National Compliment Day, how-not-to-do Crisis Management & Building your media profile

“You look great, honestly!”

The saying goes, “Men insult each other all the time but don’t mean it – women compliment each other all the time – but they don’t mean it either!”  Ouch!  Did you know this Friday is ‘National Compliment Day’ – in the US anyway!  So there’s a marketing idea for you – create a special Day – but remember to make sure it’s relevant to your brand .  In this case a US brand – Honesty Tea - is taking advantage of this day to pay compliments to strangers – on and offline as far as I can gather.  A nice idea which evolved from their sampling activity when they give a compliment with each sample of tea! However, note they surveyed 2,400 people to get solid facts and figures to back up this activity! http://www.prdaily.com/marketing/Articles/15980.aspx

Crisis Management – how not to do it

I think we all agree that Rehab have made a situation much worse by refusing to disclose the Group CEO’s salary.  They obviously thought that if they kept their heads down and refused to divulge her salary that the crisis would blow over once the media shifted its focus elsewhere.  But they’ve become the main story.  And the charity’s reputation gets even more battered.  So the Crisis Management lesson here is - however painful it is to hold your hands up and admit your mistakes, it really is the only option.  The cover-up is always the bigger crime – and other people are much more forgiving of mistakes than of arrogance, procrastination and/or an apparent indifference to public opinion.

Building a Media Profile

Two sites worth looking at as a way of increasing your media profile are HARO (Help A Reporter Out) www.helpareporter.com and Media Diplomat www.mediadiplomat.com  Reporters who are writing articles on a variety of topics and industry sectors post up requests for information/input.  Sign up for emails from both sites and check out Media Diplomat’s LinkedIn group.  These sites are particularly useful if you trade or want to trade overseas. Media Diplomat was founded and is run by Paul Dixon, a UK PR & Communications consultant while HARO is more US-based – but both feature queries from around the globe.

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10 tips on how to write a Press Release

1.  It’s not about You!  It’s about Them – the readers, viewers, listeners etc of the newspaper, radio or TV station, website or other online platform that you are targeting with your press release.  First question to ask – what impact will my news have on Them? For example, if you’ve just won a major client(s) – congratulations – but does this mean you will be employing more people (direct employment), building bigger premises and/or require more suppliers(indirect employment) and/or opening up new export markets? Winning a new client may get you coverage in your trade/industry publications – but new jobs, markets etc will help get you coverage in local, national or even international media!
2.  Can you tap into a trend?  Take a macro view? Can you link your news to what’s current e.g. growth of food/tourism industries?  Get statistics on a relevant trend in the wider economy – and contextualise your story within that?
3. Comparisons are also good.  Can you compare what’s happening in your sector to what’s happening in the same sector across the EU, in emerging markets?  Again, get the stats and use them!
4. Have you any celebrity fans?!   If you have – shout about it!  It certainly increases your chances of coverage in the ