If you’ve taken my advice and employed the leaky faucet approach to PR, you’re writing a number of press releases on a consistent basis. Obviously, you don’t want to spend any more time writing your press releases than you have to.
I’ve come up with a short list of tips to help you write your press releases faster, without sacrificing quality. In fact, if you follow these tips, you should be able to crank out a well-written, newsworthy press release in as little as 15 minutes.
- Keep a list of ideas – Jot down ideas for news stories whenever you think of them. Don’t have any good ideas? Check out our Ultimate Collection of Press Release Ideas for inspiration. Having a list of good ideas ready to go can save you a lot of time when you sit down to write.
- Stay on point – You’re not writing an epic. You’re writing a press release. Press releases should be focused and on point. Focus on getting the story across as clearly as possible in the fewest number of words.
- Outline your press release – Before you start writing your press release, create a basic outline of the main points you need to cover. This can be in bullet point form. This will help keep your writing focused, so you don’t waste time trying to figure out what to write about or writing fluff that will later get edited out.
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The National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) — the vending machine industry association for all of you snacking junkies – is trying to take a bite out the perception that they are a major cause of obesity in kids. They named their initiative, begun earlier this year, Balanced for Life.
On their website they write: “The Balanced for Life campaign is designed to correct the misperceptions many have about vending’s role in growing obesity rates. All too often our industry is seen as a quick-fix solution to what is in fact a very complex problem. At the same time, we want to demonstrate that we want to be part of the solution by working to educate people about nutrition, healthy diets and the importance of physical activity in a healthy lifestyle.”
Also from the website is this campaign description: “The campaign will target a variety of school officials, including parents, school officials and educational boards, along with federal policy makers, Members of Congress, state legislators and the media. To get our messages out to these target audiences, the campaign is built around a comprehensive media campaign that includes advertising, newspaper editorials, bylined articles, television interviews and special events. In each case the campaign will deliver messages about the balanced choices that are available in today’s vending machines; the importance of balancing calories consumed with calories burned; the importance of daily physical activity; and the importance of teaching young people about the elements of a healthy, balanced diet. What we’re really trying to do is position our industry as a partner working to help solve the problem, explaining that vending machines in schools offer a balanced variety of foods and beverages and can be an important tool in teaching young people to make smart choices. “
The website does its job. A mission statement, print ads, machine graphics for vending machines, template media pieces, posters, and more are all available for free to the members. But it primarily looks like a “pull” strategy. NAMA has also partnered with the non-profit “America Scores” to work on making children live more active lives. The collaborative efforts are a wise step to lend the much-needed credence to such a campaign. Great stuff.
And yet, run a simple news search on the success of this effort and you find a plethora of vending machine-bashing stories from school districts throughout the country. Here is one of the latest headlines I found: “Health movement has school cafeterias in a food fight USA Today – Aug 21 8:44 PM. “Elizabeth Nyikako, 16, a senior at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, used to buy a Coke or a Twix candy bar from school vending machines, but no more. Now she gets bottled water and granola bars.”
The beverage distributors are also now in the fight to change the image.
Do you think that anything can work in situations such as these or are these groups simply facing an emotional runaway train?
It’s easy to play up the adversarial relationship between “Hacks” and “Flacks,” but the truth of this perennial love/hate relationship is that that we really do need one other. Although the value of PR professionals to journalists is often called into question, as this article points out, “the popularity of services like HARO and ProfNet should be proof enough that journalists have a need for PR professionals.”
That said, as PR professionals, our jobs are two-fold: Not only are we advocates for our clients, but we’re also here to make life easier on our journalist comrades. Between a non-stop news cycle, scary budget cuts and mounting competition for clicks, there’s a good chance they’re working in a pressure cooker environment, so the best thing we can do is to think from their perspective and assist rather than annoy. After all, it comes down to relationships, and there’s nothing worse than trying to work with someone who makes your job harder.
So, without further ado, here are our “Top 10 Yeas and Nays” for better PR practices. Although some may seem pretty obvious, those are often the ones that are first forgotten.
DON’T even think about…
- Not doing your research/reading a journalist’s articles before pitching. Know who you’re targeting, and only send something to them that you think would be of interest.
- Sending a pitch via email blast. The shotgun-spray approach is not appreciated; rather, think like a sniper.
- Asking if you can see and/or edit an article before it’s published. This is a huge no-no!
- Making up a response if you don’t know the answer. It’s perfectly acceptable to say, “I’m not sure. Let me check and get back to you.”
- Disregarding deadlines. Your journalist friend has theirs, so make sure you meet yours.
If you want to develop good working relationships, DO try…
- Respecting the journalist’s preferences. If they’re an email person, and you’re more comfortable on the phone, adapt. Work their way.
- Keeping pitches and releases short and to-the-point (and as buzz-free as possible). Repeat after me: Less is more.
- Thinking about how to streamline the process. Have assets and answers ready, and be available when the reporter is writing and may have a question. (Package the story beforehand as much as possible: angle, visual content, facts, references, spokespersons, etc.)
- Proofread, proofread, proofread. And when in doubt, hit spell check again before sending that pitch – perhaps even send to a colleague to review with fresh eyes before contacting the reporter.
- Focusing on relationships. I said it above, and I’ll say it again – it’s all about relationships. They make the job easier and a whole lot more fun! For example, interact with, read, comment on, share and praise a reporter’s work that you find of interest – not just when it’s a story about your company or client.
It is interesting that the word ‘consultant’ derives from the Latin, consultare, meaning to debate or discuss. That implies its function is to assist in two-way communications – yet, the role of management consultancy is positioned as assisting organizations to improve performance, through logical analysis and development of plans. The focus is more on management rather than consultancy.
