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Melissa DiGianfilippo

Founder & CEO at Proof Public Relations
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Melissa DiGianfilippo has spent her entire career in public relations. Under her direction, Melissa’s clients have earned trillions of dollars in positive press coverage across international, national, and local media outlets. She has facilitated hundreds of successful partnerships, influencer campaigns, PR stunts and activations, and more. Melissa’s path to entrepreneurship began with a prestigious internship in Chicago, followed by multiple job offers before graduating college. She gained extensive experience on both the agency and corporate sides of PR before starting her own company in 2008. For over 15 years, she co-ran Serendipit Consulting, growing the agency to 40 employees and millions in annual revenue and landing on the Inc 5000 list. In 2024, she launched Proof.

Notable Achievements & Accolades:
* Interviewed by and contributed content for Fox & Friends, Good Morning America, CNN, The Today Show, Entrepreneur
Magazine, and more.
* Executed a national PR stunt that landed 200 media placements, resulting in a 297% increase in referral traffic and a 19%
increase in direct traffic to a client’s website.
* Helped a new national franchisor drive over 100 qualified franchise leads through 98 targeted earned media placements
in one year.
* Best Marketing Podcast by Adweek’s Podcast of the Year Awards (2022)
* 40 Under 40 honoree by the Phoenix Business Journal (2021)
* Agency of the Year by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Phoenix Chapter (2019)
* Top Female PR Professional in Arizona by Arizona Foothills Magazine (2018)
* Most Admired Leader by the Phoenix Business Journal (2018)
* Rising Star by Student Housing Business (2014)
* Generation Next: Forty Under Forty by AZ Business Magazine (2014)
* Most Valuable Volunteer of the Connect Board by the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley (2018)
* Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) Arizona chapter member (2014 - present), Board Member (2017 - 2020)
* Scottsdale Leadership Graduate Class 23 (2009)

  • Olive Garden's Breadstick Strategy: A Recipe for Brand Loyalty
    Melissa reveals that Olive Garden's "unlimited" breadsticks create feelings of abundance, making customers feel valued. This simple offering has become a decision-maker for diners. The lesson for other restaurants: offer something simple and distinctive that builds emotional connections. It's not just a cost, but an investment in customer loyalty.
  • Anne Hathaway's Decade-Delayed Apology: A PR Masterclass
    Melissa praises Anne's professional handling of Flaa's criticisms, noting her vulnerability and maturity. "Anne demonstrated her maturity by apologizing," she says. Melissa suggests Blake Lively could learn from Anne's approach, emphasizing the importance of timely apologies to maintain fan support and media favor.
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  • "Taylor seemed to kind of play a game in the beginning — not meeting up with him at the concert, not really responding to him, not really publicly doing anything until last night. That's part of why I think this is rooted in truth," DiGianfilippo says. She continues, "Taylor is not seen unless she wants to be seen. She doesn't comment unless she wants to be heard. She's there to support him. That's admittance enough (of) interest at the very least, or a deeper relationship."

    DiGianfilippo thinks there’s an authenticity to how the relationship seemingly came to be. Celebrities are typically able to be introduced through contacts privately, DiGianfilippo says.

    That's not what Kelce did. Instead, he confessed his crush — and his rejection — on his podcast.

    "There are so many easier ways for a celebrity to get hooked up with a crush privately, to not be embarrassed. I think when a celebrity does something outward like this, it's a call for attention. He wants to captivate her attention," she says.

    Finally, DiGianfilippo says that just because something has elements of intentionality — like Swift sitting next to Kelce's mom, or Kelce's tie-dye outfit leaving the stadium, which was thought to be riffing off of Swift's "1989" album – that doesn't mean the connection is fake.

    "There are planned moments that her PR team and manager and probably his thought of to make this even busier. But I believe these things are always rooted in some truth. It's real, but they made it better and more interesting."

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