Public Relations

Ah…so here we are in Brian Solis’ world of PR 2.0.  As practitioners, we’re watching what was our “tried and true” media dwindle over shrinking ad revenues, closures and layoffs.  I personally have friends recently affected by the LA Times cuts.  We’re observing a mass migration of trained, qualified journalists over to the brave new world of blogging and social media.  Every day I receive email newsletters encouraging me to attend the latest social media boot camp, seminar or Webinar.  ”Come learn how to pitch bloggers!”  “Why Twitter and Facebook are your key to capturing a journalist’s attention.”  ”Learn ‘the rules’ for online communication.” (Is it arrogant to say I could teach many of these myself?)

While there may be new rules for communicating online, that doesn’t mean the old rules no longer apply. Yes, it’s true that today’s journalists are now blogging, Twittering, Facebooking, and carrying hand-held video devices to print interviews. However, they are still professional media members, which means the standard protocol and etiquette for PR practitioners remains the same.

My point?  Journalism and PR are in a significant state of flux.  As both sides scramble to gain solid footing, it’s more important than ever to adhere to the core skills we’ve spent years honing and developing - writing and research.  By default, the blogosphere presents a very casual, conversational style (which I personally love).  Unfortunately, many PR practitioners are adopting this casual approach in their execution, not just content.  We need to be smart about our content and even smarter about whom we target.  If not, the same rules apply…we lose credibility and damage our earned relationships with the media, or even worse, are publicly flogged like poor Amanda Miller on Joe Nocera’s New York Times blog.  Whether or not you agree with Nocera’s humiliating approach, one issue rings clear - excellence in our work must never take a back seat.

We, as practitioners, have a fantastic opportunity to become a value-add to journalists now expected to do the jobs of five people.  Our content, connections, access to thought leaders and research can be invaluable to them.  In return, their coverage and attention is invaluable to us (namely our clients).  Too often, we are considered “flacks.”  I strongly disagree.  We are an indispensible cog in the machine, but it’s up to us to stay well-oiled to maintain that relevance.

When I started my career in public relations, I swore from the onset I wouldn’t do events – I didn’t sign up to be a glorified party coordinator after all.

That was a foolish oath blatantly revealing my naiveté about life (never say never) and the many layers of PR (it’s not just pitching, stupid).

The inevitable role of any good public relations practitioner is, in part, the art of creating, managing and staffing events you and your client can be proud of. This is no small task. Think of the last time you organized a birthday party for a friend or planned your own celebration. Who will cater? Who do you invite? Will they show up? Unlike your typical affair, who attends, who they talk to, what is discussed and what they do with the information after they leave is everything.

In PR we don’t throw parties to show off our savvy people skills (but they do come in handy!). We strategically assemble the right people in the ideal environment on a key date and time to accomplish specific goals that at the end of the day show a return on the investment. Most often, we want targeted media to attend and we need illustrious spokespersons that will tout key messages and toe the party line, so to speak.

Make a date

Think carefully about the date – does it coincide with a significant regional or national event that can outshine yours? Does it coincide with a holiday or other commemoration that can nicely compliment your efforts? Consider the time of day. If TV stations and print reporters are important to you (as they typically ought to be), consider their on-air schedules and run dates. Are they likely to give up their evenings for a 7pm event? Is it on a Saturday? Are there crews that will come out on the weekend? Remember that stations are severely understaffed on weekends. On the other hand, news is slow on weekends and your event could be just the ticket.

Location, location, location

Consider the size of your event and the length of the guest list. Bigger is most definitely not always better. I’d prefer a space that is overflowing with attendees than an excessively spacious one where people tend to gravitate to the side or corner with a bare center, leaving the impression there were a lot of no-shows. Outdoor locations are great for health or fitness related activities or musical events, but if you’re planning on some place where rain anytime is possible, have a Plan B firmly in place. Indoor or out, know there will be a lot of city government, union and venue restrictions; know them all well in advance so there are no surprises. Describe the event flow to the venue representative so you can negotiate what’s allowable and what isn’t every step of the way.

