The PR Week, 7.30.2026: Mike Rush, 360PR+

0:00On today's podcast, Mike Rush of 360 PR Plus joins us to chat about why PR should own affiliate marketing, how his firm is still doing desk sides, what influencers expect from marketers and how AI is changing the game for his firm and for the affiliate marketing space in general. And in the news, PR Week has released its 2026 power list. Wendy has changed its main agency partner after more than three decades, promising Q2 earnings for the PR segment at Omnicom, and the New York Liberty take us behind the scenes of their PR and marketing playbook. All this and more coming up on the latest edition of the PR Week.

0:48Hello, everybody, and welcome to the latest edition of the PR Week. That's PR Week's weekly podcast for everything going on in the world of PR and communications. My name is Frank Washkuch. I'm your host for this week, and I have a great co-host to introduce you all to. It's his first time on the podcast, Jeremy Sodergren. Jeremy, how are you doing? Doing well, Frank. All right. Thanks for joining us today. And we have a terrific guest for you on this week's episode. That's Mike Rush. He is partner and chief growth officer at 360 PR Plus. So, Mike, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me.

1:22Yeah, of course. So, Mike, to start out, tell us a little bit for those of our listeners who might not be familiar about 360, what you're working on and some of the things that you're seeing out there.

1:35Mike Rush: Sure. So we are a consumer agency through and through. Big year for us. We're celebrating our 25th year. I've been with the agency 20 of those years. Our founding partner is Laura Tomasetti. My other partner is Victoria Renwick, who leads our food and beverage practice. We're 70 people across New York, Boston, Philadelphia. And I would say our superpower is really creating culturally relevant stories that win hearts and minds. They're built to travel. They create business impact. And we're working with some very large national brands like Trek Bicycle, Hasbro, Virgin Atlantic, Omni Hotels, SimpliSafe, Bob's Red Mill.

2:12Mike Rush: So anything consumer, you can come to us for that. We're going to come back to a very specific consumer category in a few moments. But I think that's really interesting. And your firm is based up in Boston. And in the time I've been a PR week there, the Boston agency world has been, I think, has gone through a whole evolution. I remember when it was very, very tech heavy. and there were firms like Schwartz and Shift and various other ones there that still have some presence, but it's changed a lot, wouldn't you say? Oh, absolutely. I'd say we are by far one of the largest and one of the few consumer firms in Boston.

2:52Mike Rush: That being said, we are strategically putting headcount in New York because New York continues to be a very important play for, you know, global brands looking for a presence in Manhattan. Yeah, absolutely. You have a fantastic office downtown. I've been to it. Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about affiliate marketing, because you have you guys have done a lot of research on it. You were making the case to me offline right now. This is an area that PR should own and PR should be leading on. So tell me a little bit more about your thoughts on that. Yeah, that was going to be my first question for you.

3:27Mike Rush: I think we kind of covered off on it right before this. It's like, where should affiliate live? You know, when we look at our clients, it's often the performance marketing team or it's the ecosystem. team. Often, and I think this is probably one of the biggest challenges we run into as well, it's siloed. So we don't have any interaction with them. And often they're working with a lot of the same editors that we are. So yeah, my salvo is that PR really should own this because it's still story first. We've been hearing from all of the affiliate editors and the major publishers from Hearst, Ziff Davis, Connie Nast, People Inc, that it's really not about the highest commission.

4:04Mike Rush: And actually, there's some commission pressures right now, just given macroeconomic climate. But it's really about innovation. It's about the story behind the product. It's about a great product. More importantly, how a product, going back to what I said before, wins hearts and minds of the consumer. So, yeah, it's really story first. Yeah. Yeah. How do you define affiliate marketing nowadays? Because look, the definition of everything is changing with AI. But also, I think there might be a lot of people who get into PR very earned media focused who might not be as familiar with it. So how do you define that category of affiliate marketing?

4:47Mike Rush: Yeah, I'd say there's sort of like front end and back end sides of affiliate marketing. So on the front end, especially if you're on the front lines of earned media, it's understanding how to navigate those conversations intelligently and fluently. One of the first questions we get from a lot of the commerce and shopping editors is, you know, what platform are you on? Is it Commission Junction, CJ, or is it Impact? And then the back end side of that would be actually being in those platforms on behalf of clients, adjusting commission rates based on priority publishers that we're selecting based on priority audiences.

