Sharpen your brand’s message for maximum impact and grow your reach and reputation with stronger publicity and smarter marketing.
CREW’s CLIMB Course, Sharpen Your Message: Publicity, PR & Marketing for Growth is now accepting applications.
CLIMB Courses offer targeted, flexible learning for entrepreneurs and SMEs across the creative digital ecosystem, focusing on the critical skills needed for market and business growth. They are a key part of CLIMB – Creative Leaders Innovating for Market & Business Growth, a wider programme of supports and tailored growth opportunities for high-potential digital creative businesses.
To see the full range of CLIMB Courses, head over to our CLIMB programme page.
About Sharpen Your Message: Publicity, PR & Marketing for Growth
This course is for entrepreneurs and businesses in the creative industries who want clarity, focus and momentum as they grow their publicity, PR and marketing.
Participants leave with practical publicity and marketing roadmaps, templates and planning tools they can apply immediately, plus a follow-up 1:1 mentorship session focused on publicity and brand reputation, tailored to their needs and goals.
Who’s it for?
Creative entrepreneurs and SMEs (especially those a couple of years into trading) who have marketing “basics” in place and want to:
- sharpen messaging and positioning
- improve visibility and credibility through PR/publicity
- move from “doing marketing” to building a structured growth system
Course Overview
This is a two-workshop course delivered across two half days, with participants actively working on their own business throughout. The two workshops connect directly: Day one sharpens your message and PR approach, and day two turns that clarity into a focused marketing strategy and plan. Participants will also have the opportunity to avail of 1:1 mentorship on your brand’s messaging and publicity approach.
Pre-work (questionnaire submitted in advance)
- Marketing Reality Check: what currently brings clients, what you do consistently, what you avoid, and your 12-month aim
- Case study/project preparation: Consider a client problem → your solution → measurable outcome to bring to the workshop that you/your product solved and that you can present to others in the group
Facilitator: Cróna Esler
Focus: Storytelling, message control, credibility building, and practical PR outreach foundations.
Topics covered:
- Crafting your story and positioning: defining your tone and voice, and recognising the profile of your target consumer audience
- Selling point: identifying your unique value proposition for your customers and how your brand fits into the competitive landscape
- The PR value: building trust through storytelling and outreach
- Establishing the news hook: pivoting from promotional language to stories that provide genuine value to journalists and their readers
- Know your audience: simplifying your message for your customers and readers, concentrating on the benefits of your product rather than the features
- Credibility in the marketplace: developing thought leaders, authority on subject matter, and pairing back promotional content, without diluting brand identity
- Media management: knowing what to share and when
- Communications and reputation management: conveying your story in a way that resonates with your audience
You’ll leave with:
- A sharpened core message
- 1–2 PR story angles and a simple outreach plan
- A practical publicity roadmap you can implement right away
Facilitator: Jane Manzor
Focus: Move beyond “posting and promotion” into strategy, positioning, and a repeatable execution plan.
Topics covered:
- Marketing as strategy, not activity, including growth system thinking
- Strategic positioning & commercial clarity: outcome-based selling, category ownership, pricing confidence
- 12-month growth direction: revenue model, ideal clients, visibility strategy, partnerships/ecosystem thinking
- 90-day sprint planning: campaign thinking, KPIs that matter, planning around revenue goals
- Advanced tools that work: case studies, lead capture, partnerships
You’ll leave with:
- A refined positioning statement + sharpened 30-second pitch
- One-page 12-month Growth Direction Plan
- 90-day execution roadmap (the ‘sprint’ plan)
30-minute session per participant with facilitator Cróna Esler, tailored to address each individual’s messaging and publicity approach, and their current media footprint/reputation priorities.
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: Friday April 17, 2026
- Workshop 1 (Publicity & PR): Thursday, April 23, 10:00am – 1:30pm (in-person @ CREW)
- Workshop 2 (Marketing Strategy): Friday, April 24, 10:00am – 1:30pm (in-person @ CREW)
- Follow-up 1:1 online mentorship: Tuesday, May 5
Key Details
- Location: CREW (in-person)
- Facilitators: Cróna Esler and Jane Manzor
- Cost: €200
How to apply
You can apply for the course by filling out an application form by April 17 2026, which you can find here: https://crew.acceleratorapp.co/apply/program/climb-sharpen-your-message:-publicity-pr-and-marketing-for-growth
Please note that there are a limited number of spaces for this course.
The course is being offered to the SME at 20% of the market rate (the full programme is valued at €1000) with the remaining 80% supported by Enterprise Ireland Smart Region scheme. In order to avail of this discounted rate, all applicants are asked to confirm that they have the appropriate De Minimis balance to accept the support. More information on De Minimums State Aid can be found here: State Aid | Enterprise Ireland
CLIMB Courses are delivered by CREW as part of the CLIMB programme and are co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Northern and Western Regional Programme 2021–27.
