Lucid Seasonal Press Previews

Short lead National Canadian Press Preview in Toronto

We are happy to announce we are hosting our Seasonal Press Preview in person on Thursday, April 27th in Toronto at SOCCO Living’s bricks-and-mortar on Queen West. Our media guests will have opportunity to meet a handful of founders behind our beauty, home, health and wellness brands and hear their story’s first hand. This interactive event will also host on-site activities such as skin consultations by Julie Clark from Province Apothecary, hand massages by Sade Baron, and makeup consultations by Elate Beauty. To add to the celebration, we will be serving delicious wine from Grange Winery.

We have streamlined our client roster to create a cohesive story for our media guests looking for anything sustainable lifestyle related – from beauty and fashion to health/wellness, fitness and beyond. This intimate, one-stop-shop environment allows them gather story ideas appealing to short lead spring/summer stories they may be working on!

February Lucid Press Preview 2023 in NYC + virtual

Lucid just wrapped up our our 16th annual Seasonal Press Preview in person – finally – on Thursday, February 16th at the stunning Smyth Tribeca in NYC. We set up face-to-face meetings and did one-on-one presentations to major media located in NYC between 9 am-2 pm and then small group/drop-in presentations from 5-7 pm.

We streamlined our client roster to create a cohesive story for our media guests looking for anything sustainable lifestyle related – from beauty and fashion to health/wellness, jewelry, fitness and beyond. This intimate, one-stop-shop environment allows media to gather story ideas appealing to short lead stories and Spring/Summer/Mother’s Day/Earth Day gift guide stories our media attendees are working on.

For media how were not located in NYC and to fold in Canadian media and media spread across the US, we hosted a 45 minute virtual zoom presentation between 3-4pm – as we’ve done for the past three years. This fun and experiential activation has been highly successful, having virtually done this a handful of times because of the pandemic. And thankfully, we still maintain ‘facetime’ with our media guests and can receive immediate feedback while one of our staff monitors the chat room throughout the presentation. The silver lining is that we can also reach more media over having them physically come to the events in either city! We have over 100 major media outlets join in for the call, garnering a ton of press for our clients and keeping them fresh in their radar with as close to ‘hands on’ way of telling their story and highlighting key products and new launches.

And as an added bonus: for media that can’t physically attend in our NYC presentations at the hotel, we went direct to them and brought our clients products with digital look-books to their offices and conducted deskside visits to ensure we got in front as many eyes as possible, and help tell our clients’ stories and showcase their products on their behalf. NYCcollage2023

Participating client list:

Beauty:

Province Apothecary – A holistic skincare and wellness brand recognized both for its effective natural skincare products and custom organic facials. PA is leading the way in green beauty with a unique blend of 100% active plant based, synthetic-free ingredients, establishing itself as a brand focused on a whole-body approach to beauty.

Sade Baron – A bodycare brand founded in providing a long-term roadmap to healthy skin. This highly effective and concentrated bodycare brand believes in the inspiration of the body’s ability to heal and correct itself. Through this inspiration, the Sade Baron mother-daughter team creates unisex, clean, superior, and highly efficacious formulations deeply quenching the skin conditions such as eczema and contact dermatitis.

Fashion:

Betterfelt– Danish designed Fair Trade certified wool felt slippers that exude hygge. Developed with a sleek and minimalist Danish design, their wool felt slippers are functional and timeless. Crafted with quality New Zealand wool and handmade by expert Nepalese artisans in their company-owned workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal, Betterfelt takes its Fair Trade certified reputation seriously. Very comfortable, these slippers embody hygge, the Danish version of cozy contentment.

La Daje – La Daje specializes in everyday designs for the modern woman. Founded in Toronto by Carmen Meli and her daughters Stefania and Adriana, this brand features elevated Italian-made pieces that merge timeless nostalgia with reimagined old-world styles. Built upon the belief that jewelry is a powerful form of self-expression, the brand’s goal is to create effortless pieces that go with your attire for any occasion. Inspired by an Italian sensibility, La Daje means excitement or encouragement in the Roman dialect as a way to empower women to be confident and rebellious with their sense of style.