5:19Mike Rush: So understanding sort of the financial aspect of it as well and clearly working in tandem with a client team on business impact, but then also tracking revenue. So this really makes most sense for clients with D2C, but I think the elephant in the room is also Amazon. You know, a lot of clients are trying to push D2C over an Amazon link. And we get that question a lot in new business meetings. You know, it's like, well, you know, Amazon just it's all these Amazon stories and everyone's driving Amazon. We really want to build long term customer. How do we drive more to our D2C platform? So, again, that's about story.

5:53Mike Rush: It's about commission. And it's also asking the right questions, understanding what you're up against in terms of Amazon. Because commissions fluctuate based on seasonality, based on Prime Day. All of that. So I hope that explains it well. Yeah, I think so. But tell me a little bit about how you incorporate that into a broader PR strategy or a broader PR strategy as part of a broader marketing strategy. How do you how do you put all the pieces together? Yeah, I mean, when we look at a program for a client, affiliate and reviews, I would say, are just one cylinder that's firing amidst a number of other campaign elements, whether that be executive thought leadership or brand-led initiatives.

6:38Mike Rush: But this is an important lever. I mean, there's direct sales connected to this. And often thought leadership and affiliate can feed off of one another. I'll give you a very specific example. I don't mean to speak in the abstract, but, you know, major client launch, an opportunity to roll out the CEO to talk about product innovation. But ultimately, it's a commerce writer who ends up working with a normal editor on the piece and is in charge of layering and affiliate links to the story. So how do you sweeten the pot for that outlet, whether it's a popular science or a popular mechanics or a wired?

7:15Mike Rush: it's being able to sort of negotiate some of these things up front so they understand what they're getting as a publisher. And often that ensures like more prominence in a story too. So it's an opportunity to again feature multiple aspects of what you're being charged with from a campaign standpoint. And one thing I find really interesting about this part of the marketing landscape is it's pretty measurable. I mean, it's, and this is something that is lacking in a lot of parts of the earned media world. But what you're talking about right now seems to be much more measurable than a lot of it. Yeah.

7:50Mike Rush: Again, I'll give you a very specific example. We have a client in the luggage category. So Wirecutter, which New York Times purchased back in, I think, 2016, 2017. Wirecutter alone drives over a million dollars in revenue for them. And this is, again, editorially led, story first. A lot of it's around product features, aspects of the luggage that we know will test better than some of the competitors. And then also keeping in touch with these editors so that once the review goes live and they understand the commission rate they get, then tweaking that commission throughout peak season. So we're heading into spring travel season earlier this year, telling them we'll give them a higher commission if they reserve that content and some of their newsletters.

8:33Mike Rush: So it's getting more mileage out of a single story as well. I want to talk a little bit more about the importance of storytelling. You mentioned it before, but why and how storytelling is such an important, specific part of this. Maybe you can give me some examples of just building a great story into a broader strategy here and how you pulled it off. Yeah. So, again, I'll give a specific example, but, you know, if your client has access to unique data and customer insights, I mean, this is a tried and true PR tactic. It's like, first of all, show them the product, get the affiliate team, the commerce writers, help them experience the product, immerse them in the brand and what they represent.

9:23Mike Rush: Don't just talk about, you know, the business aspect of commission rates and whatnot. lead with what makes that brand unique, but then think of all the data you have to educate them and how they can time their editorial. So we have a retail client. And for example, we noticed bar carts were trending in springtime. This could be tied to spring home buying season, it could be wedding season, it could be a variety of factors, but we weren't seeing editorial content around that specific category. So we were able to go into the editor's offices, Just immerse them in like all that the brand represents, what makes our shopping experience different.

9:58Mike Rush: And then tell them, you know, by the way, for this specific category, this is when you should be timing your editorial. If you're really looking to get the most eyeballs on it, the most clicks and also as a publisher drive the most revenue. And we were able to successfully do that and get them to take a closer look at a category that was really underserved and underwritten about. Yeah, from the surface, it would seem like there would be a ton of overlap in what you're discussing with the influencer and creator landscape now. Am I right about that or am I off? Oh, 100%. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the watch out there is there's sub affiliate networks.

10:32Mike Rush: So brand control can become an issue and brand reputation. So I think, again, if you if you think about the macro publishers, our recommendation, most clients would start with quality over quantity. make sure that the outlets, the publishers that over-index with your target are on, first of all, that have the right commission rates set before you kind of go into the wild west of these sub-affiliate networks. That's where you start to get into this like loosey-goosey territory of certain influencers that really aren't starting with, you know, an authentic experience. They're just doing it for, you know, their own compensation.

11:13Mike Rush: But that doesn't mean that doesn't play a role in sort of a larger marketing plan. And then the other watch out, too, is most most power or macro influencers won't do affiliate on. You know, if you're trying to broker with someone who's got a million followers, you know, borderline celebrity, they're going to want baseline compensation and a steep one at that. But affiliate can be another lever for negotiation. It gives them a little bit more skin in the game and gives them a little bit more. Yeah. Again, incentive to do more than what maybe even the contract stasis required from a content output standpoint.

11:51Yeah. I would imagine you and your team do a lot of vetting. We do.

11:55Mike Rush: Yes. I can imagine that. Documenting the vetting, too, because this is the new world of influencer marketing. Someone has a squeaky clean reputation three months in. Something goes sideways and legal's like, did we vet this person? We have to have all the backup. We have to have the receipts. Yes, I would imagine. You mentioned pitching editors before.

12:23The media landscape is changing so much, getting so much smaller in a lot of ways over the past couple of years. tell me about the types of outlets that you're pitching now, the types of journalists you're pitching now even, and how that's changed in the 20 years that you've been at this now. Because I, you know, just thinking about my own experiences, I mean, it's night and day from a few years ago even. So tell me about your experience with it, please.

12:50Mike Rush: Well, I would disagree with you on the first point, because I do think, I mean, you've probably heard the term omni-media. everyone's in their own echo chamber listening to their own podcast or reading their own sub stack. So, you know, if anything, there's there's more and more to consider. And there may be the part I will agree with you on is that there's fewer traditional newsrooms. Yeah. But, you know, there's the rise of the freelancer. Every freelancer has their own side hustle. But, yeah, to your point, it's newsletters, it's sub stacks, it's beehive. It's all these places where a lot of those very influential legacy journalists have gone, you know, the Mark Bittman's of the world or the David Bogues of the world.

13:32Mike Rush: You know, they've all got a sub stack, whether it's consumer tech or recipes, and they're looking to make money. So subscribing to their newsletter is one way they do it. But affiliate is another big way. And especially when you think about like the consumer tech sector, these are the tastemakers that want first access to a device before it drops. So there's a way to kind of use those new channels to reach the early adopters. So we're thinking about it in terms of that way. Okay. So you're still doing desk sides. I know that sounds so old school, but yeah. Yeah. I mean, one of the other trends I wanted to kind of emphasize with you, and I know this just came up, I think in the last one of the last two podcasts is like this return to in real life.

14:15Mike Rush: We're seeing that across category. And I would say, like Dessay, again, sounds very rudimentary, but it's more about brand immersion, brand experience. We work with steel. I don't know if you have a yard, but a leading chainsaw and lawnmower manufacturer. I have a very poor garden on my roof, so I wouldn't call it a yard. I spent some years landscaping, so I'm familiar with steel. No, so tell us about Jeremy's. You have an expert here. Maybe you can pitch Jeremy while he's on the podcast. So, Jeremy, like significant piece of business for us. Deep, deep home expertise. But, you know, a desk guy doesn't really work there.

14:59Mike Rush: And also taking them down to Virginia Beach where they're based felt like it was missing a little bit of sizzle. You know, they don't necessarily want to sit in a boardroom and then tour the manufacturing facility. So we took about 25 journalists and influencers just two weeks ago up to the Saratoga racetrack. They are the provider of all the grounds there. So in media, day before the race, got to basically jump on a lawnmower, test out the leaf blower, try all the new products that we were rolling out, a new battery system actually that's designed more for the professional audience. But then a lot of these journalists from Manhattan got to see a Saratoga race, which many of them didn't do.

15:38Mike Rush: and we're all dressed up in sort of race attire. And so it was, again, just putting it in context, getting them to see really and believe what the products are able to do. But creating something that's memorable and breaks through stands out. Jeremy, any questions about steel while we have Mike here? You want a chainsaw?

16:01So what can publisher, let's say publishers or creators, do you use influencers or creators? We're always trying to.

16:09Mike Rush: We say influencers, but interchangeably it depends on. Yeah. So what do publishers and influencers really expect from brands nowadays? I mean, are there, is there, is there anything that, is there anything they want when they're being pitched, so to speak, you know, whether it's a certain type of authenticity, do they want to be pitched in a certain way? I mean, do they want to be approached in a certain way? You know, how are you finding that their interactions, that your interactions with them are like? You hit the nail on the head. the authenticity, transparency up front. The authenticity piece is, and a lot of brands struggle with this.