Oh, and develop a comprehensive, step-by-step event flow of the day’s activities – be meticulous and thoughtful about every detail. This becomes your team and the client’s bible for what to do, when, how and where in timeline form.

Talking heads

Identifying and securing the right spokespersons – from niche experts to high-profile celebrities – is a skill in itself, often underestimated. Give the discussion and analysis with your team and the client the time and energy it deserves. Know your limitations. If you’re not up to speed on celebrity causes or interests that match your client’s, bring in third party experts to help identify options and to secure the talent. This process should begin a good several months before the event. You will likely not secure your first choice, or even your third. Anyone who has dealt with managers, agents and lawyers knows that there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears before contracts are signed and the working relationship begins.

Parting words

The best advice I can give is to do an audit before you make a significant financial investment. Ask your media friends if they would cover your event on the date and location you’re considering. Ask your own friends if they’d attend if you’re throwing a consumer event that hopes to attract the general public as well. What would they expect to see and receive? Most of all, ask your clients what their vision for success is. You’d be surprised that what they think a great event is might differ from your own.

Take a realistic look at your budget and manage your clients’ expectations. They can’t rent the ballroom at the Peninsula at a shoestring budget, or expect A-list talent to attend or play the role of spokesperson on the cheap or without clear incentive.

Got it all? Good, have a BLAST!

You’ve graduated with a public relations/communications/journalism/abstract liberal arts degree.  You’ve studied abroad, volunteered at the local shelter, interned at high-powered corporations (including that one entertainment PR firm) – all to achieve that so-desired breadth of knowledge and experience required to enter the world of public relations.

But yet – your work doesn’t end here.  Your first job in PR is more than learning how to develop a mean media list, write a decent pitch letter, and monitor client-related news.  Where you decide to hone your skills as an assistant or coordinator will also determine the types of clients and professionals you’ll get to meet and work for, how much hands-on practice you’ll receive, and in which areas you’ll be able to gain significant expertise.

Assuming you’ve narrowed it down to agency life (considering the less likelihood of breaking into an in-house PR job right out of school), you might ask yourself the following questions:  Multinational or boutique?  Established name or young startup?  Full-service or specialized?  As you might expect, there aren’t any right answers.  Depending on what you want, every agency offers a unique experience that you can tailor to fit your personality and career goals. 

For instance, take global Agency A, with a name that could be mistaken for any law firm or vineyard.  The credibility factor of the name is alluring – a surefire resume builder and networking hit.  The clients will also likely be large, well-known brands.  Your responsibilities however may be limited to your job title.  Client interaction could consist of Fedexing a package or arranging travel.  Media relations could be handed off to the designated “media team” whom already has established relationships with the WSJ or GMA.  Some may prefer an organized hierarchy, while others find it confining. 

On the contrary, Agency B, with forward-thinking, kitschy name is a relatively young company brewing with fresh ideas.  With only a few offices across the country, this boutique has a few specialties and is working to establish its name through inventive campaigns incorporating new distribution channels, viral and grassroots activities, and a unique branding that separates itself from its competitors.  You are certainly gaining invaluable experience, but maybe it’s too overwhelming?  There is less of a hierarchy and might feel that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew.  Agency B is not a “well-oiled machine” and you’re learning as you go, realizing that you are not just a number, but rather making a tangible impact on the company.

Now keep in mind – these are two opposite ends of the spectrum, with many agencies falling within and between.  The lesson is that research is essential.  More than just visiting a Web site, the job search should consist of talking to people within the field, attending industry conferences and meetings, and recognizing what environment is most conducive to YOU.

Ready…Set…GO, and good luck!

Not a day goes by where the topic of PR measurement doesn’t pop up in some conversation. It usually comes in the form of my colleagues spending hours plowing through print clips, looking up ad values on Bacon’s, and calling VMS for impressions. And at the end of the day, we deliver an impressive looking, nicely bound book of charts and clippings…and we all breathe a sigh of relief and wait for the client to be impressed with the shear volume of his company’s mentions in hundreds of newspapers. Now, my issue with this is that most companies don’t truly understand PR (heck, I have to explain it to my parents at least twice a week) and when we explain its intricacies, they realize just how complex the PR machine can be. Yet, knowing the complexity, they somehow think that simple charts with numbers and clips are an effective way to measure the value of PR.

So the question becomes – how do we measure PR?

The more traditional methods of measurement involve circulation, impressions, ad value equivalency and PR value. And, as an industry, we’ve somehow decided to apply arbitrary formulas in order to determine impressions (circulation x 2.5 or 3.1) and PR value (ad value x 3). But what exactly do these types of measurements prove? That maybe, best case scenario, our client was mentioned in 2.2 million printed copies of USA Today and possibly – but not likely – seen by 5.5 million readers. Or that it maybe would have cost $30,000 for our client to purchase equivalent ad space? Ok, but what does that mean?

As a side note before I continue, PR’s effectiveness cannot be directly compared to advertising effectiveness. The two forms of communication are drastically different. Advertising messages are very controlled whereas most PR messages are not (which is why they’re seen as more credible and valuable).

The newer methods of measurement suggest a look at quality over quantity. So this means when our client is covered in a newspaper, we rate the story and the quality of the outlet. Was it positive, negative or neutral towards our client? But the question is, once again, so what?

Did any of these measurements prove the value of PR? Sure, we got the client’s name out there (not to entirely discount brand awareness), but how does all of this affect their bottom line? After all, that’s ultimately what matters.

I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I am more than thrilled to tell a client our PR efforts garnered 4.2 billion impressions. It sounds impressive, right? But the reality is that most of us PR professionals resort to these measurement tactics because we’re constantly pressured to justify PR dollars. PR is a fairly intangible communication strategy, so we feel the need to quantify its value in the hopes it makes it easier to digest. Companies don’t question the value of advertising – and they’re only too happy to spend five times the amount of PR on media buys.

The answer to how we measure PR is this – it’s a combination of tools. You can’t effectively measure a program by any one tool. You need to factor in the overall communications objectives and how those tie back to the company’s business goals. PR effectiveness can best be measured if a company’s key messages, target audience, and desired channels of communication are clearly identified before implementing a program. Second, the PR measurement process should never be carried out by focusing only on the PR components. It needs to be factored into the larger equation of how all programs – advertising, marketing, promotions, PR –are contributing to the bigger picture.

In closing, PR IS valuable. It has a far greater impact on a company’s brand than advertising. Sure, advertising has its place, but PR is one of the most effective branding tactics for a company. In the long term, PR can build, change or maintain a company’s brand reputation by shaping consumer attitudes and perceptions which ultimately lead to a healthier bottom line and consumer loyalty. Shouldn’t that be justification enough?

To the pr/marketing firm who will almost certainly co-opt this ploy to launch a viral campaign for an energy drink/videogame/R-rated cartoon and inevitably be forced to face nightmarish backlash all for trying to come across as edgy.

 Dear PR/Marketing firm, 

I know you think that this stunt will be the guerilla campaign that puts all other guerilla campaigns to bed.  I know you think that staging a fake kidnapping will be cool.  Maybe you’ll create scratchy, blurry videos to go along with it and hide clues across various websites and, for all I know, it might work.  But don’t.  Just don’t.   

Sometimes marketers can get caught up in the race to be the most cutting edge.  Sometimes marketers like to think that by creating the illusion of danger or adventure that they’re really connecting with consumers on a gut level.  And they might be.  But sometimes there’s something to be said for the good old fashioned techniques that PR and Marketing are built upon.  We can’t forget the basic building blocks in the race to be the next big thing.   

Sincerely,  

Your Audience

Attention all PR people!

Social media is not a panacea to all your company’s or client’s PR problems.  I repeat, if you employ social media programs, do not expect all the cool kids to come running, embrace your brand and evangelize about you and your products to anyone that will listen.  Infusing social media ideas into your PR plans also cannot help you find your one true love, cannot cure cancer and cannot even help you save a bundle on your car insurance.

