False: Any PR is good PR

May 17th, 2011

bad-publicity

There’s a saying out there that, if we may give a long winded explanation, suggests that any time someone reads or mentions your firm’s name, it is a good thing for business.

Could anything be farther from the truth? Yes, seeing your name or your firm’s name in the media will indeed circulate buzz – sometimes lots more than you planned.

Looking to Hollywood for bad inspiration

If you’re like most Americans, you’re no doubt at least somewhat fascinated with Charlie Sheen’s plummet. A psychological and emotional mess, Sheen seems to think that simply putting himself up as a public spectacle will greatly benefit his career.

As one of the most-paid actors in the industry (at least until recently), it’s not like his career was in dire need of a boost. Although Google hits for “Charlie Sheen” have skyrocketed over the last few months, the long term repercussions for his career will be worse than anyone can imagine. Already, he has been replaced from his post on “Two and a Half Men” and the odds of him getting another contract on a meaningful TV show or movie are slim at best. His slide makes that of Lindsay Lohan look like an easily surmounted PR obstacle.

Movie stars aren’t the only ones to take this dive. Nearly anyone with a big name is susceptible – like athletes. Warren Sapp, a hard-hitting defensive tackle, was no stranger to controversy during his NFL days. But it was charges of domestic battery that saw him pulled from the NFL Network’s roster after his career had ended. The public that was once forgiving was unlikely to forget, even though the charges were later dropped.

Making it applicable to you

You don’t need to be a celebrity for this take-home lesson in public relations. Too many firms have been content with simply receiving any media coverage, even at the worst of times. To them, simply having their name in newspapers and on websites is enough to drum up sales and increase brand recognition.

Usually, it only does the latter – especially over the long run.

Drink manufacturer Phusion Projects didn’t receive very good press after accusations that its Four Loko alcoholic energy drink contained a dangerous mixture of caffeine and alcohol. Although sales skyrocketed among its target demographic immediately after some states began banning the beverage, the long term affects have been detrimental.

Phusion Projects was forced to reformulate the drink so that it no longer includes alcohol. Since then, the company has seen its development pushed into high gear as it attempts to regain rapidly slipping market share.

Don’t make the same mistakes. The best solution, of course, is to not make decisions that are likely to result in bad press. We realize that this happens unexpectedly, so that’s why we always make sure we have an emergency response plan in place to reduce the affects of negative media.

While you never want to get caught in a bad situation, you never want to make it worse.

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Driving away with media drives: Part 2

May 3rd, 2011

test drives

Now that you’ve made your list – and checked it twice – to decide who will be at your media drive and where and when you will choose to hold it, the time has come to start thinking about what will help make the event go as easily as possible.

Begin by thinking from the perspective of a member of the media. Why would someone have traveled, either on your dime or their own, to your event? What do they plan to get out of the day? For different members of the media, it might be something unique entirely. Some will be focused on driving the car or cars you have on offer. Others instead will want to use the event as an opportunity to talk with executives, engineers and designers because they know they will be spending more time in one of your products in the future.

Time management

Unless you are catering to a very small, specific group, you’ll need to do your best to accommodate everyone’s wishes.  Among those, you need to carefully balance drive time with down time – that is, the time when your guests could interact with your team.

A general rule of thumb is that most average new cars need to be driven at least 100 miles, some of which should include driver changes. A 150 to 200-mile day would be ideal; over most roads, this would take between three and four hours not including a lunch break along the way. Roads should be varied and would depend on what your vehicle should achieve.

Conversely, some vehicles need time on a closed course – and not necessarily a race track or autocross course. If your budget allows, it’s nice to have competitive vehicles and a demonstration of something unique about your vehicle, whether it is the ability to tow or a distinct ride or handling quality that stands out compared to rivals. Securing a rival vehicle or two isn’t a challenge if you work out a borrowing fee with a local dealer.

Set aside plenty of time to schedule interviews with members of your executive, engineering and design teams. PR reps can gently engage media members into interviews that can help them write their articles or put together their videos.  An extended lunch break or a pre-dinner gathering usually works best; let the media spend some time in the car before scheduling interviews.

The little things

Along the drive portion of the event, you don’t want to lose your media members. A well-planned route map with easy-to-follow icons, maps and emergency contact numbers will help your drivers stay on track. Some maps even contain occasional historical or regional facts about the route; although rarely used in content gleaned from the trip, these little bits and pieces are an easy way to build rapport and respect.

Make sure that the cars are stocked with water and a snack or two. You can show off an audio system by including an iPod in the vehicle for use on the road (but don’t forget to remind your drivers that the iPod is in the vehicle!).

