Agency · Vancouver, BC
US Market Expansion
A Canadian PR agency with strong Vancouver roots and a plan to break into New York and LA. They needed the outbound infrastructure to make that move real.
The client
Talk Shop Media is a PR agency based in Vancouver.
They have a strong book of work in lifestyle, food, and consumer brands across Western Canada. The leadership team decided it was time to expand into the US — specifically New York and LA — with a $2M revenue target for the US operation.
The challenge was not the quality of their work. It was that nobody in New York had heard of them. They needed a system for getting in front of the right people, in the right markets, with a clear reason to take the meeting.
The challenge
Entering a market where you have no name.
The US PR market is crowded. Every major city has dozens of agencies that do lifestyle and consumer work. A Canadian agency entering that market cannot rely on reputation — it does not exist there yet. The competitive landscape needed to be mapped before a single outreach email went out.
Talk Shop also needed to figure out which version of themselves would resonate with American brand marketers. Their Canadian positioning was strong, but it was built for a different market with different expectations and different competitive dynamics.
The work
Research, lists, system.
Research
US competitive landscape
Mapped the US PR competitive field agency by agency — who owns which categories, where the white space is, and which firms Talk Shop could realistically displace in New York and LA.
Lead generation
New York and LA lead lists
Built targeted prospect lists for both markets. Identified brands with active PR needs, recent agency reviews, and the kind of work Talk Shop does best — lifestyle, food, and consumer brands.
Strategy
Outbound campaign system
Designed the outbound infrastructure tied to a $2M US revenue target — sequencing, messaging, CRM pipeline stages, and tracking so the team could run it after the engagement ended.
Positioning
US market positioning
Refined the agency positioning for the US market. What works in Vancouver does not automatically translate to New York. Sharpened the value proposition for American brand marketers who have never heard of Talk Shop.
What we delivered
The infrastructure for a $2M US expansion.
Revenue target
$2M US
Markets entered
New York + LA
Competitive agencies mapped
Full US PR landscape
Lead lists built
2 markets
Outbound system
Built and handed off
Engagement period
Nov 2024 — Mar 2025
Expanding into a new market?
We build the outbound infrastructure so you can enter with a system, not a hope.