The history of management consultancy is tied closely to analytical processes and a rational, scientific approach to organizational operations. Consultants provide expertise, often in a prescriptive manner, determining ‘best practice’ that will result from adhering to recommended strategies.
This philosophy underpins modern management with a belief that outcomes can be predicted, risk managed and success achieved by a process of research, reflection, monitoring and evaluation.
Public relations has followed this route in seeking increased status and recognition as a serious business management consultancy service – whether operating within an organization or as external experts.
Personally, I don’t believe the world is so readily predictable – for me, the idea of rational management is largely a placebo, making organizations feel in control by virtue of implementing processes and seeking the ‘right way’ to operate. (That’s not to say processes aren’t important – but they should not take precedence over a need to adapt and respond to a dynamic environment.)
Consequently, I am interested in the idea of ‘integrated reporting’ and the involvement of public relations in advocating its adoption alongside governments, global businesses, the investment community – and management consultants.
Toni Muzi Falconi argues, in relation to the Stockholm Accords, that the development of integrated reporting is a real opportunity for public relations to be part of the strategic management of organizations. He sees this move away from the traditional ‘annual report’ approach as putting stakeholders at the heart of business concerns.
From this viewpoint, PR is not simply going to be involved in producing the narrative within the integrated report – rather it will be pivotal in ensuring interactive, ongoing communications (dialogue) between senior management and key stakeholders.
Arguably, that emphasises consultancy over management. But the language of integrated reporting is that of assessing and evaluating quality, performance, value and impact. That is, a systems approach where stakeholders are engaged in transactional relationships with organizations and sustainability is about keeping the system going.
Sadly, I remain skeptical that the momentum behind integrated reporting is anything more than an opportunity for perpetuating the myth of the rational manager. The black and white of a written report inevitably loses the richness of real world relationships, the complexity of an organization’s day to day operations and the increasing chaos of the external environment in which it operates.
I’ve been paying attention to the things that command attention, both of myself and others, and I’ve made a list of 21 techniques that work. This list is far from all of them I’m sure, but it should be enough to get you started …
1. Be wrong
The world is full of people trying to do the right things. It’s become so common that many of us are bored by it. We long for someone that’s willing to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, be the wrong thing. If you have the courage to be that person, you’ll find lots of people paying attention to you.
2. Be right
You can also gain attention by being right … but only if you’re more right than everyone else. Run a mile faster than anyone else, explain your topic more clearly than anyone else, be funnier than everyone else. Embody perfection, and people will take notice.
3. Communicate what others can’t
As writers, we take ideas from our heads and put them on the page. Sometimes we forget how difficult that is for some people and how valuable that makes us. Lots of people would give anything to be able to say what they mean. But they can’t. So, they turn to songs, books, and art that communicate for them. Be a producer of those things, and you’ll never lose their attention.
4. Do something
Everybody online is trying to say something important, but very few are trying to do something important. If you want attention, dare not to just give advice to others, but to live that advice yourself. Then publish it to the open web.
5. Surprise people
Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, say that one of the best ways to set yourself apart is to break people’s “guessing machines.” Take a surprising position, making outlandish analogy, or otherwise do the opposite of what you normally do. As long as it’s unexpected, people will stop and pay attention.
All of the meat processing companies have been slow to grapple with the growing pink-slime hullabaloo, even though there doesn’t seem to be much evidence that their products are particularly unhealthy, said Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who specializes in food safety and food poisoning cases.”My only complaint about this product is I think they could have been more up-front with the public,” Marler said. “When companies are not open about what their product is and what it contains, positive and negative, people get concerned and assume the worst.”
The meat industry failed itself by not staying abreast of social media and online forums for signs of trouble, said Jonathan Bernstein of Bernstein Crisis Management in Sierra Madre.
“They lost control of the message,” he said. “Perception is everything. If enough people perceive that something is wrong, it’s wrong. Reassurances that something’s safe from groups that are now distrusted are useless at this point.”
72andSunny’s mantra is “Be brave and generous.” Since 2004, the company has embodied this message internally and externally–with edgy, award-winning advertisements featuring world leaders kissing, and employee collaboration processes that produce fun, buzz-worthy campaigns.
The best mantras are like that. They inform a company’s everyday decisions, both behind the curtain and in front of the crowd.
“Mantra” is a Sanskrit term, meaning “sacred utterance” or “sacred thought,” depending on the dictionary. Traditionally concentration aids given by Hindu gurus to devotees, mantras are words or phrases repeated to facilitate transformation. In business, a mantra is akin to a motto, albeit more fundamental to a company’s internal purpose than simply a marketing slogan. It’s concise, repeatable, and core to a company’s existence.
“Think different.” “Don’t be evil.” For some of the world’s most innovative companies, mantras become a rallying point for employees and customers.
The key is simplicity. “Create a mantra of two or three words,” author and former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki instructed at the most recent Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston. “Make it short, sweet, and swallowable.”
Mantras are not mission statements, though they’re often confused with the cumbersome paragraphs of platitudes generated at corporate retreats involving trust falls. When asked for their company mantras for this story, over 100 business owners, from startups to energy companies to retailers, submitted gobbledygook claiming to be mantras.
“Our collaborative ideology is our greatest differentiator,” writes one firm. Another shares its “mantra”: “[our company] exists to fuel our clients’ growth while delivering maximum accountability through our performance-based financial models by leveraging the power of the search engines.”
Read full article via Fast Company
Late last year, NASCAR lifted its long-held ban on liquor sponsorship, opening the door for Diageo Crown Royal brand to become race team sponsor for driver Kurt Busch. One might think that alcohol and driving, on any level, would be a potent cocktail. But the sponsor immediately embarked on an aggressive campaign with a socially responsible message promoting responsible drinking. While that tag, some claim, has become so cliché, many no longer see or hear the message, Diageo just issued a news release that shows they are staying the course.
