Karp Opens RL Public Relations & Marketing Office In NYC.

RL Public Relations + Marketing announced its expansion into the New York market with the hiring of New York-based native, and former group vice president at GCI, Melissa Karp. In her new position as senior vice president and head of the New York office, Melissa will be responsible for business development in the New York tri-state area, nationally and in Latin America. Additionally, Melissa will work with RLPR’s newly created Latino sports group, Sportivo, to implement its growth strategy.

“We have dedicated the past several years to bridging the gap between the evolving Latino communities and the brands that need to reach them by leveraging our strong media and influencer relationships across the nation and in Latin America,” said company founder and president, Roxana Lissa. “With the addition of Melissa to our team, we have the tools in place to continue to evolve our business, and meet even more of the Hispanic marketing needs of consumer and healthcare clients.”
With over a decade of experience marketing consumer products to multi-cultural audiences, Melissa specializes in launching and repositioning household brands. Melissa was with GCI Group’s New York consumer marketing practice for nearly five years where she created and spearheaded several successful consumer product launches and repositioning campaigns for leading personal care, food, and retail clients.

“The Latinization of America is creating a new population dynamic in the US that marketing professionals need to understand and address,” adds Ms. Karp. “Challenging but dually exciting, the opportunity to work with Roxana and her company to develop campaigns designed around impact, is a journey I am thrilled to begin.”
Most recently at GCI, Melissa created and led the successful launch of Schick Intuition and Schick Quattro, helping establish the razor company as a viable competitor to Gillette for the first time. The 2003 public relations campaigns together secured nearly 600,000,000 impressions, and were recognized for their impact on overall sales.
Additionally, Melissa counseled Cover Girl Cosmetics on their Hispanic marketing efforts for almost four years. During this period, she worked closely with RL Public Relations on an educational initiative for Cover Girl that focused on the rising drop-out rate among Latinas. The program began as a pilot effort in Los Angeles, and expanded to a multi-market program that incorporated retail partner, Walgreens.

Among the other clients Melissa worked on while at GCI are Banana Boat Suncare, Downy Premium Care, Lipton Side Dishes, Parkay, Payless ShoeSource, Rogaine and Rogaine for Women.

Melissa started her career at the Jewish Board of Family and Children Services before joining Great Ink Communications where she focused on promoting real estate and healthcare services to consumers. Thereafter, she was an Account Supervisor at AgitProp, Inc., concentrating on beauty, health and food clients.