16:44Mike Rush: You know, they think of it almost as a vendor, and it's not. It's a living human being who has like their own personal style and they view their work as art. And that's important. And it's important. It's a collaborative process. So understanding how to establish that collaboration at the outset is key. It can't just be a brief that's sent via email and then, you know, video is sent back. Often they're asking to be brought into the fold, whether it's, again, an experience that we're bringing them in as part of, it's bringing them early in on a campaign so that they can put sort of their own stamp on it.

17:22Mike Rush: I mean, the best content we've seen is when you're really giving them that level of access. And it's not transactional. It's really, for lack of better words, like symbiotic. And yeah, and then again, just respecting also what they do and understanding usage and rights and that in some cases they're going to want to retain ownership. So there's licensing fees that you encounter that more again with power influencers, but they're running a business and you need to respect them like a business. Talk to me a little bit about how AI is changing the game in terms of affiliate marketing, maybe also in the broader context of what you're doing at 360 PR Plus.

18:05You're in charge of growth there. Where do you see the biggest impacts of AI, both in affiliate marketing and with the agency at large?

18:13Mike Rush: Yeah, I mean, one of the things that I'm very proud of at 360 is just entrepreneurial spirit, like leaning into things right out of the gate. And like most other agencies right now, we have a GEO offering. So I think what AI has done for PR has been very significant. And being able to get out in front of clients, internal teams and say, look, you've discounted some of these trade publications. You aren't doing press releases anymore. There's X, Y and Z content on your site that definitely needs a refresh. All of these are over indexing with with certain LLMs and being able to counsel them on really a smart strategy for, you know, own for social for earned that propels them ahead of their competitor set.

18:59Mike Rush: So I think it's helped us innovate and create a product in response to that. But I think it was two podcasts ago you had on someone from source code who was talking about AI really being a thought partner. That's, I think, where we see it internally benefiting us the most. It's not really for idea generation. I think the best ideas are still coming from us as creative beings and our lived experiences, but it helps iterate on that. I mean, it helps also pressure test to make sure something's on brand, that we're remembering the guardrails, remembering what a client does not like. So it keeps us in our lane, especially as a creative being myself.

19:37Mike Rush: You know, it grounds me. And I keep saying to my team too, like, there's no excuse for typos. No excuse. You should absolutely be using AI as, you know, the final eye on materials, obviously ensuring that it's in a walled garden. So what do you see as being next in terms of, you know, all these areas where affiliate is expanding beyond traditional publishers, beyond, you know, we've talked about newsletters, about creator platforms, emerging media, all these different areas. What do you see as coming next here? Hmm.

20:13Mike Rush: So affiliate is not very strong in the services space. So when you think about travel and tourism, I mean, it exists, but not with the major publishers as much. Like we were actually just doing an audit for a major travel client and a lot of their competitors weren't set up in Commission Junction, which was surprising. And when you think about beyond travel, like a booking platform, whether it's shopping for insurance or shopping for a car, some of these like digital marketplaces, I think you're going to see more services leaning into affiliate on the influencer and the publisher side. So that's a boon for us just because we do quite a bit of work in that space, whether it's I mentioned CarGurus or we just started working with Insurify.

20:59Mike Rush: But I think also what's next is your agencies are going to have to become fluent overnight just because it's, again, probably one of the top questions we're getting in RFPs right now. And when we talk to clients live, they need help. Gotcha. I want to ask you about a very specific client you have, which gives you an expertise into something happening in the news cycle quite prominently right now. But you're a big player in the lettuce space. with you have a big client there and man has lettuce in the news right now. So tell us a little bit about that, but also, you know, what you're proactively doing, what you're responding to media inquiries wise and how this is all going for you.

21:44Mike Rush: Yeah, I thought you would enjoy this line of questioning this topic. So fortunately, we are not in the heat of the cyclospora outbreak. We work with a client named Little Leaf Farms. They grow indoors in highly controlled greenhouses. They're separate from traditional open field growing, open field agriculture. So in layman terms, they've essentially eliminated the biggest food safety risks out of their system. It's a walled garden, if you will. Yeah, literally. Since we're talking about content, it's a walled garden for lettuce. Rainwater is treated with UV light. You have the growers actually in protective gear.

22:25Mike Rush: You're in like this hermetically sealed environment. So it's been a major opportunity for us. And I just want to be clear, like we aren't negative campaigning. We understand this is like a very, very serious and severe issue. People are hospitalized. But I think fundamentally consumers, American consumers have a lack of understanding of where food comes from. So it's been an opportunity for education, but also empathy. and when I say empathy, it's like, no, actually there is lettuce you can still eat. But, you know, our food team, and again, I mentioned Victoria Renwick leads that practice. It's our largest practice.