Many of their brands are very familiar worldwide: J & B Scotch, Johnnie Walker, Jose Cuervo, Smirnoff, Tangueray, Baileys Irish Cream, Captain Morgan. Godiva cream liqueur, Red Stripe beer and Guinness, are some.
As reported by PR News earlier this year, “With so many brands that have different personalities and target different drinkers, it might seem impossible to connect them all to the umbrella company.” So, instead, they communicated in what they called a brand-centric way. In the case of Captain Morgan, for example, he became a character that could do such things as run for president or talk about responsible drinking. “To promote politics-free partying, for example, Captain Morgan would advise: ‘Liberal with the cola. Conservative with the Captain. Drink responsibly.” (PR News)
Tying to celebrity sports personalities such as the racers is a long-proven, effective way to deliver messages. What do you think?
On July 25, Diageo issued the final news release:
Diageo launches Global consumer information policy
As part of its commitment to leadership in responsible drinking
Diageo today announces plans to provide consumers with nutrition information and a responsible drinking reminder across its range of Diageo-owned spirits, wines and beers. Diageo recognises that consumers want to make informed choices about what they drink. The purpose of the global consumer information policy, which will be rolled out across 180 markets, is to provide consumers with meaningful information in the best, least confusing ways possible. This information will be delivered through multiple communication channels, including labels and secondary packaging, a global website and consumer care-lines.
The policy will include responsible drinking reminders and facts on nutrition, allergens and alcohol content/serve size:
> Responsible drinking reminder: Responsible drinking messages remind adult consumers of the importance of enjoying beverage alcohol in moderation. As part of our existing range of programmes and initiatives to support moderate and responsible drinking, the words ¡°Drink Responsibly¡± (or a translation of) will appear on labels and secondary packaging. A responsible drinking reminder will appear on advertising tailored to the brand or local market.
> Nutrition information: Diageo will include an energy value on labels and secondary packaging unless local regulatory requirements demand otherwise. Within the EU, values will be provided for energy, protein, carbohydrates and fat. This information – also delivered through the global website and consumer care-lines – will not be provided in a way that implies health or dietary benefits.
> Allergens: Where known allergens exist in our alcohol beverages, allergen statements will be provided on labels and secondary packaging, as well as through the global website and consumer care-lines.
> Alcohol content/serve size: Alcohol content (ABV) information will be provided on labels and secondary packaging, the global website and consumer care-lines. We will support standard serve size/unit labelling in those markets where there is an agreed definition and recommended guidance on consumption from an authoritative source.
Commenting today, Rob Malcolm, President, Marketing, Sales and Innovation, Diageo, said: ‘The consumer is at the heart of everything that we do. We want our consumers to continue to enjoy the quality of our brands as part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Our consumer information policy is another voluntary step for Diageo and is also part of our wider commitment to responsible drinking. We recognise the importance of enabling them to make informed choices about what they drink. As a responsible and responsive company we have developed a policy which helps them to do this.’
Diageo is putting appropriate resource behind rolling the policy out across its global business in the most efficient manner possible. Around 10,000 packaging variations worldwide will be changed during the course of the roll-out, over a five-year period. New product launches, packaging renovations and promotional packaging changes will include the consumer information.
I asked the students in my online Public Relations Techniques class, University of Maryland University College, to select some of the best examples of persuasive public relations that they felt measured up to “Best Practice” level. Here are some of the winners they chose:
Susan Hollman likes Amazon.com’s “Holiday A-List Campaign.” It won a PRSA Silver Anvil award. Susan wrote that “Amazon.com and UTA Dobbin Bolgla won this award in 2004 for a promotion in 2003 … The campaign was based on prior knowledge gleaned from research that indicated that customers like to get ‘celebrity promotions that incorporate exclusive content.’ A prior online event with messages from singers such as Madonna and Seal, were both successful with customers and with gaining unearned media. The budget covered the agency fees. All additional media coverage was unearned through articles, celebrity websites, etc. The celebrities provided the online messages at no cost, including a video concert by the Foo Fighters. All participants got free publicity and promotion of their products. Even publishers were involved in some cases, providing extra copies of books to Amazon.com to meet the anticipated increased demand. A real win-win situation. When the campaign was evaluated, these were some of the highlights that make me feel this campaign was a PR best practice.
-Participating celebrities agreed they would do it again.
-There were in excess of 157 million media impressions.
-Sales and site hits increased and Amazon had its “best holiday season.”
-The featured products all had sales spikes when they were highlighted during the campaign.
Kimberlie Payne cited Sears Roebuck& Co. She wrote: “For the past seven years Sears Roebuck & Co. has produced a free calendar for its customers commemorating Black History month. According to a recent press release at prnewswire.com, Sears announces that it is ‘proud to celebrate African-American history and culture through an original keepsake calendar distributed to nearly two million customers free of charge at its stores nationwide now through February.’ Since the 1990’s ‘Softer Side of Sears’ campaign, the company has been continually re-vamping and re-energizing its hardware-only image. To add to its widening clientele and to demonstrate social awareness, Sears is reaching out to its publics again in order to persuade them to view the company as a diversified and culturally open place to work and shop. ‘Every year we look forward to creating a new and meaningful calendar that demonstrates to our customers that we not only value African-American culture, but that we also celebrate it across our entire company,’ (prnewswire.com).
