Magnolia Public Relations

Magnolia Public Relations is a boutique firm which focuses on beauty and fashion lifestyle. Launched in late 2006, Magnolia PR was conceived as a way to connect brands with their desired media for optimal exposure; from small start-up companies to established brands, its clients receive personal, focused attention on their specific needs. The firm is based in Burbank, California, and its profile is also carried in the Los Angeles fashion public relations directory.

Illustrative image created for this guide — an artistic impression, not this firm’s own work.

Company Profile

Owner Adrienne Dorsey has extensive experience in public relations coupled with a strong background in writing and business. She received her B.A. in Writing and Literature from George Fox University and an MBA from Woodbury University while working for a Los Angeles-based PR firm. As that firm's senior account manager, Adrienne secured placements in top media including Lucky, InStyle, People, Nylon, Paper, ElleGirl, Seventeen, InTouch Weekly and Star. She also planned and secured sponsors for numerous events, including the Rampage Stores re-launch, L.A. fashion week suites, and the successful Spa Boutique for a Cure, which raised over $5,000 for breast and ovarian cancer research.

After seeing the need for a personalised, precise approach to public relations, Adrienne created Magnolia PR. By carefully selecting clients and offering individualised PR packages, the firm set out to take brands to the next level from a base in Burbank — the media capital of the world, as the firm cheerfully puts it. Services include public relations, brand and image consulting, marketing, and event planning. Two examples of the firm's client work as published on Apparel Search are linked below: the Magnolia PR updated client list for spring 2009, and the RomeoShops.com holiday gift article from 2006.

For more information, contact Adrienne Dorsey at Magnolia Public Relations — phone 323.878.6726, or by e-mail at the address in the references below. Company details such as leadership, services and contact information can change; the firm's official website carries the most current information.

The Boutique Model

Magnolia PR is a clear example of the boutique model in fashion public relations: a founder whose own media relationships are the product, a deliberately small client list, and services bundled around the client rather than sold from a rate card. Dorsey's background explains the shape of the firm — a writing degree behind the press materials, an MBA behind the business counsel, and senior account experience behind the placements in national magazines. For a start-up brand, that combination answers the three questions it actually has: how do we look, how do we get covered, and how do we afford it. For an established brand, the appeal is the inverse of a large agency's: the person pitched in the meeting is the person doing the work.

The firm's published client work shows the model in action: a seasonal client list issued as news in its own right, and a retail client's holiday story placed as a consumer article — small, well-aimed stories rather than broad announcements, matched to the size of the brands being represented.

It is a model that has kept the firm in demand.