VERZUS ALL Apparel – Proudly designed and developed in Toronto, VERZUS ALL Apparel is a lifestyle and athleisure brand that focuses on creating technology-enhanced apparel to benefit and heighten the wearer’s experience. VERZUS ALL Apparel was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success and endowed upon the world to inspire greatness. With sustainability at our core, not only do we want to protect the wearer’s experience, but protecting our environment is also crucial.

Home:

Jen Rowe of Neat Method Toronto – NEAT Method Toronto is the organizing company that will transform your home or office from chaos to composed. They recognize that life gets hectic and that maintaining an organized home can become a challenge. Specializing in organizing, unpacking, and downsizing homes & offices across Toronto, they make the spaces you have functional for the life you live by focusing on creating uniquely personalized systems.

SOCCO Living – Is the premium destination for international artisanal furniture and home decor! Established in 2020, this Toronto-based brick-and-mortar and online shop offer thoughtfully curated pieces that make a house a home. Outfitted with handcrafted straw accessories, handwoven textile pieces, handblown glass, and natural tones, SOCCO pieces embody a modern and elegant style through a Moroccan and Parisian inspired selection.

Health and Wellness:

B Yoga – B Yoga creates elevated yoga and fitness essentials that invite you to find action and stillness in the comfort of your own home. Whether you’re an experienced yogi or an excited beginner, B Yoga has everything you need to find your perfect balance.

Halo – the revolutionary antioxidant complex that combats damage caused by free radicals. Driven by founder and Interventional Neuroradiologist Dr. Kieran Murphy, the expert team behind Halo is hauntingly aware of the collateral damage caused by radiation. Bearing witness to an increase in radiation-induced suffering amongst colleagues, Dr. Murphy is on a mission to curb adverse consequences. One dose at a time, Halo helps protect cells against damage caused by free radicals while boosting overall immunity.

Halfmoon– Grounded in tradition and inspired by transformation, Halfmoon has been Canada’s premier destination for hand-crafted yoga and meditation essentials since 1989. Their products are thoughtfully created just outside of Vancouver, BC, and are designed with an emphasis on function, quality, and comfort.

Slingwell -The ultimate hands-free lightweight bottle carrier to help keep you hydrated all day. The minimal and sophisticated style redefines your daily walks, outdoor adventures, festival experiences and everyday work routines. You’ll never forget your drink again! The unique stretch elastic design accommodates most bottle sizes from 12 oz – 48 oz.

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July 2022

It’s a wrap! // We just finished hosting our virtual preview at the owner of Lucid’s new Century Home/Airbnb called Brunswick House Picton – located in beautiful Prince Edward County.

lucidjuly2022

Here is some feedback from our media guests!

“Can I just say, the energy you two have during these previews is such a VIBE! Keep up the amazing work 🙂 It’s so much better to see people do what they love and share products they believe in rather than read off of a slide that we are all seeing at the same time. The pandemic has been tough but you two are still keeping Zoom fun! 🙂– Katie Scott, Producer | ET Canada

“Working in lifestyle television, I go to many media previews but am always most impressed on how Lucid is able to position their clients in a way that really stands out and inspires new ideas. Michelle and Alanna are so friendly and make their previews exciting by pinpointing what makes each of their clients unique, and how they relate to what’s current in the world. I would walk away with not only knowledge of unique and new products to feature on air, but even pitch ideas for new segment concepts.” – Davida Houston, The Marilyn Denis Show

” I just wanted to follow up and say I was SO impressed by your presentation and cannot wait to experience these small business up close and personal. Thanks again for including me!!” – Michelle Elvin, Chicago Parent Magazine

” Thanks so much for coordinating! It was so fun and great to see all of the product, even if virtually 🙂 Looking forward to working together in the future!” – Katie Maguire, Hunker

“I was floored by both the presentation and the box I received in the mail a few days ago. Thank you so much for organizing and introducing me to these products! I wrote up some of them and included some others in product round-ups…” – Kalina Nedelcheva, Trend Hunter

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for the generous package 🙂 I just received it today and it felt like Christmas! All of the goodies will of course be top of mind for future H&H product round-ups.” – Victoria Christie, House and Home Magazine

The old days….when we had physical events….