If possible, a user’s guide to the car can be included in the media drive. Most new cars come with a quick reference guide; if they are complete in time for the drive, have a few on hand in the vehicles – but be careful, since members of the media might assume that they are promotional material meant to be taken home!

In future installments, we’ll discuss other ways you can make your media drive more useful for everyone involved – including video crews.

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It’s Not Too Early to Think About Father’s Day!

April 28th, 2011

To purchase one of the great automotive fine art pieces from world renowned AFAS artists, simply visit the Automotive Fine Arts Society website where you’ll find contact information for each artist!

If you are a journalist and would like high res images for editorial prints, please email Laura Sayed at TPRM or call 214 520 3430 x306.

For more information about TPRM visit www.tprm-usa.com.

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Don’t lose them: Alienating traditional media won’t do you any favors

April 26th, 2011

news

The best restaurants and shops evolve by both bringing in new clients and continuing to cater to their longstanding base. Look at Neiman-Marcus, for example. Despite a plethora of mall and urban stores across the nation, the fashion forward retailer will still gladly go an extra mile for its most devoted customers at its flagship store in downtown Dallas. Although all of its stores offer personal shopping, only store number one continues to serve its legions of faithful in their homes.

As media professionals, we can do the same – even if what we’re selling isn’t quite as easy to quantify as a high-end dress or suit. Over the last decade, online and, lately, social media have taken center stage. Undeniably, we need to cater heavily to these rapidly growing influential sources, but we can’t forget about our traditional outlets.

Newspapers and magazines have seen circulation drop off, but they are still trusted by millions every day – both in print and online. Research indicates that print publications still command more respect and attention from the public in their online editions than most Internet-only publications, although the gap is admittedly dwindling. As a result, traditional media are evolving in the face of potential extinction.

Evolve or die

Online versions of print publications are quickly taking new shape online and in downloadable forms. Their websites often mimic online-only sites with opinion and short news-oriented blogs, while the extra outlet offers them an additional upsell for advertisers.

Perhaps the biggest change is yet to come, however. Tablets might be making big headlines, but their heyday is still on the horizon as traditional media works to create its own formats. Wired, a tech-oriented magazine, is the undisputed tablet leader, with unique content only available for download. Its digital editions offer built-in videos and animations that go way beyond what print could ever do.

But fashion magazines are also getting into these areas in order to satiate their tech and trend-oriented readers. Some magazines provide readers with more than just news and features; they can digitally mix and match apparel items, makeup and accessories to create a look of their own – without ever visiting a closet or a store.

Don’t get lost

Forgetting or intentionally circumventing traditional outlets is an easy mistake to make. Between online media’s impressive ability to assert itself and traditional media’s often slow reaction times, losing print outlets is all too easy.

Make sure your media list doesn’t forget about the veterans. As long as they are still relevant to your product, they need to be informed and, when possible, they need to experience what you have to offer. Sometimes, you have to make cuts, which means that the veterans no longer get an invite to a product event or even simply a phone call pitch. Instead, a new website or social media guru takes the veteran’s place. But you have to be extremely careful with where you trim – don’t alienate traditional media.

And don’t ignore your base, either!

An automaker recently unveiled a new car at a glamorous gathering at a major national landmark. With a star-studded cast, the company touted its new product to bloggers, Tweeters and members of the lifestyle media – but only a handful of car-oriented publications were around.

As a result, coverage was less than impressive. The automaker won’t admit it, of course, but a quick perusal of automotive media outlets – magazines (the so-called “buff books”) and even well respected online media sites were practically devoid of any extended coverage beyond simply an announcement with information gleaned from the press release offered by the automaker.

Expanding or reshaping the invite list to include more traditional media and the automaker’s industry base could have significantly changed coverage for the better.

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Not a relic: Making the most of media kits

April 19th, 2011

press kits

Once upon a time – back in the dark ages of slide rules, fax machines and wire services, press kits were elaborate affairs chock full of usable content for journalists. That’s no longer the case, thanks to the proliferation of material available online through media sites, ftp servers and email. The few press materials that tend to reach journalists are often simply contained on a USB drive or, in some cases, a CD-ROM.

But that doesn’t mean that the media kit is entirely outdated. They aren’t the most budget-friendly way to get your word out, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be taken advantage of in a functional, multi-use format.

By showing off some aspect of your product, a media kit can be used as a take-home sample.

A large company that produces canvas awnings for parking lots, sports facilities and residential use provides members of the media with a packet of information contained in a pouch made from – you guessed it, their premium canvas. In this case, the media kit helps journalists understand exactly what the company produces in a way that no other way short of installing a canopy in their back yard can do.