Just because social media is out there for the taking (and it’s generally cheap to implement), it doesn’t mean you need to take it.  While it’s easy to watch new movies or brands like Nike and Burger King gain incredible traction with MySpace or Facebook, lightning in a bottle is just that – something that can’t easily be replicated for any old campaign, program or event.  Too often, we hear our clients ask what we can do with blogs and Twitter and Facebook and a million other trendy names, but just as we counsel clients on when and how to send a press release or announcement, it is imperative to help our clients understand when – if at all — it’s right to go with social media programs.

When an organization is overzealous, ignores common sense and refuses to take a step back in order to take a real, hard look at the online landscape, the results are never good.  Putting a MySpace page up just for the sake of it is asinine and dangerous.  A boring page about a boring product or company is worse than nothing at all; the only result is scorn, vitriol, laughter and maybe even worse — zero return on investment.  A good example is The Los Angeles Times’ Twitter page – it’s been updated nearly 2,000 times with breaking news since the account was created.  Too bad it only has an audience of 98 followers.  And you wonder why they say print is dead.

The problem:  social media is really nothing more than a new venue to share news and communicate with key audiences.  This isn’t to say companies and organizations should avoid social media entirely.  To the contrary, there’s little doubt that social media will continue to integrate more and more into our daily consciousness.  From PR people to CEOs, it’s important to keep a vigilant eye on new developments. 

But it needs to be understood that the shotgun approach to social media – blasting everything in your arsenal against the wall and seeing what sticks – is simply not going to bear any PR fruits.  So the next time you’re in a meeting, brainstorm or casual conversation and someone starts bringing up all these brilliant ideas about how to use MySpace and Facebook, take a step back and ask if you have something new, unique and valuable to offer.  After all, you wouldn’t embarrass yourself, your company, or your client with a press release announcing you just scratched your butt.  Because social media can offer new frontiers, it doesn’t mean that butt scratching story is any fresher just because it’s distributed via brand-new Web 2.0 tools. 

There’s great promise in social media for the PR industry, but we need to embrace social media for what it is…and what it isn’t.

In our era of shrinking print news holes and way too many eyeball-challenged websites, television news broadcasts still gets reach and, better yet, their creators need material.  Even the most budget-strapped stations still have to fill air time.  With many stations cutting reporters and anchors, harried producers are even more desperate for content now than ever before.

Yet PR pros regularly get stiffed at the gateway by assignment editors who love to proclaim that their stations “no longer use VNRs.”  Unless you’re able to lure a local crew to your client’s doorstep/event, this Catch 22 seems like a PR occupational hazard.

VNRs officially were verboten after an infamous episode in March 2004.  The New York Times blew the whistle on the Bush administration for distributing videos showing President Bush signing a Medicare prescription-drug law and “receiving a standing ovations from a crowd cheering.” The footage ended with a woman telling the unwary viewer “In Washington, I’m Karen Ryan reporting.”  Yet, Ryan was a TV production company employee and no more a journalist than the infomercial shill proclaiming “do you mean to tell me  . . .?”

Previously, government-funded VNRs with faux reporters were perfected by the Clinton administration.  President Bush tweaked reporters by defending the practice as legal.  Suddenly, many irate affiliates nationwide championed a blanket policy of not accepting VNRs.

The ban came a little late, since the classic Video News Release was already a dinosaur even as the misused acronym lingered.  These overly produced, dialogue intensive productions (supposedly a video version of a press release as if anyone wanted that) rarely made air any way except in severely sliced/diced form by quote-desperate segment producers.

The moldy VNR of the late ‘80s has been long replaced by b-roll — functional chunks of footage with a few quotes.  Yet, some wary affiliates now claim even b-roll is out.  This is a noble idea from a supposed journalistic credibility stand point but hardly holds water.  The fact is, producers still need visually enticing material from your clients as long as it’s not laughably promotional or tattooed with company logos and product signage.

Here are some quick thoughts the next time you’re trying to get some supposed client propaganda on air.

– Don’t Use the ‘B’ Word:  While toiling, highly caffeinated before the rooster crowed, at a satellite media tour company, I learned quickly to ditch the offending buzzwords b-roll and VNR.  Instead, offer producers “sound bite footage with our expert” or “good visuals of kids using the product.”

–. Vamp it Up With Visuals:  Producers tire of inevitable talking head sources bobbing in their office chairs.  Shoot your sources in an eye catching setting without getting gimmicky.

