Public Relations

The recent media furor over news that the 17-year old daughter of GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant raises an interesting question: when making an important announcement, how much information should be released? If there’s a skeleton hanging in your closet, should you do the exposing?

As a former reporter, I would recommend full disclosure up front to my client in a similar situation. News coming from a source tends to be much less sensationalized than something that is dug up and reported by the media.

Here is how I would have handled it: during Palin’s acceptance speech, she would have noted the whirlwind that has been her life of late and slipped in, almost matter of factly, that her daughter is pregnant and that she is looking forward to being a grandmother, framing it as a positive development. That would be it.

Now, the media would certainly seize the story and run with it. But it would have none of the “gotcha” mentality that seems so pervasive and it would short-circuit those probing questions about whether McCain knew and if she was properly vetted.

Face it: the media will find out about such things, whether it’s a political candidate, a product launch, a merger or a new CEO. And when they do, it will be a field day, especially among some bloggers who don’t have to abide by the same rules as mainstream journalists.

My advise is to work with someone who knows the kinds of issues that will push the media’s buttons and get out in front so you can control the story line.

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I’ve always believed that third-party endorsements are a great way to add credibility to copy. After all, I can say I’m great, but if somebody else says it, someone without a vested interest in my success, that carries much more weight.

The problem with many testimonials is that they come off sounding canned and solicited. Does anyone really talk in superlatives, with losts of exclamation points?

Over at Copyblogger, Dean Reick just wrapped up a terrific four-part series about testimonials, their importance and use. The final installment reveals subtle ways your can integrate testimonials into brochures, newsletters and sales copy.

Here are my favorites from his list: Continued

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A couple of years ago, I needed a new dishwasher. My first instinct was to go to one of the big box stores – Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy – and pick out a model. But before I had a chance to stop in to one of those places, I happened by an appliance store in a gritty section of an Upper Bucks County Borough.

There was the owner, an older gentleman, wearing a dark suit and using a feather duster to clean the inside of a refrigerator. His son – less formally dressed — greeted me with a friendly smile and asked if he could help. There wasn’t another soul in the store.

After asking a few questions about my family, he directed me to the model he thought would be appropriate. It wasn’t the most expensive, but it wasn’t the cheapest, either. He patiently explained its features, the pros and cons, even offering to run it through a cycle, if I wanted. No pressure, no hype, no directing me to the higher price models, no upsell for a warranty.

I walked out of there the proud owner of a new dishwasher. I’m not sure if I got the best price, but I sure felt good about the process. I knew if something went wrong, that store would stand behind its product.

Now, even though there’s no big parking lot, the store isn’t air conditioned, and it might take a couple extra days for delivery, I’ve been back several times for appliances. Why? Because they sold me more than a dishwasher that first time I stopped by. They sold me peace of mind, a sense of family, a link to the past when businesses cared about their customers on a personal level.

Too many small businesses throw up their hands when it comes to going head-to-head with the Big Dogs of the world. Look for your strengths, do the things your competitors can’t do and do them better. You’ll be surprised how many people will come your way. And stick with you.

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I’ve been newspaper junkie since discovering the sports pages of the old Philadelphia Bulletin in 1964. From the first day I walked into a newsroom more than 30 years ago, I’ve been captivated by the rhythms of putting out the equivalent of a novel a day. The gritty smell of a newspaper fresh off the press still gives me a rush.

So it pains me to see what is happening to the newspaper industry. Three papers I’ve worked for have gone through painful cuts in the last few months with dozens of solid, hard-working journalists losing their jobs. It’s no different anywhere in the country. The villains are precipitous drop in advertising revenue and an unrelenting corporate thirst for unrealistic profit margins. With less quality content, fewer readers subscribe. That means fewer advertisers. Until the bean counters find a way to make a buck off the Internet, the vicious circle will be repeated.

As difficult it is for me to watch as a former journalist, what does the slow demise of the newspaper industry mean to me as a public relations professional? Are newspapers still a relevant part of PR efforts? Should I invest the time and energy it takes to forge relationships with editors and reporters who could be laid off any day? Do enough people read newspapers to make them a worthwhile target?

For now, the answer is a lukewarm yes. But the day is coming – sooner than anyone ever predicted – when printed newspapers will be just an afterthought in most public relations programs. In some cases, that day has already arrived. If your target audience is under 30, forget about newspapers.

So what will take newspapers’ place?

A recent study by the Public Relations Society of America says social media and blogs are becoming a medium for companies to communicate externally - that is, through its public relations. According to the study, “two-thirds of public relations practitioners believe blogs and social media have enhanced what happens in public relations and that social media and traditional mainstream media complement each other.” Furthermore, “61 percent believe the emergence of blogs and social media have changed the way their organizations (or client organizations) communicate.”

While nothing can replace the thrill of a front page story — and I’ll date myself here — “above the fold,” the fact is social media and blogs are the future of public relations.

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So a local Realtor buys an irregularly-shaped property with a dilapidated single-family home on it.

Except he wants to tear it down and build a twin.

But the neighbors, all of whom live in nice singles, don’t want to see a twin in their neighborhood. It’ll lower property values, they say, and you never know what kind of riff-raff will live in anything other than a single.

When the Realtor goes to Borough Council for a variance, the neighbors show up to protest. Things get pretty heated between the two sides. He threatens to build an apartment building, which he can do by right, and turn it into Section 8 housing.

Strike one.

With no decision forthcoming from council, the Realtor takes another swing. This time, he paints the crumbling house a lovely shade of hot pink, combined with a touch of vibrant plum.

Strike two.

But the outside paint job is just the first step if the Realtor doesn’t get his way. Fluorescent yellow trim comes next, and he has even talked about raising turkeys on the property. Neighbors say he has threatened to deck the exterior walls with polka dots and representations of horses’ hindquarters.

“If I don’t get my twins, it’s going to be the ugliest single,” he said in a newspaper story. “It’s going to become “Green Acres’ north. That’s my guarantee.”

Strike three.

Here’s a modestly successful Realtor putting his reputation on the line by trying to bully elected officials and neighbors in to giving him what he wants. Rather than working toward a compromise, convincing his opponents why a single-family home won’t work and why a nicely-designed twin would, he has resorted to cheap publicity tactics guaranteed to turn public opinion even more against him.

Even if he happens to win this battle, his professional standing in the community will have taken a major hit. Would you deal with a Realtor who is so mean-spirited and spiteful? Probably not.

That, my friends, is how NOT to wage a battle for the hearts and minds of the public.

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