CONGO TALES
(Random House / Prestel, November 2018)
Congo Tales is a photo series book of Congolese from the Mbomo District acting out their mythologies in the Odzala Kokoua National Park. The book was photographed by celebrity portrait photographer Pieter Henket (Lady Gaga, Eddie Redmayne, Mary J. Blige), and it was edited by Dutch film producer Eva Vonk and German film producer Stefanie Plattner. Congo Tales was intended to bring attention to the Congo rainforest — second only in size to the Amazon — and the people who live there, in a totally new way.
Nutter Media was brought on to launch the PR campaign for Congo Tales 6 weeks prior to publication in the States. Media coverage that ensued after Nutter Media launched the PR campaign included a lengthy story in the New York Times Review of Books, bringing global attention to Congo Tales. The Times then reprinted the story on the cover of the Arts section of the paper. The story was then picked up by the New York Times International Edition, which published the story on the front page of the paper, and almost all of A2, making Congo Tales a global news story. (See media coverage below).
Media coverage also included lengthy interviews on PBS News Hour, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and BBC Radio, as well as excerpts, reviews and interviews in global visual design media and international news outlets such as the U.K.’s Monocle 24 Radio and It’s Nice That, Germany’s Ignant, the U.S.’ My Modern Met, Belgium’s De Morgan, France’s Geo, Italy’s Focus, and Spain’s El Pais.
As a function of the PR coverage, Congo Tales was also promoted on the above media’s social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram numbers reaching over 30 million followers in total.
Random House sold out in January, 2019, and Congo Tales went into a second printing that Spring.
“With Congo Tales, we knew we had a beautiful product, and had done something very special, but we didn’t know how to make it known to the world. Then we met Chris. Due to his endless expertise on all things media and insight into how our project could realize its potential, we reached all the major international press outlets; were covered on social media channels with over 30 million followers; and the book sold out within weeks of hiring him. Chris was like a father figure to the project, and is a true authority on modern day PR. ”
Congo Tales Media Coverage
