Bussines Plans

When a business decides to employ a PR agency or has an in-house person to create and execute a communications strategy, the most common way to try and get a story into newspapers or magazines is through a press release – a one page document detailing a narrative, which also incorporates a quotation from the appropriate manager or director. However, as most public relations professionals have been finding over the last few years, it is becoming increasingly challenging to place stories this way, in many ways linked to the diminishing numbers of journalists working for a particular publication. Getting hold of the right person can be difficult, the story may be competing with hundreds of others and then there is the demanding and time-consuming task of ‘selling-in’ the story over the phone to a number of different titles.

One underused approach to making sure the businesses name is referenced in target newspapers or magazines is to secure expert comment within a feature. This positions the company as particularly knowledgeable and trusted in its field so can make a significant impact on readers. It does also take an amount of time to discuss potential comment opportunities with publications but once a relationship has been built and the first comment has been provided, often journalists will get back in touch with a business they know can be relied upon to deliver an interesting and relevant comment.

There are a few ways of trying to secure comment; if this is an approach you would like to try here are some pointers in the right direction.

• Request forward features lists from magazines to see what relevant articles are on the horizon. Speak to the journalist writing the feature and follow this up with the full details of the business and the people who could comment. Providing a short biography and reasons why the said person is suitable may also help to give weight to a comment.
• When you read an article in a newspaper or magazine that is relevant to the company, get in touch with the journalist and offer to assist with the next similar feature they are writing.
• Alternatively, contact the editor with a good bio about the company, the potential commenters and the specialisms they would be happy to discuss. Once a good relationship has been formed, it may then also be easier to pitch in press releases.
• Keep an eye on the social media streams of both journalists and publications as you never know when they will post a request for assistance on an article that they are writing.

The phrase “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” is associated with P.T. Barnum, and is a fitting belief for a man that made a name for himself with a circus featuring sideshows and the exploitation of people with physical disabilities that made people call them freaks. Laude him or loathe him, so long as you were talking about him Barnum was happy, but in this day of 24 hour news cycles, internet searches, and social media, is all publicity really good publicity? Let’s look at it.

What Kind of Image Are You Trying to Project?

A lot of whether all publicity is good depends on the image that you’re trying to project to the public. For companies like Toyota, General Motors, Disney, and Sony, they’re trying to project a positive image that makes you feel secure in doing business with them. Even celebrities and athletes try to project a clean, family-friendly image, which made a certain golf star’s recent PR nightmare all the more severe.

Others, however, do tend to look at all publicity as being good. Many celebrities and sports stars like to be in the spotlight, even if they have to put it there themselves.

Choosing What Kind of Publicity You Want

Ideally everybody would prefer to have positive publicity – very few people and fewer companies really want to be the villain, but that’s not really always a choice. So how do you settle on what type of publicity you want to strive for and what kind you want to avoid and even take legal action against?

The first step can be to hire a PR firm that specializes in crisis management. They’ll guide you through your legal options and help lead you down the path to the type of publicity and public image that you want while helping to deal with the types that you don’t

Second, decide whether you’re striving for publicity for yourself or a company. There are celebrities and sports stars and owners that own businesses that are successful, but are also selling themselves as a separate brand that has a different kind of publicity. Knowing what you need and prefer can influence what type of publicity you seek out.

Finally, remember that you’ll never make everybody happy. No matter what image you project and maintain, somebody will be unhappy with you and try to bring you down, so taking it all with a grain of salt is key to maintaining your composure and protecting your brand.

Thom Constantine has worked with several crisis management firms, including a legal PR firm and a healthcare PR firm. To learn more about crisis management, visit: MACStrategies.com.

By Thom Constantine