Why Some PR Kits Work, and Others Don’t (My Perspective)

First, I want to be clear, this is just my personal opinion. I’m not claiming to be an expert in social reach or online engagement. But we produce a lot of boxes, we see a lot, and over time you start to notice what gets traction and what doesn’t.

Years ago, sending a typical mailer, a corrugated box with printing, crinkle paper, and product inside, was enough to surprise and delight people. It felt special. Today, I personally don’t believe that kind of standard mailer gets much attention or social sharing. Plain and simple, there’s nothing unexpected about it anymore. It’s standard. It’s what people expect.

Now, strategy matters. If your goal is simply to inform people about a product and it’s a bonus if someone shares it, then a standard mailer can absolutely make sense. But if your goal is to get people to post, share, and talk about it, then the packaging itself often becomes the driver. It has to surprise them, catch them off guard, feel cool, and give them a reason to share because they haven’t seen anything like it before.

This is where I think brands sometimes go wrong. They may be clear on their objective, but they spend money in the wrong places or underestimate the importance of investing in a standout kit. They try to do it for less, then expect big results, and when it doesn’t perform the way they hoped, they start questioning whether PR kits or influencer mailers really work.

The reality is, PR kits are expensive to produce, I won’t deny that. But so is everything else. Producing a 30-second commercial is expensive. Running direct mail campaigns is expensive. And attention spans today are shorter than ever, so no matter what medium you use, you should realistically expect lower engagement than in the past. Trying to go viral is like winning the lottery.

I was thinking about this recently while watching a documentary with my husband about hockey. They were showing footage from the early 70s, and television was this incredible thing. People gathered together to watch. Entire rooms and bars would stop for a broadcast. Naturally, brands wanted to advertise because everyone’s attention was focused in one place.

Today, we’re all connected, but we’re also incredibly distracted. There’s very little that truly captures attention anymore.

I do think there are still great ways to drive ROI, but it requires being clever, being unexpected, and being realistic. Sometimes that means investing more in fewer, highly curated kits instead of sending something basic to a large list. Other times, it means leaning into volume and keeping the packaging simple because reach is the strategy.

When I say clever, I mean ideas that make people pause. Something playful, unexpected, or memorable. Not necessarily expensive, but thoughtful.

I also think there’s an interesting future intersection between PR kits and AI. I’m still exploring what that looks like in a meaningful way, because I believe that’s where things are heading, even if the technology isn’t fully there yet for physical mailers.

And one thing I believe strongly: as disconnected as people feel today, there is still something powerful about receiving something tangible. A physical object. Something you can hold. That experience still matters, and I think it always will.

At the end of the day, marketing isn’t one-and-done. It’s consistency, creativity, and patience. And sometimes, it’s just continuing to show up until something clicks.