Full Frontal PR Summary

Full Frontal PR Summary

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Mouthing Words or Word of Mouth?

You live in a "buzz culture." The best kind of exposure for your product or service comes not from dropping millions of dollars on an advertising campaign, but from buzz: word of mouth.

So you don’t have movie star friends who can plug your product? Well, if you can’t take your idea upscale, then take it to the streets. Consider something simple, such as starting a sticker campaign, and putting one on every park bench and bus stop. Try coming up with a new phrase, maybe by turning a name into a verb, to make your product the first word that comes to people’s minds.

To be successful, guerilla marketing tactics like these must leave a memorable impression, and have an obvious link to your product or service. Often, guerilla marketing invades people’s space somewhat, so you have to conduct it in a respectful manner. Just look at BigStar, an online DVD vendor, which wanted more attention in the marketplace. Rather than compete among a bevy of popup ads and outdoor ad banners, BigStar negotiated with every New York trucking company to plaster its catchy message on every truck in the city. This created the impression that the company was shipping huge volumes of DVDs everywhere. Bonus: front page pictures of the truck art ran in both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. One key to getting that kind of attention is involving people to whom others listen. Even in the new century, world-of-mouth is still the best advertising you can have. Other lessons:

Turn over every stone - Don’t pass up any potential opportunities. Often an idea that seems offbeat is the idea that is actually most likely to work. Be creative and remember that you have to be different in order to be better.

Demonstrate passion - Real zeal will help you be gutsy. If your heart is in what you’re doing, the media will usually listen.

Think well of the media - Media people aren’t as jaded as some might like you to believe. Reporters and editors really will respond to respect and possibly even a kind word. They always are working on deadlines and they can use informed help.

Know thyself - Take time to learn about yourself. Some individuals and companies are so busy they lack creative time. Give yourself room for that creative brainstorm.

The Real Media

The Hollywood image of the investigative reporter is bunk. Real reporters don’t hang around back alleys wearing trench coats, waiting for a meeting with an undercover source. Instead, they sit at desks, make calls seeking information and, mostly, wait for the phone to ring. If you can help provide the news they need, you’re likely to garner another press clip for your collection. Your ability to place a story depends on understanding the media and the Herculean task of putting out a regular news product. However, they are inundated with story pitches. The question is, how do you beat the odds and place your story successfully?

Use a local angle - All the readers of every metropolitan or community newspaper share a common location or hometown. By tapping into that common interest, you will attract the media’s attention. Almost every national story has a local angle. Your job is to determine what it is and how it relates to your product. If crime rose nationally and you sell alarm systems in Hoboken, you have an obvious opportunity to attract some free media.

Connect to a bigger story - Your company or product may not be noteworthy by itself, but it’s probably a good example of some larger trend that the media cares about. Be topical. Look for stories the media is already running - disaster relief, crime, education, the economy - and determine how your product is relevant.

Always follow up - Don’t make promises you don’t or can’t keep.

Be shocking - Don’t go overboard, but you can gain media attention if you position your service or product in an attention-getting, or even controversial, way.

Use celebrities - The media loves them because readers love them. Your goal is always to attach your product to a celebrity. Send a few free samples to celebrities or sports figures to see if they’ll use your product. If they do, you have instant press.

Don’t be dishonest - Just once, you might get away with burning a reporter with an inaccuracy or exaggeration. Don’t kid yourself, however. The word spreads quickly and you surely will have harmed your own cause.

Use analyst meetings - At these meetings, executives discuss their company’s strategy and finances with industry analysts. A well-conducted meeting will leave analysts better able to discuss your business with the media, so it will generate indirect buzz. Prepare a PowerPoint-type presentation for the analysts. Be sure your numbers will withstand extreme scrutiny. Practice carefully, and select analyst firms that are expert in your field. Follow up to make sure you answered all the analysts’ questions.

Source filing - Send your clips to editors, and position yourself as an entertaining, interesting expert so reporters keep your number on hand and call on you.

Offer B-roll - Offer video footage television stations can use in the background. Well produced B-rolls will demonstrate your product being used and will serve the media’s needs. Send the footage to interested producers before your event or release.

Beta testing - Include journalists in your sneak peak testing of an upcoming product. You will create the potential for excellent reviews - if the product is really ready.

