Who We Are

Our Values:

We’re values driven. We believe that value is not always just about the bottomline. It’s about the values we share with our clients. Integrity, authenticity, respect, sustainability, loyalty, professionalism, and balance in everything are values by which we strive to live and work.

Our Approach:

Our strategic positioning plans, strong relationships with the media, original events programming and network of marketing professionals in design and brand identity all contribute to thoughtful, holistic communications plans that match short term as well as strategic needs while achieving long term results.

We Create:

Brand Identity & Personality

Lasting connections between a brand's message and its audiences

Bridges between our clients and the media

Tangible results based on tailored media and moving the needle with sales and awareness

Buzz: Campaigns and events that are memorable, meaningful and measurable

Who We Are:

An eclectic group of intensely curious, culturally sensitive, well-traveled, hard-working, problem solvers, blessed with independent spirits and a passion and talent for communicating.

Public relations, branding and marketing strategists who work on a large and small scale for our clients

Specialists in wine, microbreweries, specialty and organic spirits, restaurants and resorts, natural, organic, and gourmet foods and beverages, environmental organizations, crisis communications, special events and promotions

Ranging in age from our 20s through our 40s, we understand a broad spectrum of consumers and markets

Our educations include Certificates from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust of London, degrees in journalism, marketing, English, history, international studies, environmental conservation, business, economics and language

Versed in East and West coast lifestyles as well as international living (France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK,) not to mention global travel—we've all got the bug!

Strong support of and interest in socially responsible issues through our own philanthropic work as well as seminal work we have done on behalf of clients for twenty years.

What We Can and Have Accomplished with Experience:

Luxury Brand Positioning:
We know luxury. From top chefs to five star hotels and artisanal wines, we have deep experience in this arena. Clients in this vein would include: Parallel Napa Valley by Philippe Melka, Ladera Vineyards, Peter Michael, Williams Selyem, Taittinger Champagne, Delamain Cognac, Hotel de Crillon Paris, Baccarat Crystal – the list goes on…

Greening Business: Square One Organic Vodka, Social responsibility,
pre-cycling, and zero waste
Bringing a new product to market is always a challenge, but launching one that subscribes to the tenets of right livelihood, social responsibility and organic growing practices can be even more exciting. This was right up our alley! Partnering with a venture called Square One Organic Spirits, CCA launched a new company and brand that is definitely walking the walk when it comes to what they're delivering both inside and out of the bottle.

CCA kicked off Square One in New York and San Francisco in the spring of 2006 to great critical acclaim. Now in 30 markets and growing, the P.R. campaign has been driving the distribution of this start up successful brand. Features in Time, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, Oprah, Elle Magazine, Food & Wine, Paper, Domino, GQ, and Wallpaper magazines as well as over 80 top online mentions have positioned Square One as the pre-eminent category leader.

Brand repositioning with little brand recognition: Fess Parker Winery
When we took this brand on in 2000, it was a medium sized production California winery with little market recognition among the press and trade. In the last three years, we capitalized on the trends of the baby boomer wine drinker, along with the cachet of the winery's owner. Our efforts culminated with a record year for publicity in 2004, receiving well over 125,000,000 impressions, as well as a 30% increase in sales. Since that time, the winery has been on a roll experiencing annual brisk growth, and the media interest remains high for both the wine quality and the compelling family story.

Creating a brand from the drawing board: Cocktails by Jenn
Launched in September of 2004, to great success within the first 60 days resulting in a sold out production run of 10,000 cases, CCA was part of the embryonic stages of creating and designing this brand's personality in terms of packaging, standards, web content, affiliations etc. We were successful in getting the brand visibility on MSNBC.com in its first week and enjoyed hearing from our client... "We don't know exactly how you did it, but you guys are making this brand HAPPEN!" Cocktails by Jenn was sold within 1 year of launch for over $15 million to Barton Brands. Considering that there was no advertising or other marketing initiatives, we pat ourselves on the back for building that brand.

Marketing & Branding Capabilities

Wine Marketing
We have a specialty in this niche of brand marketing and we help clients extend their reach into markets that fit their products, whether it’s a small and targeted or major campaign. We’re nimble, smart and insightful.

Business Public Relations
We help communicate complex business strategies and stories to the media, making our clients market leaders and influencers through strategic press coverage.

Strategic Brand Marketing
We fashion plans for brand positioning with an eye to long-term results and lasting impressions.

Company Branding
Whether it is developing nascent brand personalities or helping existing ones evolve, we work in collaboration with clients to tell a great story. This entails everything from sourcing and collaborating with design teams to bringing a product to market via a public relations and marketing campaign.

Media Relations Experts
Strong relationships with the food, wine and general business and lifestyle media, as well as online media and broadcast arenas. Examples of great track record media successes include features in Time Magazine, Fast Company, the New York Times, USA Today, Oprah, Business Week, Newsweek, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Wine Spectator, New York Times, Elle Magazine, among many other outlets.

Event Programming & Promotions
We have a long history with effective and original events programming and implementation, our events are memorable, meaningful and measurable.

Writing Bureau
Charles Communications Associates develops press kits, pitch letters, website and HTML content, speeches, brochure copy and a wide variety of other marketing materials. We work with our in-house talent as well as tailor made out-of-house professional, award winning writers to create copy that inspires!

Product & Identity Design
CCA works with a network of designers and photographers to execute projects large and small, from packaging to website design, HTML design, brand identity etc. We love to be part of the creative process and add a lot to a brand team.

Grassroots Research
Success in the marketplace comes from knowing the target audience. Charles Communications Associates talks with consumers in real life settings, asking for feedback, sampling products and utilizing organizational and board memberships to query groups. And we aren't shy about letting our clients know the results. It makes our work stronger.

Partnership Marketing
Charles Communications Associates has experience collaborating with businesses that create like-minded products, which adds value to the overall pitch or event. We've built relationships with retailers, publishers, sommeliers, environmentalists and charitable groups. The end result is meeting new people who can promote your product or company to a fresh audience and be a source of ideas for the future.

Crisis Communications
Charles Communications Associates is experienced and equipped to be a counsel on positioning with respect to crisis communications. Depending on the circumstance, we would work closely to discuss positioning, but may also recommend additional resources.