“Photographer and writer Hugo Huerta Marin shares portraits of some of the world’s most inspiring women and his frank conversations with them” – Harper’s Bazaar
The Brief
Midas was hired by Prestel Publishing to implement a PR Campaign for a new art book Portrait of an Artist: Conversations with Trailblazing Creative Women by Mexican artist Hugo Huerta Marin. As part of the publicity campaign, Midas pitched for book reviews, product slots, picture stories, interviews with Hugo Huerta Marin and wider features across literary, art and photography, culture, lifestyle, and fashion media. Due to the diversity of women featured in this unique book – ranging from Cate Blanchette and Fürstenberg to Annie Lenox to Tracey Emin – Midas capitalised on their varied connections across the arts, fashion and music sectors and as such pitched the book to these different sectors as well as women’s and feminist media.
The Work
Midas worked with Prestel Publishing to create a bespoke PR strategy and timeline to undertake 3-months campaign work over a 4-month period, beginning in May 2021, to secure long-lead magazine coverage in September issues. Midas worked for a month from May – June preparing all press materials for Portrait of an Artist: Conversations with Trailblazing Creative Women and engaging with long-lead media whereby we secured a fantastic piece in Harper’s Bazaar.
To secure quality media coverage, we pitched for interviews with Hugo Huerta Marin which ran in DAZED, i-D and Widewalls. However, due to the nature of the book’s content which included different interviews with famous women who we did not have interview time with, we ensured that a large part of the campaign was spent working to place exclusive quotes and photographs to create an element of exclusivity as an alternative PR hook. With this approach, Midas successfully placed quotes and diary stories in The Daily Mail (Tracey Emin), as well as Evening Standard, The Daily Record and The Daily Mirror (Annie Lenox).
Additionally, we worked to place Portrait of an Artist in product slots and book round-ups, and secured book recommendations in OK! Magazine, The Sunday Express: S Mag, Country & Townhouse and The Arts Newspaper.
The Results
Midas secured 42 pieces of coverage in total including 15 pieces of print coverage across national newspapers and magazines, and a further 19 pieces of digital coverage.
Media highlights included: The Guardian, The Art Newspaper, The Sunday Express – S Mag, OK! Magazine, The Daily Mail, Hello Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Dazed, i-D, AnOther, The Evening Standard, The Daily Mirror and Country & Townhouse.
Other coverage highlights included: Waitrose Weekend, The Herald, The Irish Daily Mirror, IMAGE, Fabric Magazine, Widewalls, Tempus Magazine, Plinth, VOIR Fashion, It’s Nice That, Art Daily and NR Magazine.
Media quotes include:
“The photographer brings us along to the homes, hotel rooms, and studios of legendary artists and creatives, where they share intimate stories of their lives and their work. The line-up of pioneering women featured in Marin’s book reads like the guestlist for the fantasy house party of your dreams” – DAZED
“Photographer and writer Hugo Huerta Marin shares portraits of some of the world’s most inspiring women and his frank conversations with them” – Harper’s Bazaar
“A new book by Hugo Huerta Marin captures the likes of Marina Abramović, Julianne Moore, Tracey Emin and the late Agnes Varda to celebrate the women who have irrevocably shaped their respective creative industries” – It’s Nice That
“Portrait of an Artist shines a light on unique individuality in the arts, adding FKA Twigs, Rei Kawakubo and French actress Isabelle Huppert to the already iconic cast. The book creates both a portrait of each individual woman and collectively a powerful portrait of the impact of women on the creative industries” – NR Magazine