Mark Hurst admires the Tide laundry detergent brand. “I began to notice the company’s commitment to public relations while watching a Christmas special this past holiday season. The company sponsored a children’s movie on one of the major cable networks and used the movie to promote its own public relations campaign. During the movie, the first commercial of every series was a Tide commercial that featured a running animated story of a small-town event that was being threatened by an unforeseen snowstorm. The story was beautifully animated and beautifully crafted. In each sequence, a new family was introduced (usually from a different social demographic) and clothes played a prominent role in their family story. An animated box of Tide was always subtly placed to catch the viewer’s eye…At the end of the story, the big event turned out to be a clothing drive for underprivileged families. Of course, the story had a warm, feel-good ending and Tide used this ending to announce their own clothing drive for underprivileged families.
Tide has recently announced a new, socially responsible product line called ‘Cold Water Tide.’ This product is designed to save energy by cleaning clothes effectively using only cold water. As public awareness of the global warming crisis continues to rise, Tide is certain to garner plenty of free media attention by developing a product line that can help to ‘Turn the Tide’ of global warming. To make the product introduction interesting to consumers, Tide has developed a website, http://www.tide.com/tidecoldwater/challenge.jhtml where they invite consumers to ‘Take the Coldwater Challenge.’ By logging in and sending the link to their friends, consumers can track the impact they’ve had on the environment (through social networking) on a prominently displayed map that displays the location of people who have read their note. Tide has a built-in calculator on their website that allows families to calculate how much money they will save by using Coldwater Tide. Again, Tide is coming to the aid of poor families by prominently announcing that it will donate $100,000 to the National Fuel Funds Network — an organization that provides money for low-income families to pay their energy bills. The challenge seems to be working. So far, about a half million Americans have taken the ‘Tide Cold Water Challenge.’ For this latest campaign to help raise social awareness of the global warming problem (and also to improve the company image), Tide gets my nomination as an example of a PR Best Practice.”
Paul Hill likes SNAPPLE. In a combination of advertising and PR, Snapple latched onto an idea to solicit customer letters. The idea was the brainchild of the PR department at Kirschenbaum & Bond. “The phenomenon behind this Big Idea is that people want ownership of Snapple and they are willing to write to the company about their relationship with this drink. The first unsolicited letters related how the writers felt — that they discovered it, they want to own it, and they are driven to share the news with others. The letters gave the agency an idea for a campaign based on a Snapple employee named Wendy who receives the letters, reads them, and responds to them. The campaign features real letters from real people who have tried the beverage and love it. The television production crews travel to these people’s hometowns and film them there–a technique which could backfire when you put untrained performers on camera, or could be a stroke of genius if they project an infectious enthusiasm, as has happened. The filming also becomes a publicity event at the local level because the company involves the community in the release of the commercials. This incredible relationship evolved to the point that Snapple eventually was receiving some 20 boxes of letters a month.”
Elizabeth Henderson is impressed about how Jack In the Box restaurants turned their image around after an e-coli scare. “They are now known as a leader in food safety. Most other fast food chains followed the lead of Jack In the Box in implementing new food safety measures. They have used their new safety program to persuade customers to return to their restaurants. From the website: http://www.jackinthebox.com/aboutourco/foodsafety.php …”Jack in the Box® restaurants strive to ensure that the food we serve exceeds our guests’ high expectations for quality and safety. Our food quality and safety program has been recognized as the most comprehensive system in the industry today. In our restaurants, Jack in the Box implements a Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) system for managing food quality and safety. Critical Control Points are key steps in the product flow that affect food safety. Introduced in 1993, our HACCP system encompasses farm to fork procedures for safe food handling and preparation in every restaurant….”
And there is much more…” Chad Elliott found another PRSA Silver Anvil winner that impressed him. It is Duracell’s campaign of “trust”. “Partnering with The American Red Cross, Duracell moved away from its traditional performance-based claims in favor of the notion of trust in launching the program entitled ‘Together We Can Become Safe Families.’ Distributing more than 150,000 guidebooks and coupons to help families prepare for unforeseen emergencies, positioned the brand before the public as one it can ‘trust.’ Using the American Red Cross was brilliant, because by name association alone it gives the batteries instant credibility. Identifying with Americans’ continued concern over terrorism, the strategy launched a program tailored to preparedness. The agency PainePR was responsible for the effort.”
Anthony Tornetta thinks the “Reading is Fundamental” (RIF) program doesn’t get enough credit. “This program is a good one — children see their sports heroes and other celebrities they see on T.V. reading and telling them to read. RIF is the nation’s largest nonprofit children’s literacy organization. This program is very persuasive and subtle. It is telling kids that it’s cool to read and that they should read as much as possible. I think their commercials are the most persuasive part for children when they see sports and celebrities on television.”
Erin Bessemer acknowledges that it as much marketing and advertising, as PR, but she admires the image created by “Yoplait’s Save Lids to Save Lives” promotion. “For more than ten years, Yoplait has been associated with helping women fight breast cancer. Save Lids to Save Lives has proven effective for the Yoplait Company and is part of their larger promotion of women’s wellness. In its first seven years, they have donated more than $14 million toward finding a cure for breast cancer.” Yoplait has also been the National Series Presenting Sponsor of the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation’s Race for the Cure since 2001. See http://www.yoplait.com/breastcancer_commitment.aspx
“I see Yoplait’s commercials all over television. You usually see a woman exercising and then taking a break to enjoy here yogurt snack. At the end, she licks the pink lid to save and send in to the company. I feel this campaign is effective because it links Yoplait’s public relations with a very good cause.“
Alison Mingo calls to our attention The American Legacy Foundation’s “truth” ads. They have received multiple awards such as International Andy Awards, The One Show, Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, and Cresta Awards. “Arnold Worldwide is the agency responsible for producing this past year’s ads that convey, through satire, the stupidity of smoking cigarettes. The messages invoke different emotions from viewers in the shocking yet realistic information provided. Most importantly, though, these ads reach the target audience of young people who may be tempted to smoke or those who have recently become addicted. The anti-smoking messages have already contributed to the public’s awareness of the hazards of smoking that have led to statutory legislation banning smoking in public places.”
