TFB 031: How a healthy chewing gum startup got their teeth into PR

On today’s show, we have heaps of brilliant business tips for you to ‘chew over’. We’re chatting with Peppersmith, a confectionary brand but with a difference - they make natural and healthy confectionery, mints and gum that are actually good for your teeth! Using the magic ingredient of Xylitol which remarkably cleans your teeth as you chew. The multimillion-pound confectionary market is a tough nut to crack, it’s hard enough if you are just launching a conventional product. But what about if you are completely revolutionizing the market – how do you get consumers to change a lifetime view that sweets = sugar? I wanted to know the secret to Peppersmith’s success so I chatted with the founder, Mike Stevens, about all things disruption.Listen up for some great advice on how to differentiate your brand in an established market and how to get a serious message across but still stay fun and live your values of an innovative startup. It’s all about education, taking your customer on a learning journey whilst keeping them engaged. It’s not easy, sharing knowledge and changing behaviour never is, but Mike shares some gems of wisdom from what he has learnt with Peppersmith.One key point is that timing is critical to this brand’s success story, they had some unexpected PR wins, huge results in fact, but by their own admission they weren’t quite ready for it. So when is the best time to do PR, when do you want to be featured in the media? Listen to this week’s episode to hear Mike’s take on how to capitalise on PR and use it to catapult your business forward.