An automaker recently introduced a vehicle made substantially of recycled materials. To illustrate the strength and flexibility, as well as the relatively low cost of recycled polymers, they distributed media kits to members of the press contained in a plastic box. A note inside explained that the strong box is made of the same material as certain components of the vehicle. Not only is the box unique, it also provides a use for the journalists. It won’t wind up in the trash (or recycle bin) like so many folders and binders have in the past.

If your product or service doesn’t necessarily lend itself to press kit design, you might want to use your media kit to “set the mood” for journalists. A luxurious item, like a line of fine watches or a high-end vehicle, might use a media kit binder wrapped in a premium leather. Conversely, an eco-friendly item like a water purification system could be well suited by storage case made of bamboo grown on a tree farm.

Your media kit also need not contain many printed materials – some companies choose to include only a USB drive neatly tucked away in a case, while others prefer to supply their target audience with pages of product specifications and press releases. The choice is yours.

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Making the most of video interviews at trade shows and events

April 4th, 2011

images

Between ever-cheaper HD cameras and the ease of hosting and embedding video on a news outlet’s website, video interviews have become the easiest and most effective way to communicate your message.

Video was daunting to anyone other than a news crew as recently as the last two or three years, but it seems as though the prominence of YouTube and the price of video cameras are on an inverse scale. Anyone with a website can host original content on YouTube and embed it on their own site. Then, not only is the content viewable through their URL, they can use YouTube to bring in new traffic. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Of course, you’re going to be dealing with the professionals, too – and that means you’ll have big name interviewers to work around. You can subtly put them on your side if you’re unobtrusive about it.

As a result, you are likely to be receiving more and more requests for video interviews. In addition to preparing your executives, your product experts and your engineers for an on-camera experience, you need to make sure your setting is just right – especially at trade shows and events, where you can’t control the atmosphere like you can in a studio.

It’s the basics

Pay attention to the simple things; they’re the ones that will wreak havoc on your interview more than the big problems. Your interviewer may not be especially prepared – he or she might rely on a video editing crew to make things “pretty” after the taping. As a result, it might very well fall on you to set things up just right.

Watch out for background noise. A light wind or a quiet presentation 500 feet away will be heard on the microphone in your executive’s face. Look for a quiet place, like inside of a tent, behind a wall or inside of a vehicle. Don’t assume that a gentle breeze won’t make itself heard!

Be careful with what your interviewee is wearing. A red shirt will blend with a red wall, while a dark color might make an already dark exhibition hall even tougher to film. Not only do you need to think about colors prior to your arrival, you need to be ready to adapt right before the record button is pressed.

Be aware of your flexibility. A prop is a great tool to illustrate your product, but don’t make it awkward. You don’t want your executive grunting and groaning as he contorts himself into a sports car or tries to lift a heavy display item.

You’re in charge

If the interview is taking place outside of a studio, you have control. Take charge and direct the shots, suggesting – in a kind manner – just where you want your interviewee to be placed and what he or she should be talking about.

A video crew and a producer will take kindly to you if you give them suggestions about things they might not be aware of. A certain product might not be newsworthy, so you don’t necessarily want the camera crew focusing on it instead of the new stuff.

Amateurs, who shouldn’t be taken lightly, might not be aware of some technical difficulties that arise over lighting and sound conditions. Conversely, the pros probably know what they are doing – don’t waste their time telling them what they already know!

Playing with the big boys

You should be paying more attention to online media, since they are the ones who will harness the Internet and social media better than TV and print outlets. But that hardly means you should ignore the standbys.

Be aware of the ground rules during breaks for live interviews. Some interviewers may hardly acknowledge your executive, no matter how important he or she is within your company. It doesn’t seem fair, but it’s the compromise you’ll have to take to reach a massive audience that puts faith in its broadcasters.

Others yet will be excited to learn about your product, so don’t be shy about pointing out things they should know before the interview starts. As always, judge your audience closely – even if that audience is a camera and an interviewer!

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Driving away with media drives: Part 1

March 28th, 2011

test drive

Putting members of the media behind the wheel of your new car is undeniably the most cost-effective way of getting widespread, unbiased coverage. Over time, your budget might allow for certain selected journalists to have the opportunity to sample your new model for an extended evaluation, but a short term first look is likely going to involve a number of people in one location.

But not leveraging such an event can prove disastrous for everyone involved, since those initial reviews can be the most important ones your car will ever get.

A media drive is a major undertaking, but it doesn’t have to be expensive or burdensome. Let’s first examine the best way to get started.

