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When Steven Le Vine, 27, and Stephen J. Lucin, 26, graduated from college, they didn’t realize that only three years later they would be running grapeVine Public Relations, one of the first "openly-gay" boutique PR agencies for the $712-billion-per-year LGBT market, with a specific focus on representing entertainment artists, thriving small businesses and non-profit organizations.
 
Following its launch in 2007, the Los Angeles-based agency instantly generated incredible enthusiasm and has come to develop a remarkable roster of respected clientele including Project Runway's Jack Mackenroth, Baskit Underwear, award-winning recording artist Ari Gold, Amanda Lepore, Darryl Stephens, face to face nyc day spa, Guest House Films, Proteus Pictures. Deven Green, Pink Banana Media, Charlie Demos, Daniel Gray, and leading photographers Justin Monroe and Dylan Rosser, among others, while also providing supplementary PR support to The Trevor Project, the only national 24/7 hotline for suicidal LGBT youth.

Le Vine and Lucin swiftly developed cogent and compelling PR campaigns for gay entertainers and businesses to reach their media partners, as well as for mainstream businesses and entertainers who value this large and growing audience. To do so, the PR duo came up with a strategy wherein they tap their numerous contacts in the vast gay and targeted mainstream media, including print, radio and TV. Then, they skillfully weave in social media and Web 2.0 technology to enhance a more viral visibility for their clients; a framework of new tools that marketing strategist and writer David Meerman Scott has heralded as the "new rules of marketing and PR."

Despite the economic meltdown of the past nine months, while many companies have been shutting their doors and selling their assets, the fledgling company forged ahead and has continued to weather the storm, watching its client list only expand as each month passes and aggressively pursuing any avenues to get clients the media coverage they seek.

“We have found our own distinctive voice early on," says Lucin. "We are both driven to make a difference in the social and cultural landscape of what it means to be gay and gay-friendly in the modern world. I believe that effective PR is one of the best tools to accomplish this goal. When the markets go sour, one of the most important tools you have in your arsenal is a solid, consistent and strategic PR approach.”

grapeVine PR is now beginning to develop its corporate niche PR support services for major brands that want to effectively reach out to the gay market nationwide. “We envision ourselves as partner-specialists to work alongside major PR firms of record, which likely do not have the expertise, experience or contacts in the LGBT media community as we can provide,” says Lucin.

"We've been successful in garnering mainstream press for clients within the LGBT community, as well as highly desired gay press for our more mainstream clients,” says Le Vine. “The LGBT community is composed of many intricate, yet overlapping audience layers, and the ability to know how to reach them appropriately through special population marketing is paramount to ensuring the visibility success our clients desire and demand.”

The company has also worked on VIP events for Donna Summer's most recent album release Crayons, and Broadway's Cry-Baby: The Musical. Additionally, they have lent support to Adam Bouska's NOH8 campaign, alongside celebrities like Fran Drescher, Ashlee Simpson, Pete Wentz, Perez Hilton, Blink 182's Mark Hoppus, Meghan McCain, Emmy Rossum and Tara Reid. The campaign is a silent photographic protest launched in direct response to the California passing of Proposition 8 last fall, which banned gay marriage throughout the state.

Both business partners also volunteer their time offering PR services to the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (LAGLCC), as well as holding memberships with the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) National and Los Angeles chapters, the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and the SoCal Social Club.
 
Prior to grapeVine, Lucin had originally started SJL Public Relations, a firm specializing in nightlife, hospitality services and gay non-profit organizations. He was also an award-winning writer and newspaper reporter for various online and print publications.

Similarly, Le Vine had founded GrapeVine Promotions, a small agency dedicated solely to the publicity of musical acts. In addition, he had helped found and chaired the Community Information Committee in his hometown of Freehold,
N. J., the first public information bureau for the Monmouth County municipality.

Prior to both, Le Vine worked for Hackensack, N. J.-based Beckerman Public Relations (www.beckermanpr.com), an internationally recognized and award-winning PR firm predominantly dedicated to the real estate, financial and legal industries, but which has recently branched out to include health care, consumer products and renewable energy. Before that he worked for Allen Consulting (www.allenconsulting.com), a PR/Marketing agency which has arguably become a cornerstone in the reinvention of many of New Jersey's downtowns over the past 31 years.
 
You can visit the official grapeVine Web site at www.theprgrapevine.com.


 

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