June Kruse – Also acknowledging the close connection among PR, marketing and advertising, loves the “Got Milk?” campaign. “When you see a celebrity sporting a white mustache in a magazine ad, you will know that’s the famous National Milk Mustache Got Milk Campaign.The campaign is funded by America’s milk processors and dairy farmers, with a goal of ‘educating consumers on the benefits of milk and to raise milk consumption.’ In addition to ‘Got Milk’ and ‘Got Chocolate Milk,’ ‘24/24 Milk’ was launched to stay on top of the diet craze. Their slogan ‘milk your diet, lose weight’ suggests ‘a reduced-calorie eating plan that includes 24 oz of fat free or low fat milk each day may give your weight loss efforts a boost.’ These campaigns have successfully raised our awareness of the importance of milk.” You can check out the facts, ads and commercials at these sites. http://www.whymilk.com/, http://www.2424milk.com/index.htm, http://www.milkdelivers.org/index.cfm
Kandra Berry loves an award-winning newsletter, ”SAMHSA News,” published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This monthly “offers the public information about substance abuse and mental health issues on a monthly basis.” See http://alt.samhsa.gov/SAMHSA_News/index.asp
Jacqueline “Jackie” Nemes loves Dell Computers/GCI Read Poland’s campaign “No Computer Should Go to Waste.” “This international effort recently won the PR News Corporate Responsibility Award for Environmental Communications. I believe this campaign measures up to Best Practice level because it has accomplished its socially responsible mission in creating positive social change. In 1997, the National Safety Council released estimates that more than 300 million computers would become obsolete before 2004, and efforts to dispose of them would generate a wide range of toxic wastes. Socially responsible companies searched for and developed solutions to this electronic waste. For example, Dell Computers began offering an online service called Dell Exchange, where customers can trade in, donate or auction their obsolete computers. In partnership with the government of Malaysia, Dell and GCI succeeded in their global campaign to raise public awareness of recycling/donating options for unwanted computer equipment and persuading public action. In 2004, informed citizens throughout the world recycled more than 100 tons of computer equipment and donated more than 850 tons of computers.” Pauleta Gumbs admires the American Red Cross Blanket Days for the Homeless program. See http://www.semredcross.org/blanketdays/
“This campaign was established to provide blankets for homeless and disaster victims. The campaign encourage groups, families, individuals to hold blanket drives in their hometowns and claims to collect more than 7,000 blankets each year. One of the reasons I feel that this campaign is effective because it plays on the audience emotions.
“Take this paragraph: ‘Your Help Is Needed. When temperatures drop, local shelters fill with thousands of homeless people- teenage runaways, victims of domestic violence, substance abusers, and the mentally ill. The cold weather also intensifies the suffering of people whose homes have been destroyed by home fires or other disaster. A warm blanket wrapped around the shoulders of someone who has lost a home is a comforting reminder that someone cares. How You Can Help. Your new twin-size blanket donations will be provided to local homeless shelters and disaster victims; financial donations will pay for additional blankets if needed, comfort kits, and also will support other vital Red Cross services in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.’ ‘Good Deeds’ are published on persons who went beyond their call of duty to ensure the campaign was and remains a success. Check out the feature story on the Warren Couple http://www.detnews.com/2005/macomb/0502/10/B05-85577.htm.
Margo Ochoa notes that Baker Winokur and Ryder have over 25 years of connecting the consumer with entertainer and she feels their work hooking celebrities to non-profit causes is the stuff of legends. There is plenty of unearned PR that can be accomplished with a popular celebrity Angela Gaines likes Lee Denim’s creation of the community/fundraising event Lee Denim Day, raising money for breast cancer research. See http://www.denimday.com/
“Lee Jeans sponsors Denim Day on the first Friday in October annually. Organizations across the country participate by allowing employees to contribute $5.00 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and wear jeans to work. The organizers of this effort were ingenious in utilizing the desire of a casual workplace environment to help find a cure for a disease that affects millions of people every day.”
Brian Harrington feels Southwest Airlines’ Adopt-A-Pilot Educational Program http://www.southwest.com/adoptapilot/?sr=PR_pilot_020105 deserves some PR recognition. “This program encourages students to research potential careers as it simultaneously encourages achievement in school and self-esteem. Throughout a month-long program, Southwest pilots volunteer their time as they visit classrooms around the country, correspond with students while traveling, and encourage interest in math, science, and a wide variety of other genres. Since the program was introduced in September 1997, the program has involved over 65,000 students in its efforts to increase awareness in a myriad of areas relating to scholastic achievement. Additionally, this program has been cited for its impact on schools faced with a lack of funding due to budget shortages (this especially includes many classrooms in areas that are considered ‘disadvantaged.’ This year alone, the Adopt-A-Pilot program has engaged nearly 15,000 schools from around the country. Southwest Airlines, due in part to this program (and a variety of other factors), has come to be known as the ‘Luv’ airline.”
Yes, press releases still matter in the digital age. And while SEO helps broaden the digital footprint for your release these days—there are still fundamentals that can NOT be overlooked if you want to see pick up from those who matter. Even so, too many in PR are still sending out releases that miss the mark. Here’s how to make sure that yours never fail to fail:
- APPEAL only to the vanity and ego of your boss/CEO/client, etc.
- NEVER consider your audience—the news media, potential customers, current clients, etc.
- CONFUSE. Right at the start, no reader should have any idea what you’re talking about. This shows profundity and complexity of thought.
- NEVER proofread or use spell-check. Typoes keep the the media on they’re toes. As do bad grammer.
- A “NEWS” release is not a news story; it’s an ad. Brag from start to finish. Avoid information.