23:00Mike Rush: You know, they've navigated every possible crisis you could imagine in the food space. And this has been one where it's really an opportunity to roll out executive thought leadership and talk about a way that lettuce can be grown differently and a way agriculture can exist differently. Yeah. Yeah, it's a really interesting topic for sure. Mike, thank you so much for joining us on this week's episode. Great to get your perspective on lettuce and affiliate marketing and various other topics. So thank you for joining us. Best of luck to you. Healthcare marketing is changing fast. So why are we still doing conferences the same old way?

23:35Enter MMNM Transform, a declaration against the status quo. On March 30th, MMNM Transform takes over Philadelphia's National Constitution Center for a bigger, bolder healthcare marketing festival packed with bold ideas, interactive experiences, live demos, and candid conversations. And here's the best part. In-house pharma marketers can attend for free. MMM Transform, March 30th in Philly. Register now at mmmtransform.com. Okay, so let's move over to Jeremy to talk about the biggest PR and communications news of the week. And by the way, Jeremy, let's have you introduce yourself a little bit to our podcast audience.

24:11You've been with PR Week for what, three or four months now? A little more than that. A little more than that. I should know this better than anybody. More like five or six now at this point. Yes. And you're covering a lot of new things at this point. You're doing earnings reports. You're covering corporate. You're covering crises. Tell me your favorite part of the beat. No pressure since you started. Favorite part of the beat. I honestly think it might be the crisis aspect of it. I think talking to people who are really locked in on what they're trying to, I guess, work through and navigate. in these times of maybe peril, maybe not.

24:51I think those conversations are some of the more impactful for me. All right. And that makes sense for you because I'm going to tell people a personal tidbit about you for the podcast. You're a volunteer fireman. I am a volunteer firefighter. Yes. So by the way, if there's ever, if something breaks out in the studio, I'm going to be the one running and Jeremy's going to be the one saving you. I'm a former volunteer firefighter. Oh, is that right, Fitz? I didn't know that. I didn't know this either. I did it for four years, but I haven't been to school in a while, so I'll follow John in his lead.

25:25All right, fair enough. So big news for us this week is the 2026 iteration of Pierre Rick's Power List. There's a new face at the top of the list this year. It's a feature we're really proud of because I think we were able to capture a lot of the areas where impact is being felt across the industry, whether that's AI, whether that's a changing industry, a changing agency landscape, and a lot of different areas as well. And I think we were able to get at a lot of that. So Jeremy, bring us up to speed on that one, please. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So topping this year's PR Week US power list is Microsoft's Frank Shaw.

26:02Frank Shaw is the chief communications officer over the past 15 years with the company. He's been kind of working to position Microsoft as this leader in the generative AI space over the last few years. gone through some very high profile launches of Copilot before working at Microsoft. He's spent time working on the Microsoft account at the agency now known as We Communications. I think Frank is one of the better respected people in the entire industry. I think if you ask people, especially in tech, who they look up to in that sector, I think he is always in the few names that are mentioned. He has a tremendous, if you're a sports fan, you would say he has a great coaching tree, right?

26:42And that he has a lot of people who worked with him or under him over the years who have become CCOs, who have become leaders in their own right. A lot of people would say he's great at spotting talent and bringing talented people onto his teams and empowering them. And if you ask around, he is also, he and his team have done some great work talking about how teams can use AI and how they should be using AI and really where the industry is at with this. And I think he's been a tremendously influential person in the industry for the past few years when it comes to AI and when it comes to other topics.

27:20So congrats to Frank and really congrats to the whole list because we're really proud of this list this year. I think it works really well and it's representative of so many different parts of what's a very broad and interesting industry. So congrats to all the people that are on it this year. So tell us a little bit, Jeremy, about for the first time in more than 30 years, Wendy's has a new primary PR agency, as does Popeye's. A weirdly, weirdly busy week in fast food PR agency news. Oh, yeah. So Wendy's has brought on Ruder Finn to be its next communications agency of record in the U.S. is replacing Ketchum, who has had a 30-year agency relationship.

