ASK US ANYTHING
What services do you offer?
We offer the complete communications suite of services, from one-day strategy sessions to multi-year integrated campaigns and everything in between.
Why should I choose Side Dish Communications?
Choose us for our strategic approach, expert team, and commitment to delivering exceptional results. Plus, with senior counsel working alongside you, you will get excellent "bang for your buck."
What is your area of specialty?
We thrive when we can work with clients who improve our planet and its tenants. We really enjoy working in the food and beverage, hospitality, and health and wellness verticals, but we don't limit ourselves.
What types of brands do you love working with the most?
Bring on the mission-driven and purpose-based brands! While we have experience across all sorts of verticals, we are working to narrow our focus to working with primarily food, beverage, and health and wellness brands.
What's your general working model?
With deep roots in storytelling, we take a bespoke approach to crafting and spotlighting narratives that set our brand partners apart from the rest. From broad brushstrokes to finite details, start-ups to legacy brands, single scrappy projects to long-term campaigns, we dive in when and where our clients need us.
What do clients appreciate about you?
Known for our high care quotient, discerning ear, appreciation for authenticity, and thoughtful integrity, we cultivate and maintain trusted partnerships with our clients. We pride ourselves on being transparent instead of promising unrealistic outcomes, and clients have told us they appreciate that authenticity.
How do you measure success?
We establish KPIs or OKRs (Objectives & Key Results) with our clients. We've found that organizing metrics around 3 simple questions can make a big difference:
-What did people see? (impressions)
-What did people say? (engagements)
-What did people do? (conversions)
Do you take on emerging brands or brands that are yet to launch?
Absolutely! We relish in such work and love helping new brands succeed. Having worked for Fortune 100 brands and start-ups, we have the experience to help new brands launch and break through.
How many times have you heard "you are not like other agencies?"
Frequently. We think you will learn pretty quickly that we are different. We've combined the best practices from our agency days with the ones we learned from our decades of working on the client side.
Do you come in house "on loan" in the role of an internal communications person?
Absolutely. Our clients trust us to do just that. We embrace today's trend of companies bringing on fractional professionals as they get established. Think of us as an extension of your team—without all of the overhead—that can "snap in" to work alongside you to deliver the results that matter.
Do you work with or partner with other agencies?
Totally. Just like we can be an extension of our clients' teams, we can also snap in and partner with other agencies who need our expertise. We currently work with our friends at APC Collective and with ad agencies that need PR and comms for their clients.
Do you respond to Requests for Proposals (RFPs)?
Rarely. We offer extreme value to our clients at much lower rates than top-tier agencies. Instead of charging exorbitant rates to cushion for non-billable work -including the many hours it takes to present our ideas for free via a response to an RFP- we prefer working with our clients as partners to deliver realistic plans. That's true win-win partnership.
How much do you charge?
Our "sweet spot" for success is when we have appropriate time to create a strategy and implement a steady drumbeat of programmatic work to deliver measurable results. That's why we've set a $10,000 monthly minimum. Depending on the opportunity, we can also work on a project basis if we determine that we can genuinely add value in the short term.
What excites you outside of work?
We all love the joy of cooking, seeing the world through the lens of food, discovering new countries and cultures, being part of our communities and giving back to them in various ways, spending time in nature, having quality time with our pets, and enjoying intentional time with loved ones.
Why the name Side Dish?
We wanted a food-focused name as food PR is our top specialty area. We closely connect with our clients as extensions of their teams, so we think the name evokes that. Our clients are the stars of the plate, and we are here to complement their efforts and ensure they shine. Much like scrumptious side dishes complement mains, we can help take marketing and communications for our brand partners from good to great.