The brief

Public Desire is a Manchester-born online shoe brand targeting young women aged 18–30. The fast fashion market is brutally competitive — brands rise and fall on social media cycles, and standing out requires more than good product. It requires a brand presence that feels culturally relevant and genuinely newsworthy.

They came to Motive with two distinct challenges: making noise in consumer press around a high-profile influencer collaboration, and landing trade coverage for a landmark international expansion.

The approach

The influencer collaboration was with Amber Gill — winner of Love Island 2019 at the height of the show’s cultural dominance. Rather than simply announcing the partnership, we built a proper media strategy around it: understanding what journalists in the entertainment, fashion and celebrity space would actually want to write about, and giving them the angles and access to do it.

The result was coverage across The Mirror, The Sun, Heat and multiple entertainment titles — earned press that money genuinely cannot buy. In parallel, we developed a pitch for Public Desire’s first international retail store in Saudi Arabia, positioning it as a cultural moment — the most Instagrammable retail experience in the region. That angle earned them coverage in Drapers, the fashion industry’s most important trade title.

The result

Five national TV spots from a single campaign. 137 items of coverage across consumer and trade media. Drapers coverage for the Saudi launch. For a brand competing in one of the most crowded sectors in retail, this is what genuine brand authority looks like — earned through editorial quality, not paid placement.