– Let the Slates Skate.  Slates, time coded written descriptions between video segments, were designed as an easy way to help break up video footage for producers.  Now slates make footage seem overly packaged so drop them.  Just separate your edited sequences with cuts to black (and give the slate info to the producer by phone or email).

– Remember THEY Shot It.  The myth you’re selling viewers is that the station shot your b-roll footage.  Therefore, don’t over produce it in a photography studio setting or hack it up by having an intern shoot it with a camcorder.  Get a videographer who can shoot natural looking footage and keep the sound bites tight.

These tricks can help get your client on air while letting you side step the scarlet letters VNR.  Down the line, we’ll tackle those pesky producers who ‘don’t do satellite interviews.’

I’m a self-proclaimed bookworm—I love, love, love books.  I devour them.  I’ll dabble in different genres and will give every book a chance.  So, about 10 years ago, when I was at a dinner with a friend and his boss and interview questions came up, the president of his company mentioned he always asks people what the last thing they read was—now he didn’t really care what had been read, he just wanted to know the person had read something.  I remember thinking that I’d love to get that question, but when I thought about it further, I realized it’s actually a hard question because I’ve read so much.  But, I couldn’t turn away from it, so when I started thinking about what I might like to write for my company’s blog, books were a no-brainer.  We decided to limit it to three books and I’m going to steer away from the essentials everyone should have on his/her desk and go to the ones that have made a true impact on my life and that have stood the test of time. 

Note: if you DON’T have these two items on your desk, do not pass go, do not collect $200, just hope that nobody has noticed and rush to your closest book store and buy them immediately.  A dictionary—yes, a real hard copy dictionary—use it, open it, it will help you, and an AP Stylebook—trust me, few things tick off journalists or a boss more than someone who didn’t take the time to look it up.  Now onto my top three. 

Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier:  I love this book because it provides a simple explanation of branding—something every PR person needs to embrace.

A Carrot a Day: A Daily Dose of Recognition for Your Employees by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton – While this one says “for your employees,” I really think this book is beneficial for people at all levels because it reinforces the need for appreciation—which can be given to media, vendors, colleagues, etc. Always follow the “win more flies with honey” mantra

Random House Word Menu by Stephen D. Glazier.  This book was recommended to me by a writer friend a number of years ago and I’ve been eternally grateful for it.  It is hands down the best book for writer’s block as it categorizes words and terms. 

This list doesn’t contain the latest books, but I think they’re worth their cover price.  Bottom line: read what’s important to your manager, clients and yourself.

So tell me, what’s on your reading list?

The days of the semicolon are numbered; that is, if a clique of uppity French intellectuals get their way.  (For the best English-language post on the subject, check out Jon Henley’s thorough reporting here.)  

Those out to axe the semicolon cry out that it’s a worthless piece of pretentious punctuational pageantry.  Kurt Vonnegut even went so far to say, “Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites, standing for absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”  Those who defend the semicolon often retort that, above all, it lends a little bit of elegance.

We live in the age of short sentences – an age of blogging, emails and SMS.  Serial subordinate clauses, multi-tiered lists and similar ilk, have been democratized into declarative bursts.  It’s not just “Say what you mean and mean what you say,” but “Say what you mean and say it in such a way that your mother, father, sister, uncle, great grandmother and the guy standing in line behind you can understand it.”  And, more often that not, we are communicating to anyone in the world with access to the Internet.  

On one hand, I’m glad when communication is the primary point of writing.  As PR professionals, we know that if we can’t make the message understandable by the target recipients, we’ve wasted our time and our client’s money.  Moreover, just because you write economically doesn’t mean that you can’t make it artistic, languid and compelling. 

But I love those increasingly rare features and editorials that play around with sentence structure, that dare to use language that readers may sometimes strain a little to understand.  It can be good when someone says something in such a way that it causes a pause, a reread or a search through the dictionary; every once in a while, we’d be the better for it.