Now celebrating our 13th year, Lucid Communications’ Seasonal Press Previews have become our most well-attended and high-profile media events hosted Toronto and NYC. We have worked with various hotels in the past including The Hazelton Hotel, Windsor Arms, The Thompson Hotel, The Templar, and The Smyth Hotel.

Lucid has become partners with AKA Tribeca in NYC for our US preview, and The Ossington House in Toronto for our Canadian preview. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our July 2020 event will be hosted virtually. We will set up a studio space as we have in the past, and will host Zoom meetings with key media throughout the day. We will arrange a videographer to film Lucid staff, who will provide a video pitch on behalf of each client— telling their story, highlighting key products, and introducing new product launches. We will then send out a link to our YouTube channel which will play client videos to major media who could not ‘attend’ the Zoom call. While these circumstances are not ideal, the silver lining is that we will be able to reach more media over having them physically come to the event. We will be sure to follow-up to gage interest and see if media have questions on any of our clients leading into December.

We will pull together a curated media gift bag with our client’s products and will send them to key media in NYC, Toronto and Los Angeles.

The objective of this curated event is to have all of our brands work together to create an intimate, one-stop shopping environment where top-tier media can come and gather great story ideas for end of summer/gift guide season and long lead print publications.

An original media list is developed each season to include editors, producers and bloggers in the lifestyle, food & beverage, health & nutrition, bridal, baby, retail, design & décor and fashion & beauty beats. A compelling media save-the-date and subsequent invitation are created and distributed in order to book personalized one hour, one-on-one visits throughout the two-day set-up. The experiential activation is designed to engage, create interest, creatively tell each brand’s story, pitch product placement, generate product trial, offer story angles, and pitch spokesperson interviews on behalf of participating brands.

Traditionally, before Covid-19, we would load into the venue on day one and carve out intimate vignettes for each brand to showcase their lines and products. We present on the second day on behalf of our clients, showcasing their products and pitching stories and features to our top-tier media guests. We then host a Cinq à Sept at the end of the day for our influencer guests, health/beauty media, and producers with onsite activations with select clients.

We will be offering a bonus in our NYC presentation: we will take a small collection of products for each client around on desksider meetings the following day for key media that weren’t able to attend the virtual event. This way, we will ensure that we get each brand in front of as many media as possible.

Below is a list of several media outlets that have attended these exclusive media presentations in the past.

Toronto Presentations:

NYC Presentations:

Following the presentations, each guest is provided a link to our secure microsite featuring supporting media materials and images. On-site photography at each event captures the activations, and we will share on our social media channels as well.

To ensure the participants’ seasonal stories remain top-of-mind, each journalist will receive a bag of featured products to taste, try, photograph and report on for their upcoming gift guides, features and television shoots.

Given the nature of long-lead appointments and media relations story pitching, placement and planning continues well after the last appointment to coordinate ongoing coverage with both attending and non-attending media. All coverage is tracked and shared on social media to increase exposure.

“Working in lifestyle television, I go to many media previews, but I am always most impressed by how Lucid Communications is able to position their clients in a way that really stands out and inspires new ideas – and in like-minded and cool venues. Michelle and Alanna are so friendly and make their previews exciting by pinpointing what makes each of their clients unique, and how they relate to what’s current in the world. I walk away with not only knowledge of unique and new products to feature on-air, but even pitch ideas for new segment concepts.”

– Davida Houston, The Marilyn Denis Show

Blogtail Cinq à Sept cocktail party:

At the close of Day 1 appointments, Lucid Communications hosts a Cinq-à-Sept cocktail party for influencers, bloggers and freelance editors and producers. This event includes wine and food pairings, hair and make-up touch-ups, skin consultations, group walk-about presentations, and more.

Click here to review our event deck with pricing

Video footage and past press on events:

* Click here for a sizzle reel video from a past event

* Profile story from Biz Bash on a past Spring Fever

* Profile story for past Home for the Holidays