The Knot Group

Tatiana Read, the founder of The Knot Group, has always remained ahead of the curve, whether through hard work or curiosity. It was curiosity, and a bout of mononucleosis, that led Tatiana to learn to code back in the 1980s, when the general public had never heard of any such thing. She accessed the U of T website from her sickbed and discovered the world of HTML.

"It was very empowering," Tatiana says, "to discover that if you had webspace you could broadcast your message to the world. This was long before the concept of a blog ever existed. At that time, it was mainly corporations or large educational institutions on the web. The fact that I could make this small mark was really interesting."

Her comfort with technology helped her become an early adopter of social media as well. She was one of the first people on Twitter and remembers the excitement of being part of this new online community. "You suddenly had access to people you wouldn't normally have access to. It created dialogue, access to communication and insights into other people you wouldn't have otherwise."

Tatiana's willingness to embrace technology fits well with The Knot Group's approach to publicity. “We used tools like used Google Apps and Dropbox as soon as they became available, and Flickr for public image distribution. We immediately got rid of the PR as a gatekeeper notion. It's all about getting information to the media quickly and efficiently. All our releases are on our website, along with information on each client – it's all right at your fingertips.”

It is unsurprising, then, that The Knot Group also offers digital and social media strategies to its clientele, along with more traditional PR services. Tatiana is quick to identify what social media platforms are best suited to each client. “Brands have to focus on which mediums work best for them. There are about 10 dominant channels, but you don't need to do them all. It's better to do just one or two, and do them really, really well.”