Event in Numbers:1 hour 30 min | 28 national media | 11 brands and retailers
At the end of January, we kicked off the new year with our first Power Pitching press event of 2026, focusing on Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
Who attended?
This event welcomed 11 amazing brands and retailers, all looking to promote their products that say ‘I love you’ to the national media. These brands and retailers were made up of Power Pitching regulars and new attendees, including M&S, Bloom & Wild, Lily & Roo, Lovehoney, Wonderbly, ArtFund, Moonpig, The Flora Lab, Cricut, Box of Hugs, and Cakebox and Ambala.
The lucky line-up of media included 28 tier-one journalists from national publications, including The Guardian, ITV This Morning, Glamour, Indy100, The Times, Daily Mail, Woman&Home, Hearst, HELLO!, Metro, Evening Standard, Best, Reach, Mother&Baby, The i, and more.
What did the session entail?
During the virtual event, each brand had their own breakout room where they met with the journalists to pitch-in their top products, brand story, USPs, and answered the journalists' questions.
Prior to the event, the journalists shared with us what they were looking for and the types of articles they’d be writing, helping the PRs to tailor their pitches and cater to each journalist's requirements. These requests ranged from beauty and jewellery to outdoor products and technology, gifts for him, to celebrity-backed items and everything in between. The products hitting the spotlight included Galentine’s Day pajamas, homeware, postal gift boxes, vegan cakes and so much more.
Bloom & Wild rated their experience as ‘Excellent’.
The Guardian - “A lean, mean, joy machine of a pitching event, with all the fat and faff trimmed off! Incredibly efficient and straight-to-the-point, and enormously useful to me as I prepare Guardian gift guides.”
ITV This Morning - “Another fantastic Power Pitching event organised by CIJ Group. Great brands and products showcased through a seamlessly organised online session. A really brilliant way to research and connect with brands, thank you!”
Glamour - “Great brands, super informative, and always a super fun vibe!”
Reach PLC - “What an incredible and well-organized event! The day flowed seamlessly, and the curated brand selection was spot on. We connected with several fantastic businesses and look forward to continuing those conversations.”
What’s next?
This event is just the tip of the iceberg on the roster of events we have coming up throughout 2026.
If you’d like to find out any more information on the range of Power Pitching events we have coming up for you to get involved in, then please email the team at info@cijgroup.co
We hope to see you at a Power Pitching event soon!
Best wishes,
CIJ Group