Last fall, a friend and aspiring journalist at the Journal called me to proudly ask if I’d read his byline, which was published in that day’s paper. He provided the precise section and page number. My response? “Hold on, let me dig the paper out of the bird cage.” Now, CarryOn doesn’t really employ any birds… at least not literally… but I made my point. Today, newspapers may be more valuable as bird cage lining than as vehicles for delivering the news. Why would I trudge across the office to disturb the actual, physical print version of the paper that was so happily posing as placemat to some cup of joe in our communal kitchen?

To underscore my point, I have to plug my (favorite) client Symantec and the findings of the Norton Online Living Report (the most amazing PR campaign ever conceptualized!) that found Internet users worldwide read news online at nearly an equal rate as in traditional printed newspapers and magazines. Now, I’m one of those rare PR professionals who actually started her career before the days of the Internet, but I pride myself in keeping pace with the times. I embrace technology. I have to – as CarryOn’s Tech Practice Leader, it’s what I do for a living. Friends, I cuddle my Blackberry. So, for an Internet addict like me, the stat about reading news online is conservative. At best. Seriously, doesn’t everybody get their news from the Internet, where every report filed must be true, even if it’s posted on a site called “GoFugYourself”?

But, due exclusively to the unrelenting persistence of my scoop-hunting and news-breaking friend, I gave in. I actually got up from my desk, left my office, caught a tram to the kitchen where the papers are stashed and dirtied my hands with ink (yes, dear Internet generation, papers really do leave you messed with ink… it ain’t purdy and don’t do it wearing white). My friend’s column on the “bantering Bancrofts” was witty, but what was really memorable was my renewed love affair with the paper – the actual, physical, hard-copy version of the paper.

I spent an hour flirting with the papers that morning. I read the Journal, the Gray Lady, the Pink Sheet, and even the entertainment rags. Actually, maybe read is an understatement. I devoured them (and my coffee). And I learned something. You can tell a lot about a paper by experiencing its physical manifestation. Having not picked up a paper in years, the first thing I noticed was how thin it had gotten. It lost weight. And not just a few pounds, but it shed entire pages. This gave me an insane dose of reality on how dire the traditional journalism industry is. Gone are the pages of colorful, clever ads, and with them, the credible, authoritative, expert journalism of yesteryear. Where has the reckless ad spending gone? Once you get beyond the initial shock and awe of the skeleton of a paper, you are quickly schooled on the publisher’s priorities. Just scan the headlines and look at the print layout. Consider how the stories are placed on the page. What’s above the fold. What’s below. What story was big enough to make it to A1. What stories were abandoned on the last page. What stories merited photography and original artwork. All of this gives you invaluable insight to how the media operates. As PR professionals, it allows us to better hone our pitches, appreciate the spoils of our hard work, and remind us how lucky we are to have a choice.

Peter Shankman has launched an interesting service of sorts called Help a Reporter, which actually stems from his hugely popular Facebook group If I can help a reporter out, I will. On the new homepage Peter likens the service to ProfNet which in my opinion misses the mark in a good way. ProfNet is a paid service that puts PR people, journalists, and experts together based on similar topics of interest. However, it’s also very clearly a sales tool for both the PR practitioners and the experts. Based on its roots in social media, Help a Reporter, has the opportunity to be much more. It has the opportunity to be more alumni association than vendor – a network of people with common backgrounds who have a vested interest in helping one another. Perhaps that’s why Peter goes on to say:

This is really the only thing I ask: By joining this list, just promise me and yourself that you’ll ask yourself before you send a response: Is this response really on target? Is this response really going to help the journalist, or is this just a BS way for me to get my client in front of the reporter? If you have to think for more than three seconds, chances are, you shouldn’t send the response.

In other words, Peter is asking that you don’t take his community and turn it into Second Life… A great concept that blossomed into community and was subsequently deserted when the axles broke on the marketers’ bandwagon.

The question remains to be answered, do we as practitioners have that sort of self control? Or perhaps more pertinently, do we have the presence of mind to recognize when we are helping a reporter versus when we are loading our pitch into a shotgun and sawing the end off? The future of PR is returning to relationships (as opt-in technologies like RSS take over from email, the ultimate sawed-off shotgun), and Help a Reporter is the start of a great community as long as we treat it as just that: community.