- PUMP UP the buzzwords. When you pepper your release with phrases like “end-to-end ROI,” “scale visionary initiatives,” and “drive transparent paradigms,” you’re cookin’!
- INFLATE a brief announcement into 1,000 words. For unusual creativity, shrink an important story into a few opaque sentences.
- NEVER cite objective outsiders like customers, analysts, researchers, etc. Use lots of long, windy quotes from company insiders—from the CEO to the parking attendant.
As I’ve previously written on my company’s blog, news releases, in most cases, are a worthless bother.
Yes, there are times when they are a necessary evil. Earnings releases come to mind as they contain legally binding statements. But the traditional news release is a dreadful animal–read by few–and should be put out of its misery.
I receive at least 10 relatively illegible news releases daily (and many reporters tell me they get up to 300 each day). And rarely, if ever, can I get past the subject line in my e-mail inbox. Most of them simply seem to take up space.
To think that in the days of “The Love Boat” and “Magnum P.I.,” news releases actually helped facilitate news stories. Now, a free service like Peter Shankman’s HARO (Help A Reporter Out) provides a far more effective reactive medium to solicit information to a reporter. And there are just a few PR people left who still know how to proactively pitch–keep it concise, relevant and don’t make it all about your client, but a broader trend.
“It’s not conversational or engaging, and the only way to capture attention is with a racy headline, which journalists see past,” said Jason Kintzler, a former reporter who founded and nowadays leads PitchEngine.com, a social media news release service that allows companies like H&R Block and Budweiser to bypass traditional media outlets and serve customers and influencers directly.
If your company still relies on traditional media outreach as the cornerstone of its storytelling efforts, it’s past time to become your own media company. Create media objects (like the video I so easily embedded in this post) and deploy them through your own resources. Activate your fans to help tell the story. Make sure the story shows up in the curated content collections maintained by trusted guides. Hire journalists to write company-sponsored columns about the significance of your news. And these tactics just scratch the surface of a smart content marketing approach.
The days of relying solely on the press to be your story-telling surrogate are over.
Most surveys tell us that the majority of editors and writers work largely by email and phone to communicate with their sources. However, we also know from communication research that face-to-face communication still holds a valued place in how we relate to one another. The trade show site is an ideal place to build and maintain a rapport with key editors and reporters that we work with by email and phone for most of the year. Since trade show season ramps in the first quarter in most industries, now is the time to start planning.
The advice that I offer may seem simplistic to veterans, but it is not obvious to those with little or no experience in working with trade and professional journals. Generating publicity surrounding a major trade show has three key benefits:
1. Prior to the show it can create interest in attendees visiting your booth to see the new products.
2. During the show it can introduce major trade publication editors to your company, its products and the industry experts on your staff.
3. Following the show you have additional editorial opportunities to pursue based on the discussions you have had with editors.
Several weeks prior to a trade show there is usually the opportunity to send the show’s publication brief overviews of the new products or services you plan to introduce. This information often is buried in the piles of paper your exhibit manager or marketing director receives in the months prior to the event. If you don’t find information about this editorial opportunity in the exhibitors’ packet, call the show management’s public relations department.
Major trade shows, such as NetComm in the telecommunications/networking industry and the National Management Health Care Congress in health care, are well attended by the industry’s top reporters and trade publication editors. Major shows like these are terrific venues to meet face-to-face with the editors whose publications best reach your customers and prospects. Editors are interested in innovative products and meeting potential sources of industry expertise. While most can give you only 20 – 30 minutes, these few minutes can establish valuable relationships and lay a foundation for future coverage.
My experience in the past is that meetings with editors at trade shows can result in editorial coverage in 90 to 100 percent of these publications, including those that are Web-based. Assuming of course, the company’s spokesperson addresses topics of news value to each publication.
Follow-up to thank editors, reconfirm any commitments made by the company or an editor and to suggest story ideas not discussed during meetings puts a company in a position of laying out nearly a year’s worth of coverage.
It is my observation that media relations is one of the most misunderstood disciplines in a professional communicator’s took kit. It is often described as synonymous with the broader discipline of public relations or reduced to the more narrow field of publicity.
I define media relations as the art of building and sustaining relationships with professionals who determine and produce editorial content. My definition may sound simple — take a reporter to lunch — right? Wrong!
The effective practice of media relations requires strategic direction, planning and a lot of discipline and tenacity to be successful. It is far more than distributing news releases and calling editors or reporters to ask if they received the release.
It requires:
- Policies about the process of working with editorial representatives.
- Research into understanding your organization’s key audiences and how those audiences match the audiences of the myriad editorial outlets available today.
- Research and development of a specific database of editorial outlets based on audience matches.
- Research and understanding into how to reach specific editors and reporters by learning about individual preferences, deadlines and editorial focuses.
- Developing, continually analyzing and crafting the right messages for the right audience at the right time.
- Discipline to nurture the relationships.
- Knowing the right communication tool, news release, phone call, email, etc. to use to carry your message.
All rolled together, this is the plan. While conducting a session on media relations planning some years ago, I had a media relations manager at a large health system dispute the concept that one could plan media relations. She was entirely in a reactive mode, never seeing that her organization had the opportunity to be an excellent source of information about health care in her community. Needless to say, they got no positive editorial coverage. An effective media relations plan not only helps build a brand, it can help you survive a crisis.
Why? If you have a solid, respectful relationship with key editors and reporters, you are more likely to be treated respectfully when your organization has bad news to deliver. Editors and reporters are human and they respond differently to those they know well and trust compared to those with whom they have no relationship.
My favorite resources
My favorite resources: There are many resources to help the professional who wants or needs to become more expert in media relations. I have my favorites. They are:
On Deadline, Carole M. Howard and Wilma K. Mathews, ABC, IABC Fellow, published by Waveland Press, Inc. This is a great primer on media relations with lots of tips and specific direction.
