Brian Long-Publicist and Celebrity Marketing Expert
Raised between the horse country of Lexington and the sunny beaches of Miami, Brian Long graduated in the top ten percent of his class at Emory University. After serving for two and a half years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, Long returned to the U.S. to start a career in international advertising and public relations.
Young, creative, insightful, and full of energy, Brian Long’s passion and professionalism has gained him the respect and full confidence of an impressive network of contacts in the high profile fields of fashion, publishing, entertainment, lifestyle and celebrity dressing. He works regularly with TV’s top rated network shows including The Today Show, Entertainment Tonight, VH-1, E!, and The Style Network and enjoys close relationships with the top editors at European and American publications both big and small.
Based in New York for the past five years, Long partnered with successful showroom owner Uri Alter and opened Apropo Press, a public relations firm that specialized in fashion and lifestyle accounts. In 2004 Long bought out Alter and as sole owner of the agency continued his commitment in providing high quality public relations options to fashion and lifestyle industry veterans as well as to the rising stars of tomorrow.
In 2006 Long returned to Miami, renaming his agency BLPR and bringing in long-time friend, Louis Canales as an associate of the firm. Louis Canales is internationally recognized as the master mind behind the South Beach renaissance. Canales was the public relations/marketing wizard who strategically invited the hippest press around the globe to South Beach and spoon fed them the city’s ‘happening scene’, a scene Canales created and orchestrated over a decade ago.
Long and Canales bring to BLPR twenty years of experience and an enviable track record of successes in the field of public relations. Branding, imaging, marketing, public relations, special events, and celebrity wrangling clients and associations have included Calvin Klein, Martha Stewart, Elizabeth Arden, Heatherette, Samantha Thavassa by Nicky Hilton, The MIAMI Institute, The Spa at Yellow Creek, Maven by Tori Spelling, Lloyd Klein Couture, Porsche Design, Mercedes Benz, Gucci, Tiffany, Banana Republic, Alvin Valley, Gottex, Fila, Perry Ellis, L’Oreal/Air New Zealand Fashion Week, Miami International Fashion Week, Gianni Versace, Chanel, Chris Blackwell and Island Outposts ( Marlin Hotel), Raleigh Hotel, Thierry Mugler, International Jeans Wear Convention, The Strand, Mickey Rourke, Wilke-Rodriguez, Bulgari, AsiaFest, Africa Fete, Miami Film Festival, Oribe Salons, Southern State Bodybuilding Championships, Federated Department Stores (Bloomingdale’s), DACRA, Paul Mitchell’s Miami Beach Sports and Fitness Festival, Rouse Corporation’s Village of Merrick Park, Bagdley& Mischka, Delano Hotel, Joia restaurant, Tommy Mottola, Sony Music, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Le Coq Sportif, Autore Pearls, David Mason, Project Show, DJ/ Producer Junior Vazquez, DJ/Producer Victor Calderone, DJ/Producer Tracy Young, Quincy Jones, Britney Spears, the launch party for HBO’s ‘Sex and the City’, Jet East, the Best of Italy at the Oscars suites, Miami Marketing Group, Le Meridien Hotel launch with Tori Spelling (Sunny Isles), 900 Biscayne pre-opening party with Bettina Zilkha, the pre-opening sales reception for Nicky Hilton’s NickyO Hotel, the opening weekend of The Ritz-Carlton in South Beach with Daisy Olarte de Kanavos and Rina Sinda sponsored by Cartier and Maybach, Jade Beach opening featuring Tinsley Mortimer and Ines Rivera, legendary trend-setting nightclubs and parties including Club Nu, Semper’s, Avenue A, Le Loft, Erin Cosby’s Boomerang, Sean Penn’s Bash, Liquid, Bar Room, Level and Space as well as celebrities including Nicky and Paris Hilton, Madonna, Tori Spelling, Alicia Keys, Kelly Osbourne, Pamela Anderson, Mischa Barton, Nicole Richie, and Lindsay Lohan.
Long was also the Creative Director, for three years, of the advertising campaigns for Samantha Thavassa by Nicky Hilton in Japan and was as well a consultant in Kathy Hilton’s TV reality series.
Long and Canales are also well known for their pro-bono work for worthwhile organizations. They have included Miami is for Me, National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts, Photo-Group, Israeli Film Festival, PETA, Arts Development Fund, The New World Symphony, Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, Miami Light Project, Miami City Ballet, Bass Museum, The White Party at Vizcaya, Greater Miami Host Committee, Miami International Book Fair, Miami Preservation League’s Moon over Miami Ball, Make A Wish Foundation, Florida Breast Cancer Society, United Way, Miami Models for the Homeless, Princess Grace Foundation, Lingerie Miami/New York, God’s Love We Deliver, Elton John AIDS Foundation, Family Resource Center, The Purvis Young Foundation and The Ronald McDonald House.
In 2012 Brian Joined as a partner in Love Natural Cosmetics,