Events - The media likes to cover something actually taking place. You can host a launch or release party. If you want a creative event for a voice-recognition product for example, you could invite some top typists to compete against your automated product and ask members of the media to judge the winner. Count on the fact that only about five percent of those you invite will show up. If you want 40 people, send out 800 press invitations. Collect RSVPs and send out reminder notes, make follow up calls and last minute "we know you’re coming" calls.

Exclusives - Every media outlet likes to have something nobody else has. If there is one key market you want to attract - say The San Jose Mercury News for the Internet industry - you can offer it to them first. Generally, you don’t want to offer an exclusive to a magazine because it usually will have a two to three month delay before publication. You can give a related story to two non-competitive media outlets - such as USA TODAY and an industry newsletter. Let the two parties know what you’re doing; chances are they won’t care. An exclusive has to be worth the trade off. When you give one outlet something new, you run the risk other reporters will feel excluded or even offended. So pick wisely.

Media tour - If you have an interesting story accompanied by unusual visuals, you may want to host a media tour of your plant. One time-tested method of appealing to media people is through their appetite, so order snacks, hors d’oeurves or a buffet.

Surveys - Providing data can be effective and relatively inexpensive. Start with an issue critical to your business, an area where you wish to focus attention due to your competitive strength. Broaden that concept to cover a societal issue: how people pass the time when they are on hold, what happens to the average person’s blood pressure when they have a consumer issue, where the average person turns with computer technical trouble. Shine the light where you want it, then contact the media and make sure they have a chance to tell their audience about your important "discovery."

Never pitch wolf - Don’t get the media excited over smoke and then fail to deliver the fire. A public relations person who cries wolf with a couple of off-the-mark pitches is soon crossed off everybody’s list. Getting the media to respond when you offer an idea is all about building credibility. Don’t blow it.

Managing An Interview

You don’t have to be a natural at giving great interviews if you can work with a few fundamentals. Be enthusiastic - if you’re not excited about your product, who will be? Relax - reporters need you as much as you need them. Don’t exaggerate. If you have bad news, the general wisdom is to report it and get it all out of the way at once. Don’t dribble it out. If you are asked a problematic question, use bridging, the skill of stretching a question so that it reaches the area where you want to take the conversation. That will get you out of trouble and onto safer ground. Like a skilled politician, you already know what you’re going to say, so use the bridge to help you get there. A few examples of bridging are:

• "That’s a valid point, but it’s really not relevant. We ought to be talking about..."


• "That’s a very interesting question, but what makes it important is the fact that..."


• "Let me answer that by putting things into context."


• "Well, the short answer is ’no,’ but that’s misleading. The real issue is what people need to keep in mind, and that’s...."

Other important techniques include:

Flagging - Wave a flag when you want people to know that something important is coming up. That helps focus attention, revive interest and position the pens poised an ready to write. Flagging sentences include: "I can’t stress enough the importance of...." ; "The secret that people want to know is..."; "If I could only make one point it would be..." and simply, "You should write this one down."

Use positive words whenever possible - Say "good" rather than "not bad." Use the word "Excellent!" when appropriate. Don’t tell people what you aren’t. Tell them what you are. And remember, nothing is ever off the record. As in never!

Modem Operandi: Frontal PR on The Internet

For a good example of the power of the Internet, consider the career of Matt Drudge. Once an unknown on the Beltway of political commentary, he started a mudslinging website called The Drudge Report. The web gave Drudge freedom to make sources out of people who most media types wouldn’t be seen having a sherry with. Now, Drudge finds himself a real media player. That’s why the web is such a great opportunity. If your story isn’t big enough to catch the attention of the major newspapers, start with the web and use it to build some buzz.

E-mail is an increasingly important conduit for pitching stories. An effective e-mail doesn’t cut corners, any more than a regular letter does. Use complete sentences and demonstrate your ability to write effectively and use the English language appropriately. Stay away from spamming and broadcast e-mails. They’re pretty transparent. You can get terrific impact by using a web-based newswire, but you have to write an effective news release if you really want people to notice. A web-based release can cost as little as $300. And if you’re looking for intelligence about a competitor, the best place to go is your friendly search engine.

Whether you’re relying on the web or good old reliable word-of-mouth to generate your buzz, here’s one last tip: don’t expect it to happen overnight. There is no "just add water" solution. Great PR requires an extended effort over time. You should know that before you even begin. Don’t think a steady climb means you’ll die of old age before you get there. Instead, just keep climbing!

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