertise within the Influencer, Brand Management, Public Relations, and Legal realms, we utilize our knowledge and network to match creators with seasoned management who compliment their goals, strengths, and needs. Paying careful attention to ensure each match is both a business and personality fit, our comprehensive approach leads to a partnership that allows both creators and managers to flourish.  A beautifully simple approach for managers in search of autonomy and influencers looking for more tailored business development than offered by a traditional management model. Our team can be reached at [email protected].

Contact Info:

• Website: https://greenspanmktg.com/
• Instagram: @clairebamundo
• Facebook: Claire Bamundo
• Linkedin: Claire Bamundo