Publish or Perish Proves Good Marketing Advice

James Zimmerman was a bank personnel officer, Christopher Smith was a fashion designer and Michael Ruvo was a telecommunications analyst when the three friends decided to leave their corporate jobs and go into business together. They chose an Italian ceramics shop after considering opening a deli. In the nearly 15 years since they opened their first shop, Cottura has gained a high profile in the media. Keeping up with industry publications and becoming a resource for editors and reporters is Zimmerman’s strategy for mining publicity for his dinnerware and art imports. He was interviewed by freelance writer Karen E. Klein.

Because my partners and I all came from corporations, we knew we had to have an identifiable logo, look and contacts with publishing people. I started on an IBM typewriter, buying every possible magazine I could on cooking, decorating and homes and writing to every editor on the masthead to introduce myself and come up with story ideas.

It took almost two years before we got any responses, but I knew we could be a resource to these editors, so I kept mailing them something every four to six months. I didn’t want to do it more often because I didn’t want to be a noodge.

In 1987 we got our first break. Our products were featured in a magazine story about Italian panino sandwiches. In 1990, when we started our catalog, I started sending photo transparencies that I thought would be useful for newspapers and magazines, suggesting that if they were planning a story about decorating in the garden, they might be able to use our pictures of Italian urns. I still read those magazines and cut out the articles where I think we could be used and send pictures of our ceramics. Editors are busy and they are always looking for new, innovative, trend-setting designs. Once we could become a source of help for them, our success rate improved.

As the years went on, we became a resource--parlaying one spread into another. Because our stores are in Los Angeles, Hollywood people shop us. We started to get the bridal registries of stars and then we were featured in specialty women’s magazines.

Our customers have always been very supportive and a lot of them are in the media business. The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., uses Cottura when they do Italian dinners on their cooking shows. One of our customers is a chef and when he got his own PBS cooking show, “Cucina Amore,” he started featuring our ceramics.

I court these people by sending them Christmas cards every year and corresponding with them regularly. A lot of the people I first wrote to 15 years ago were assistants opening mail. Now they’re the editors and we’re in their back pocket because they know we’re a company they can rely on. A lot of people are flaky and the merchandise doesn’t arrive when editors are in a pinch.

There’s a balance between being a resource and being a nuisance. If someone says, “I’m not interested,” I respect that and don’t keep pressuring them. I may come up with another idea, but I never call them unless I know they want to be bothered. I try to keep our name in front of them two to three times a year.

The most important thing for me, in marketing, is to read as many consumer magazines as possible, watch local television, watch craft shows and see where my merchandise might fit in. It’s expensive to run a retail business and we don’t have a high advertising budget. We rely on publicity to get our name out and it’s worked wonderfully.

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If your business can provide a lesson to other entrepreneurs, contact Karen E. Klein at the Los Angeles Times, 1333 S. Mayflower Ave., Suite 100, Monrovia, CA 91016 or at kklein6349@aol.com. Include your name, address and telephone number.

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At a Glance

Company: Cottura Inc.

Owner: James Zimmerman, Christopher Smith, Michael Ruvo

Nature of business: Import and sell Italian hand-painted ceramics

Location: 2900 Rowena Ave., Los Angeles 90039

Web site: https://www.cottura.com

E-mail address: cottura@msn.com

Founded: 1985

Employees: 21

Annual revenue: $3.5 million