MILAN — The Milan-based ES_PR firm helmed by fashion communication veteran Emanuela Schmeidler is bolstering its consultancy and strategic activities via new hires aimed at providing all-encompassing services.
“The goal is to put in place an infrastructure that provides 360-degree services to our clients, to flank existing activities with new opportunities,” Schmeidler said.
“I want us to be ready for change, and shifting communications approaches,” she said. “We’re rounding off our offering to avoid fragmentation, so that clients know they can have a single go-to agency for all their communications needs. I feel ready to grow and maintain the same standards [across new ventures], especially because I believe storytelling is essential across all segments today.”
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Established in 1999, ES_PR is beefing up its talent and celebrity relations division, onboarding a new manager, Ludovica Tiso, to the team. She recently held a similar position at fashion e-tailer Mytheresa.
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Additionally, the PR firm is expanding its clienteling department and VIC experiences division by promoting Verde Castelbarco to head of the business unit. Castelbarco joined ES_PR in 2024 and previously worked at live entertainment group Balich Wonder Studio.
“I believe consumers are the new brand ambassadors…it’s a great component of brands’ amplification strategies,” Schmeidler said, explaining the rationale for investments in the clienteling department. “It’s becoming a separate entity from the event division, with a focus on database, client experiences and client networking, locally and internationally.”
The promotion of Laura Lombardo, a long-standing member of the team, to the role of chief creative is seen driving the agency’s consistent creative direction approach amid the evolution and growth of its scope.
“There are two kinds of communication challenges today. On one hand, adapting storytelling to always reflect the brand’s soul, even through changes in creative leadership. The second is fostering brand loyalty, which today is increasingly difficult because there are so many more brands and so much more on offer,” Schmeidler said.
After beginning her career as head of PR at the side of the late Gianni Versace and spending 15 years at the Italian brand as Versace group PR and communications director, Schmeidler moved on to Condé Nast Publications, opening the PR and special events division for Vogue Italia and working alongside late editor in chief Franca Sozzani on the magazine’s branding, events and PR activities.
In 1999 she established ES_PR, which currently counts clients across fashion, design, food and beverage and lifestyle, such as Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Starbucks, Bulgari, Schiaparelli, Roger Vivier, Valentino and Ca’ del Bosco, among others.