Charles Communications Associates works at the intersection of public relations and consumer marketing, with a client base rooted in wine, microbreweries, specialty and organic spirits, restaurants, and hotels and resorts. Founder Kimberly Charles brings a background in sales-driven marketing and communications, and the firm has built its reputation largely within the wine industry, where it is recognized as one of the more effective public relations and communication consultants serving that world.
The agency's work spans media relations, thought leadership, and brand strategy and positioning, often starting with efforts to help a company distill its mission and identify what makes it distinct in a crowded gourmet, natural, and organic food and beverage market. Marketing plans are developed for both large and small clients rather than a one-size approach, and the firm also handles crisis communications when reputational issues arise. Event strategy work extends into staging promotional events meant to be memorable rather than routine, and CCA describes itself as a brand incubator, suggesting involvement with companies at earlier stages of building market presence.
Client coverage has included placements in Time Magazine, Fast Company, the New York Times, USA Today, Oprah, and The Economist, reflecting the agency's reach into mainstream consumer and business press beyond trade publications. This combination of category depth in wine and specialty beverage/food sectors, paired with traditional and newer media strategies, positions the firm's day-to-day work around building coherent brand narratives and managing how client stories reach both trade audiences and broader consumer outlets.