Place and Time
Picking the location and timing of your media drive is essential. Too many have made the mistake of offering a drive opportunity at the same time as another major event in an entirely different location. Since many outlets are limited in the amount of coverage they can take on at one time, you don’t want to lose potential journalists just because they are attending a new car show on the other side of the country, or they’re at a major vintage event overseas.

Consult any calendar that might apply to your audience – you will be able to find dates that work well for everyone.

With a date selected, your next decision will probably revolve around a location. The most budget-friendly option is to hold your media ride and drive where your audience will already be. With journalists scattered around the country – and across the globe – the only time you’ll find them all in the same place is around a major auto show like SEMA in Las Vegas or the Los Angeles Auto Show. If your intended audience will be in tune with classic cars or enthusiast-oriented events, consider taking advantage of an afternoon during the Monterey week in August or even the Woodward Dream Cruise in Detroit. Or, you could run your snowmobile ride and drive during the Detroit show in January!

If you choose to piggyback and adjacent show or major event, you don’t want to intrude on the event, or else you’ll risk losing essential coverage. As exciting as your product is, journalists are in town first and foremost for the major event, which probably offers lots of exciting news worth covering. That doesn’t mean that they don’t want to drive your car, but you have to be careful with timing. The days leading to and following a major event are prime driving time, but you’ll want to give journalists plenty of notice ahead of time.

Even if you don’t have all of your details carefully arranged, a simple “save the date” e-mail will alert reporters about an upcoming drive. It’s amazing how few major automakers even bother with this small effort, which serves as a convenience for all involved.

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Getting visual: Using USB drives as a marketing tool

March 22nd, 2011

USBs

The traditional press kit is long gone, a victim of both universal budget cuts and an increasingly digital world. In its place, for many, is a far more useful tool for everyone involved: USB thumb drives.

Although budget-conscious firms still sometimes pass out business cards with a a media site URL or, in some surprisingly archaic cases, a CD or DVD loaded with images, the most cutting edge groups have flocked to USB drives.

Capable of storing gobs of information – a minimum of two gigabytes for even the most basic drive – these devices can hold press releases, technical details, high resolution images, video interviews, B-roll, animations and much more. Easy to organize with folders or, in some cases, an on-screen menu, USB drives are absolutely the easiest way to transfer lots of information directly to a journalist. They are easy to pass out at a trade event and they are light enough that tossing them in the mail at a later date won’t burst your budgets.

Members of the media relish their ease of use; simply plug one into any laptop and, within mere seconds, the writer can be pouring over releases, while photo and video editors can be sorting through multimedia content.

More than just information
Yet a USB drive is more than just a way to transfer product information to your intended audience. A catchy design adds more cost, but it increases visibility – both in the short and long term.

Numerous outfits will customize USB drives to your needs, whether you want to make them look like a certain aspect of your product.

A car manufacturer, for example, can have a USB drive made in the shape of a car key, or even a rolling Matchbox-size version of its latest model. Or, a firm might want to emphasize a certain aspect of their industry or their demographic. An eco-conscious brand might choose to highlight their USB drive by making it out of a recyclable material, while a luxury brand could instead decide to make theirs from a mix of fine aluminum and leather.

Moreover, customized packaging might deliver exactly the message you want to convey. Again, recycled materials might make for a good box, or you might choose to include a USB drive hidden away in another media trinket. To mark its return to the North American market, Fiat gave journalists cappuccino cups with the brand’s logo. Tucked away in the box was a pint-size USB drive, which served as a reminder of the automaker’s new 500 minicar.

These USB drives aren’t just quick use takeaways. A unique-looking USB drive has long-lasting appeal, so it might make its way into daily use for a journalist. It serves as a continual and subtle reminder of your brand – and that’s undeniably a positive.

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Working an embargo to your advantage

March 15th, 2011

boy blog

Supplying members of the media with embargoed information – that is, press releases, photography and video clips that can’t be published until a certain date – can be both an efficient way to get your word out and a method to set the online world abuzz about your news.

Like any tactic, however, embargoes need to be planned carefully in order to maximize their effectiveness. Simply providing media with your information isn’t enough in this era of fast-paced online reporting, where a story can trend from hot to cold in a matter of minutes.

Get the timing right
The reason you set an embargo date for information, even that gleaned at a press event, is because you want to carefully orchestrate its release to complement a product launch. You might want to keep certain information private until you are ready to reveal even more. Or, more commonly, you simply want the upper hand in distributing information.

While you could be planning the embargo solely around when it benefits your internal timetable, you’ll get more traffic if you cater to the media – at least to a certain extent.

