For Kristin Moller And J/PR, Client Longevity Is A Key Objective
The Senior Vice President speaks on her role at the travel and hospitality PR firm
(J/PR Senior Vice President Kristin Moller)
Perfect For: Travel and hospitality clients looking to develop a long term public relations partnership
For Kristin Moller and the team at esteemed travel and hospitality firm J Public Relations, aka J/PR, longevity is a key objective when developing and sustaining client relationships. The agency has even retained 20 client relationships for over a decade.
“We are very proud of our client list at this point in time,” J/PR’s Senior Vice President affirms. “I mean, we've worked very hard to create long term relationships with our clients. A lot of clients that we've had, I think we have over 35 percent of our clients, have been with us for over five years. And that's a really very important milestone for us because…what that says is that we are evolving with our clients. We are a trusted partner. We are giving them constantly new ideas, fresh ideas, keeping them relevant and making an impact in their business if they are choosing to keep retaining the same agency for over five years.”
“We never want to take on a client and work with them for a year and then have them say goodbye. That's not successful for us.” - Kristin Moller
Originally intending to pursue journalism in her college years, Moller discovered public relations as a promising career path while seeking out internship opportunities. Securing an internship with a small agency that focused on travel cemented Moller’s passion for hotels and hospitality.
“I didn't grow up traveling,” she recalls. “My family didn't have the means to go on big trips and we never did that. So I didn't really know much about what (the agency was) doing, but I did know that I loved the idea of hotels. I loved the idea of it. I thought it…sounded very cool. And I was a very motivated young person. I wanted to work. I was very dedicated to any type of job that I had. So I took this internship that turned out to be a paid internship. And I was at a small boutique agency that specialized in travel and hospitality and luxury hotels. And that's where I actually met Sarah Evans, who is the partner at J/PR based in New York.”
Meeting Evans would prove fortuitous, as she and Moller would reconnect a few years down the line following Moller’s time with a few different agencies, as the SVP details.
“Sarah Evans called me back and she said, ‘you know, I'm looking to grow my team in New York. I'm now with J/PR. I've started their New York office. And would you want to come work together?’ And, at that point, I didn't want to be an agency hopper. Like that's kind of something that I…didn't really want to have that reputation. But I did know that I…could see myself working with Sarah Evans for a long time. So I said, you know what? I'm going to take this opportunity. I'm going to go work with (what was then) a smaller company. And I know I could see myself working there for a long time. So that was almost 12 years ago now.”
In her present day role as J/PR’s SVP, Moller handles crisis comms, client management, and development of creative campaigns. She also heads the agency’s Client Services Committee, bringing client support resources to J/PR’s multiple offices.
“I'm very lucky to be part of the leadership of J/PR and my job right now spans over, between account work and client services, and I do have several accounts that I oversee at the agency, but I also, in addition to working on (the agency’s Priority Status podcast), I'm part of the marketing committee. And the marketing committee obviously is concerned with the external image of the agency and what we're doing to promote that. We have our LinkedIn strategy, which I'm a part of. We obviously have our social channels and we have our social team that's developing that. But I also lead the business development for the agency. So…a lot of our new business leads, honestly, come from referrals. I mean…we're not actively out there trying to source new clients, but we are using our relationships to let people know what we're doing and let people know…what we can offer.”
The Priority Status podcast launched in 2018, with Moller stepping in as host and lead on the project in 2021. “I love talking to people. I really do find that I enjoy just learning about other people's careers and how they got started and how they work and what their job entails,” she reveals. The series also features rotating voices from across J/PR, in addition to interviews with industry experts from the worlds of hotels, hospitality, travel, luxury, and more. “We like to take a look at all of the things that relate back to travel,” Moller states. “It's not just hotels or airlines.” Episodes have covered topics like luxury real estate, private members clubs, travel rewards, and more.
J/PR’s client roster also spans the travel industry, with a portfolio covering travel and hospitality, destination marketing, lifestyle brands, and real estate and development. A wealth of hotel clients range from Nashville’s art and music-focused boutique the Bobby Hotel to the recently opened high end Durango Casino and Resort in Las Vegas to the worldwide hospitality collective Relais & Châteaux and more. One travel destination that Moller recommends for exceptional J/PR client properties this summer is Greece.
“We're seeing a lot of interest in Greece right now,” she shares. “We have several clients in Greece and I think that it's such a beautiful country. And right now we're getting into summer. So it's their season. But we work with this really amazing property called Calilo on Ios, which is an interesting island. And the family that owns the resort has actually purchased so much of the property on Ios and they are committed to only developing, I think…they have 400 acres, and they're committed to only developing one percent of it because they want to preserve the natural beauty of the island. So I think that, thinking about when you're traveling, having travel experiences, thinking about choosing places that are really committed to preserving the destination is number one. And that's sort of like how I'm thinking about travel and where do I want to go? So Greece for sure. We work with Calilo on Ios. We work with Cali Mykonos, which is a newer property as well. So those are two really beautiful Greek properties that I would definitely encourage people to look at if they're looking to travel to Greece this summer.”
For more from Moller, including insights into J/PR’s successful agency-client partnership activations, efforts to connect campaigns and clients to the next generation of travelers, and more, check out the J/PR Senior Vice President on A HOTEL PODCAST below.
Find more via J/PR. And subscribe for more from A Hotel Podcast on LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Words by Jaime Black.