L. Gilbert Design & Pennyroyal Market's Integrated Communications
L. Gilbert Design and Pennyroyal Market represent two sides of one creative vision: Laura Lees Gilbert's work as a designer and her curated retail presence in Bowling Green, Kentucky. When State & Tell came on board, both brands existed as separate digital identities with untapped potential for unified, strategic visibility.
The Opportunity
Laura's creative work deserved a communications strategy as intentional as her design aesthetic. The goal was not simply more visibility, but visibility with direction: consolidating her brand presence, growing her audience, and earning the kind of earned media that positions a Kentucky creative as a name worth knowing nationally.
What We Set Out to Do
State & Tell proposed a full-scope integrated engagement with five defined goals:
- Consolidate multiple digital presences under the unified "Laura Lees Gilbert" brand identity
- Establish consistent social media posting with targeted content strategy, aiming for 25% followership growth by December 31, 2025
- Drive a 20% increase in website traffic and a 15% boost in cross-brand referral traffic by December 31, 2025
- Develop relationships with at least 5 new journalists
- Secure at least one national and one regional media placement
What We Delivered
Brand Consolidation We unified Laura's fragmented digital presence under the Laura Lees Gilbert brand identity across platforms. While web design falls outside our scope, we ensured that the brand voice, messaging architecture, and cross-channel consistency were in place to support the rebuild.
Social Media Growth Goal: 25% follower growth. Result: 48.7% increase, per Meta analytics. Nearly double the target.
Media Relations Goal: 1 national placement, 1 regional placement, 5 new journalist relationships. Result: 17 national placements, including news aggregates, plus a regional segment with WNKY. New journalist relationships were cultivated through consistent, targeted pitching throughout the engagement.
Website Traffic Goal: 20% increase in website visitors. Result: 1,376.92% increase in website visitors when comparing the partnership period against the prior baseline for both the L. Gilbert Design and Pennyroyal Market sites.
Referral Traffic Goal: 15% cross-brand referral growth. Result: Referral traffic accounted for 23% of total traffic on the L. Gilbert Design website and 21% on the Pennyroyal Market website during the engagement period.
Product Sales This goal was set with the understanding that attribution would require direct reporting from the client. We are confident the visibility gains created conditions for growth, and we look forward to documenting that story with Laura's partnership.
By the Numbers
17 national media placements 1 regional broadcast segment (WNKY) 18 total media hits, including duplicates $1.56M advertising value equivalency (AVE) +48.7% social media follower growth +1,376.92% website visitor growth 23% referral traffic share, L. Gilbert Design 21% referral traffic share, Pennyroyal Market 5+ new journalist relationships developed
The Takeaway
This engagement is a clear demonstration of what intentional visibility looks like in practice. When strategy, storytelling, and consistent execution come together, the results speak for themselves. Laura Lees Gilbert came in with a creative legacy worth telling. We made sure people heard it.