28:10Ruderfin's strategic partner, the Toronto-based Agnostic, is going to be supporting communications efforts in Canada. This move comes after Omnicom's acquisition of Interpublic Group, which brought Ketchum and Golan under the same umbrella. Golan notably having a longstanding relationship with McDonald's. to avoid some conflict. Wendy's has left the Golan Ketchum brand and went over to Ruderfinn. It's really interesting and something people have been watching for a few months now because it became obvious to a lot of folks that McDonald's and Wendy's were probably not going to exist under the same agency.

28:48So Wendy's has ended up working with Ruderfinn. So congrats to Ruderfinn on what is going to be one of the bigger wins of this year in terms of brand wise. And we'll see what they get up to with Wendy's. Wendy's always one of the more interesting companies to watch on social media. Always very snarky, always very funny. So we'll be keeping an eye on them. Popeyes. Popeyes. LaForce wins Popeyes from United Entertainment Group. It's going to serve as the fried chicken chain's U.S. communications AOR. LaForce is going to cover all things earned media on the account, earned media strategy, driving programming execution.

29:23Popeyes has also brought on Anomaly as its U.S. creative agency of record. Angry Butterfly as its creative AOR in Canada. Angry Butterfly. What a name. Angry Butterfly. It's a good one. And Massive Rocket for data and CRM support. So look out. Spoke too soon, Frank. Yeah, I got a one-up you there. Wow. You're not thinking about rebranding already, are you, Mike? No.

29:51Oh, wow. Massive Rocket. And what was the other one? Angry Butterfly? Angry Butterfly and Anomalies Running Creative in the U.S. So they're going to lead branding creative strategy across the U.S. And Angry Butterfly. Wow. Goodness gracious. Okay. All right. I need to refocus after that one. All right, Jeremy. So promising earnings from Omnicom and Q2 and especially for the PR agencies that are a part of it. So Omnicom's Q2 earnings came out yesterday. Their core operations saw a 6.1 % organic growth up to$6 billion. Omnicom public relations revenue for Q2 was$679.1 million. That makes up 11.3 % of the whole company's core operations.

30:38Yeah. And of course, that's a group now that just combined with the former Interpublic Group PR agencies are bringing in Weber Shanwick, bringing in Golan, as Jeremy mentioned earlier, combining it with Ketchum. And of course, we have seen the combination of Fleischman, Hillard and Porter Novelli over the past few months, bringing Porter under Fleischman there. New chief communications officer at Skims, Jeremy. me. That is right. Tracy Nguyen is the first chief communications officer, if I am correct, at Skims, the co-founded by Kim Kardashian Intimate Apparel brand. She's going to be overseeing both in-house teams in Los Angeles and London, along with its global agency of record relationships.

31:21All right. And finally, really interesting story here on the marketing and PR playbook that the New York Liberty, the WNBA team here in New York City, that they use. Mike, you have an angle on this story as well.

31:38Mike Rush: Yeah, no, it was a great read. We just were awarded NFL consumer products, so the story resonated with me greatly. Much of our pitch, too, was focused on the evolution of fandom. You know, it's not what you're wearing game day. It's not just a jersey. It's about this whole cultural experience. It's fashion, tunnel fashion, music, community. I mean, some of the partnerships they've deployed with like Sunglasses Hut and Coach, just so spot on. And then Ellie the elephant getting a manicure. Ellie's the best. Yeah. Ellie's the best. I've been to a Liberty game or two and Ellie is just the best. I was just at one the other day.

32:14It was a great time. Ellie's great. Anyway, yeah, I'm a big fan of Ellie. Anyway, sorry, Mike. I cut you off there with my enthusiasm for Ellie the elephant. Okay, Jeremy, sorry. Back to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So kind of going off of what Mike just said, a lot of their playbook is kind of leaning into this fashion aspect of things, leaning into player tunnel fashion as they're walking out onto the court. They've completely transformed Ellie the elephant, as we just mentioned, into this fashion icon. Mike just mentioned sponsorships with Coach, Essie, You know, these things, these big powerhouse fashion brands working with the Liberty to boost their voice.

33:02All right. Okay, so that's about all the news we have for you for this week. A couple of public service announcements. The P.R.E. Awards US 2027, they're open for entries. First deadline is September 26th, which will be here before you know it. So get your entries in soon. PR Week Conference, formerly known as PR Decoded, is October 15th in Chicago. AI Deciphered is November 12th in New York City. You can get tickets for both of those events via PRWeek.com. So let me thank Mike Rush again for joining us on the podcast. Jeremy, thank you for joining us. And that's about all the time we have on this week's episode of the PR Week.

34:19We'll be right back. can attend for free. MMM Transform, March 30th in Philly. Register now at mmmtransform.com.