, Wilma K. Mathews, ABC, IABC Fellow, published by IABC. This is handbook that is step-by-step guide to media relations and is excellent for the profession with no experience.
Inside Organization Communication, edited by Al Wann, ABC, APR, IABC Fellow, published by IABC. This book is a compilation of expertise in all disciplines in organizational communication and offers an overview of media relations. It is a good resource for the professional who would like to get a refresher or overview of media relations as well as many other disciplines in the communication mix.
I’ve worked as a journalist for more than 15 years and one of my greatest fears, for which I’ve realized, is simply getting information wrong. I try really hard not to make those mistakes, but with so many moving parts it’s often inevitable that mistakes will happen.
Sometimes journalists are not on the top of their game. And sometimes they’re just no good.
Whatever the situation is with a journalist that’s interviewing you, there is a way to make your experience go well.
What follows are some techniques to making sure your story gets recorded correctly, and with the tone you expect. I can’t guarantee that the journalist will write the story in the manner you want, but these tips will definitely reduce the number of errors, so you won’t have one of those, “Uggh, that’s not what I said. It’s all wrong!” experiences.
The era of Big Data has arrived, and social media big data will be a huge trend this year. This means public relations professionals have to step it up to keep up.
The monitoring tools we currently use are crude at best and provide only a glimpse into the mirror. There are mountains of data and we don’t really have the skills to see what they all mean and really connect the dots.
Up until now, we have used free tools such as Google alerts to monitor mentions or paid tools such as Radian6, Lithium, Custom Scoop, Cision and many others that give us ideas about what is being said and by whom.
If we are really sophisticated, we will use sentiment scoring, influence measurement tools, or text analytics which allow us to mine more information.
5 Essential Skills to Master Big Data
There is a whole new skill set we have to master to understand and be ready for the insights and opportunities Big Data brings to public relations.
Following are five essential skills to master Big Data you can undertake right away.
- Become an analyst. Don’t be intimidated by data and analytics. Use your brain and look for the ways in which different insights might help you to make better business decisions.
- Learn Excel. One of the best gifts you can give yourself is to take an advanced Excel course to learn how to manipulate data in spreadsheets. We need to move beyond the basics. Take a course locally, or the one linked to above. It is the still that will pay back in spades.
- Collect Data. Consider collecting your own data to supplement what you get from any tools you use. With services such as 80legs and Gnip, you can also gather your own data and analyze it. You can even pull an RSS feed or feeds into a Google Doc and go from there. The key is, don’t be intimidated.
In the October 5 edition of the New York Times, Julie Bosman wrote that the “curiously strong” Altoid mints were facing possible branding issues in the company’s move to “shutter the factory in Bridgend, Wales and transfer production to its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.”
One might say that was a curiously strong move on the part of owners Wm. Wrigley and Co., since the candy had been marketed with its old world British origins since being introduced to the U.S. in 1918. The antique looking metal tins include the words “Made in Great Britain.” Even the online encyclopedia Wikipedia is out-of-step, noting: “Altoids are produced in Britain by Callard & Bowser-Suchard.” Wikipedia shows that “The history of Altoids actually dates back to the reign of King George III. The brand was created by a London-based Smith & Company in the 1780s but eventually became part of the Callard & Bowser company in the 1800s.”
Some brand and identity folks say that this is a shift in how Altoids defines itself, with them going after a reputation as being a very different breath changer, rather than an old candy dating back to King George. For those of you who don’t know, Altoid ads began as early as 1920, touting the confection as “an antidote to poisons in the stomach. One or two taken after meals will stop poisonous fementation.” http://www.altoids.com/index.aspx?area=about
Others think the shift in Altoids production won’t matter. Still others say, it’s only the mint flavors that have stayed in the UK and all other flavors are exported to the U.S. and other places, anyway.
If one peruses the Altoids web site, it’s all about fun and prominently displays a contest regarding the “Tin Million Uses/One Metal Box” for the Altoids’ tin. And the last line on the home page reads that they are still made in Great Britain. Hmmmmm…
For the person studying related image risks of products moving to the U.S. from the far corners of the world, Bosman’s article is worth looking up. She analyzes similar moves by Lowenbrau toMiller Brewing Co. to Labatt, Jaguar to Ford Motor Co., Saturn to GM, Foster’s to Molson and more. These cases might be fun for you public relations professors such as myself out there.
Bosman also notes at least two successes, however — BMW’s connection to German engineering, and Armani’s connection to Italian fashion. Does it really matter when you really love a brand? After all, what do you really know, or care about, the origins of Kikkoman soy sauce or Haagen-Dazs ice cream?
 The February 7, 2005 issue of PR Week included an article on Peppercom’s $27 million campaign to promote SUV safety. To kick off their efforts, they introduced a mascot who they called ESUVEE. The firm claims to want to “draw the attention of 18- to 34-year-old men” by using the hairy beast that looks something like a buffalo. He isn’t a cutesy cartoon type by any stretch of the imagination. He’s a foot scraping, macho Beauty and the Beast-type character and he growls too! He’s 16 feet long, 11 feet wide and 10 feet tall. This campaign, which includes many traditional campaign elements, hopes to draw visitors to esuvee.com and teach them something about SUV safety that they didn’t already know.
If you head to the site, you can play an interactive challenge course game. The theme of the site is all about riding an SUV correctly and safely. They use the ESUVEE animal in sort of a bucking bronco, rodeo type setting, while a “cowhand” gives the safety pitch. The beast really gets around. Esuvee visited the Boats, Books, and Brushes festival in New London, CT, in September, accompanied by the Connecticut Attorney General. And the Attorney General GOT some attention. The kickoff news release posted on the Esuvee web site includes this language: “The Campaign highlights critical tips for driving SUVs that can mean the difference between life and death: check your tire pressure monthly, don’t overload your SUV, always wear your seatbelt, try to avoid abrupt maneuvers, and don’t speed. ‘Driving SUVs like ordinary cars invites disaster. Awareness of SUV safety – especially stopping rollovers – can mean survival to countless Americans,’ said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. ‘Smart drivers can save lives with some simple steps: avoid speeding, sudden maneuvers, and overloading. Our education campaign targets young men, who may be most vulnerable and most difficult to reach. If you think this message is hype, look at the numbers – thousands of young Americans killed in rollover crashes every year.’” Not everyone is happy with the campaign. The SUV Owners of America advocacy group thinks the “safety campaign paints an unfair picture of the vehicles.” The huge beast is their nemesis. Micha Lindemans writes that in Greek mythology, “Nemesis is the goddess of divine justice and vengeance. Her anger is directed toward human transgression of the natural, right order of things and of the arrogance causing it. Nemesis pursues the insolent and the wicked with inflexible vengeance…” Nemesis. Encyclopedia Mythica. Retrieved November 09, 2005, from Encyclopedia Mythica Online. But opposition or not, the campaign is making the noise it intended. Run a quick search for ESUVEE in Google or Yahoo and many blogs pop up using words such as “brilliant” and “fantastic.” The word “Esuvee” even made Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. The PR Week article notes that the “integrated effort is funded by settlement money from Ford, which was sued by state two years ago for using dangerous Firestone tires.” It’s a project of the States Attorneys General. Who would have thought an elected job could be so much fun?! |
The release reads in part, “The growth in home high-speed internet adoption, after growing quickly in the past several years, has slowed down and is poised to slow even further, according to a new report released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.”
The May 2005 survey “is built around several national random digit dial telephone surveys of Americans (age 18 and older) conducted by Pew Internet and American Life Project.”
Here are a few of the facts and comments from the report: “53% of home internet users have high-speed connections at home, up from 50% in 2004 – a small and not statistically significant increase. This compares unfavorably with growth rates over a comparable time frame a year earlier. In May 2004, 42% of home internet users had high speed connections, 20% over the 35% home high speed penetration figure for November, 2003…
“By 2005…Years of online experience no longer has any significant impact on the intensity of internet use, while having a home broadband connection is a much stronger predictor of the number of online activities that a user does on a typical day…
“The Project’s May 2005 data show there is a smaller pool of dial-up users now compared to 2002 and today’s dial-up users are less likely to be heavy users of the internet. Pew data has shown consistently a pattern whereby people start out their online lives as dial-up users, do more on the internet as they gain more experience, and eventually switch to broadband as they become more dependent on the internet for information, entertainment, and communication.”
For those of us in PR who are trying to capture information and attention from certain target audiences at home using the internet, this is one important swath of the user landscape to consider. While it would be a guess on my part and generalization at minimum, I would suspect that the audiences you are trying to engage will likely have high speed connections. In this report, that person would be described as a “heavy user.” In PR, we’re looking for “heavy users.”
We’ve all experienced the frustration of trying to participate in a survey or buy a product or browse information in dial-up mode. Hands are thrown up in frustration and the users simply disconnect. The experienced PR professional using the web, wants the users to remain engaged, visit for long periods, and enjoy the experience. I, for one, am keeping an eye on these trends regarding usage. How about you?
For the full report, please see: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/164/report_display.asp
You can sign up to receive free Pew research alerts at: http://www.pewinternet.org/signup.asp
Pew Internet & American Life Project
1615 L Street, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202.419.4500
Fax: 202.419.4505
Did you happen to catch the Mary Thompson piece on CNBC business news on December 23 talking about the Starbucks campaign where they were using “unconventional and surprising ways to connect with consumers…” ???? Maybe it is guerrilla marketing at its best but she reported about Starbucks giving out 100 $5 gift certificates to people they saw being good Samaritans on the street. The people would tell the driver of a vehicle that he had left his coffee on the roof. “Happy Holiday’s from Starbucks!” the good Samaritans were told, before they realized the cup had been permanently affixed.
Staged, yes. But it got attention on the street, started a flurry of talk, was furiously blogged about, and was caught over and again by the mainstream media.
And they apparently always have folks smelling their coffee, because “positive, memorable aromas make people smile,” she reported. She ended by saying, “Tongues are wagging inside and outside this coffee klatch.”
So, do you think these tactics help or hurt a business image?
I discovered a free white paper called “The Future of PR,” published in July 2005. The report focus is “How to garner more coverage and stay way ahead of the competition.”
How do you use technology in your media relations? Most of us have used email and various web services. But Vocus writes that this just isn’t enough.
“A key component of PR in the new age of digital communications is a centralized system for managing all your media contacts, correspondence, activities, news distribution, news monitoring and measurement.” Their white paper lists several key capabilities critical to the future of PR. I teach public relations on the graduate and undergraduate levels at UMUC and students are always asking me what’s coming next!
Much of what’s in this free Vocus white paper isn’t found in most textbooks (Shel Holtz has a few good ones) for our future practitioners. One that especially appeals to me is what Vocus calls “customer relationship management (CRM) for PR.”
The Vocus paper reads: “In recent years, CRM has become a hot business buzzword. Countless CRM applications now exist to help companies manage their sales and customer contacts. In PR, effective relationship management is just as essential, but many professionals still use basic email applications or EXCEL files to manager their many contacts and activities.
Without a history of all activities, interaction and communication with journalists in one location –- accessible by both you and your colleagues — your productivity and professionalism can suffer.” See http://www.vocus.com.