Typically, an early morning embargo helps ensure that both print and online media distribute information at about the same time. If you’re looking to spread word any way you can, this works well. But if you want your information to go viral – to make the rounds of the Internet – look for an embargo end more along the lines of early-to-midday for most of the country. Noon Eastern ensures that all four timezones in the continental United States receive the information around their peak viewing time.

But an embargo isn’t useful unless you distribute the information to the media at an appropriate time. Don’t follow the mistakes of many by sending out lengthy press releases and several gigs of photos just a few hours before the embargo breaks. Send out information several days ahead, leaving at least a weekday or two for media to get information up. Remember that many journalists are on the road or in the air, which limits the amount of time they are at their computers ready to download your information. You’re more likely to get coverage if you give media some lead time.

Scratch the media’s back by giving them plenty of notice and they’ll scratch back with plenty of coverage. It’s a two-way street.

Who’s who
An embargo doesn’t work if someone on your list publishes your information too early. Be careful making your embargo list, but don’t exclude someone online just because their site isn’t known for traffic or their newspaper has a low circulation.

These days, it takes just one well-written story to spread like wild fire across the digital spectrum thanks to sharing sources like Digg, Facebook and Twitter.

Don’t discount anyone, but don’t hesitate not to give them a second chance if they’ve treated you poorly in the past.

All the right stuff
Now that you’ve picked your embargo date and have set your list, it is essential that you send out the right information – and not too much of it. Sometimes, simply teasing your product is enough. A few small photos and some light information will start the buzz – but only if your announcement is big enough to merit such.

Generally, sending “too many” photos is a good thing. Outlets can pick and choose, which will make them happier as it limits image overlap. But too much information is often hard to digest, as it is with any non-embargoed release.

As for distributing your information, email is generally the best if you can keep the packet below 500 kb. For anything larger, consider setting up a private FTP or a login-required website.

And don’t forget to mark the expiration of the embargo!

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Turning the corner: The legitimacy of online media

March 11th, 2011

IncludedNetworkLogos_May08

For public relations practitioners, both professionals and those who simply want to get the word out about their product, online media has traditionally been something to approach with skepticism and trepidation.

After all, can’t anyone make their own website? Back in the infancy of the consumer Internet, free web hosting services like GeoCities made it easy for just about anyone to do anything from post pictures of their kitty cat to masquerade as a legitimate online news or information source. Like any other burgeoning industry, the dot-com boom saw personal and for-profit sites skyrocket in both numbers and traffic. With the advent of search engine optimizing-technology, the plethora of useful sites has become more focused and refined.

Now, consumers turn more to online media than any other source. We are spending more time in front of screens, but the advent of tablet devices has made it easier and more casual to surf the web than ever before.

As a result, online media has been brought into the mainstream, quickly replacing print as the default medium of choice.

This should hardly be news, but to many it is still difficult to see the legitimacy of a digital-only publication. As a result, thousands of titles with devoted followers and, perhaps most importantly, a wide range of newcomers, are being ignored.

The rise of the tablet
NPD Group, a New York-based market research firm, recently reported that it expects more than 240 million tablets will be sold by 2015. Paramount to their success is their ability to seamlessly connect to the internet just about anywhere, whether they use home or commercial wifi networks, cell tower-based connectivity or even wifi in the sky 35,000 feet above the earth aboard a Boeing 737.

These tablets are rapidly displacing both books and newspapers as the default go-to source for entertainment and information. Need proof? Witness book store giant Borders’ recent Chapter 11 filing. How the mighty have fallen.

Tablet-based applications bring magazines to readers’ attentions like never before, offering them the ability to virtually sort through newsstands ten times the size they might encounter in real life. These online magazines aren’t fly-by-night publications like early GeoCities web pages. They take serious effort and hefty start-up costs to get running; investment is not for the faint of heart. Not surprisingly, readership is growing at an alarming rate.

Online magazines are packed with functionality beneficial to any advertiser – embedded videos, product tutorials and direct links to product websites mean the days of hoping your audience would remember to call your 1-800 number or log onto your site are long gone. Now, all they have to do is follow a link and they’re in your territory.

Of course, we can’t discount the power of traditional websites, which offer the easy-to-update functionality essential to news gathering.

Traditional print outlets have found their home online, but so have a vast array of startups, many of which have been around since the early days of the web. Their page views are often exponentially higher than print circulation and their cutting edge reporting is rapidly shared through other mediums like Digg, Facebook and Twitter.

Benefiting you
Like any print publication, an online site requires some acclimation to ensure that it suits your target audience.

But the era where online media was ignored has ended, leaving print as a comparatively archaic dinosaur catering to a rapidly shrinking demographic. Don’t be skeptical or afraid of online media: Embrace it before you are left behind.

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