To Everything There is a Season (By Tori Brown)

If you haven’t already figured out by now, public relations professionals always seem to find a way to tie their client’s product or service in with what’s going on in the larger world. Sure, some of them stretch a bit, like the time we saw a press release about constipation and Valentine’s Day from a fiber supplement company. Yet, others know the key to being noticed is to figure out what the reporter is likely to be writing about, and then be right there when they need a source.

“But how will I know what a reporter is going to be writing about?” you ask. Just look at the calendar. Chances are the month or season will dictate several reporters’ choices or assignments on what to cover.

Smart marketers know that the media often recycles. And that means the same types of story ideas are reused year after year. How many times have you seen the same story about last minute taxpayers racing to the post office? We once read a story on how a national pizza chain promoted a new location (and got tons of free press) by delivering fresh pizzas to those weary late filers waiting in line.

Take a quick assessment of your own business. Is there a way to easily tie your business to a season or holiday? If not, try to think up some new novel ideas. If you’re selling Christmas-themed merchandise, why not try to do a “Christmas in July” sale? It’s easy, it’s fun and it’s just a little unusual- all things the press loves.

With a little effort, you can find using seasonality can be an advantage, rather than a restriction, to your public relations efforts.

 

Here are some tips to get you started: 

• Go where the people are: If you’re trying to introduce a new product in the summertime, don’t sit around in the mall waiting for people to come to you. Set up a stand at a concert or fair, or go to the beach to promote yourself.

• Be All-American: If your product is made in America, tie into holidays like the Fourth of July or Labor Day.

• Do some good: Charities always need help, but they especially feel the crunch around holidays. Donate your products, service or just your time to help out. Not only is it a terrific press opportunity, but you’ll feel great afterwards as well.

Tori Brown is an Account Executive with Marx Communications, a public relations and marketing communications firm that helps B2B companies and individuals build their brands. For more information, please contact Tori tori@marxcommunications.com or 203-445-2851. To boost your business and learn more about our coaching service, email wendy@marxcommunications.com.

Ethical Practices: Where clichés and guidelines often fail (By Martin Arnold)

“Do the right thing” is a phrase popularized by noted radio psychologist Dr. Laura Schlessinger. On the radio it sounds easy, but in real life problems are far more complex. For example, if you are in PR or marketing and you are asked to promote a product that you personally oppose, such as cigarettes or alcohol, what is the right thing to do?

It is not illegal to support such products, millions of people purchase both every day. Moreover, there are other values to consider like the value of continuing to provide for home and hearth and your other on-going responsibilities. Sometimes one can negotiate a change of assignment, but not always. In such cases it comes down to the individual to make a hard choice that is the “right thing” either way.

“Just tell the truth” is another phrase one sometimes is advised to do in the face of an ethical dilemma. Like “do the right thing,” this also is not as easy as it sounds. In some circumstances there are serious legal risks, disclosure or privacy issues can come into play. At times though, public interest can override any of these issues and, if so, it comes down to the individual to make that hard choice.

We know of one situation where a crime was committed the effects of which threatened a large number of employees. Law enforcement officials did not want details of the crime reported. In that case the CEO risked jail time to advise employees what the situation was. Fortunately it turned out to be exactly the right thing to do, but it was not easy to see at the time. 

In another instance a gas leak from an industrial plant compromised homeowner property. Despite instructions from the legal department to keep mum, the spokesperson chose to admit publicly what had happened and that the company would take responsibility for damages. In that case the spokesperson was rewarded for his effort, but in a different company facing the same circumstances, he would have been fired on the spot.

Codes of conduct can sometimes be a help in these situations. Typically they cover an organization’s value structure, information flow, competitive practices, disclosure, privacy, conflict of interest and other principles. 

But whenever people set out to defraud, no code of conduct, statement of ethical principles or legal statutes are going to stop them. In our experience, companies like this are few and far between.

While correct ethical practices are not always easy to discern, there is one we think stands the test of time. If your contemplated action were to be reported on the front page of your local newspaper and you would be embarrassed about it, don’t do it!

To boost your business and learn more about our coaching service and ebook for entrepreneurs, email Martin Arnold mharnold@sbcglobal.net.

How Would You Hold Up Under the Microscope? (By Tori Brown)

Unethical public relations tactics and how to avoid them

It often seems that the field of public relations gets a bum rap. How many times have you heard the term “spin doctors” used to describe those that work in the profession? We’ve even heard people mumble “public relations” as if they’re ashamed, when asked what job field they are in. 

 

So why does the field of public relations have such a stigma attached to it? We believe much of it has to do with several dishonest, unethical practitioners giving the rest a bad name. Here are two recent examples:

• Edeman/Wal-Mart blog: In late 2006, Edelman, a large
  public relations firm, ran at least three blogs praising 
  its client Wal-Mart, all of which were fraudulently presented as being written by Wal-Mart employees or supporters. This misrepresentation led to a lot of negative press for Edelman and Wal-Mart, once the connections were exposed. We’re pretty sure that’s not the type of press Wal-Mart thought Edelman would get them when they hired the firm.

• Misuse of Wikipedia: We recently looked up something on the site, and found that the page was overrun with quotes and links attributed to people we had never heard of. Once we checked the links, we realized that many of these so-called experts were using Wikipedia as their own personal advertising tool, clearly violating the online encyclopedia’s terms. We tried to clean up the page a bit, but the very next day all the links were back. Not only was this irritating to us as readers, but it was flagrant misrepresentation to pass yourself off as an expert when you’re not. 

Of course, we can’t spend all our time cleaning up other folks’ lies, but we can make sure that we can operate in an honest, open way in our own public relations efforts. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Do not offer bribes to the press. Saying to an editor, “If you write a story on me, I’ll buy advertising space,” will probably lead to a quick end to the conversation. The advertising and editorial sections are most often run by completely different departments and have little to do with each other.

• If you make a mistake (An employee is hurt, a product is recalled, etc.) come clean. Staying silent only kicks people’s imaginations into overdrive and may fuel the fire. Having a crisis communication plan can help.

• Always remember to disclose your identify and relationships upfront. You don’t want reporters or consumers to dig them up later and discover conflicting interests. 
  

Tori Brown is an Account Executive with Marx Communications, a public relations and marketing communications firm that helps B2B companies and individuals build their brands. For more information, please contact Tori tori@marxcommunications.com or 203-445-2851. To boost your business and learn more about our coaching service, email wendy@marxcommunications.com.

Top 5 Myths of PR by Tori Brown

It seems like people always have an excuse on why not to do PR. So we’ve taken the top “five” biggest myths- and debunked them all.

1. Only the connected get press
This is probably the most common misconception in PR. Yes, it certainly helps to know an editor or producer, but a big part of successful PR is timing, rather than connections. It’s much easier to piggyback your publicity on events that are already happening and attracting media attention, be it a holiday, event, or news story, rather than trying to create “news” and generate interest. You should work to cultivate relationships with the media, so that over time, they’ll come to you when a story breaks.

2. Money buys media attention
PR is actually very cost-efficient, especially compared to other marketing activities, like advertising, since you don’t pay a media outlet for PR placement. It is true that some PR-related activities, like events, can get a bit pricey. Yet an event may generate interest from media outlets that you couldn’t afford to advertise in so in the end you can come out ahead.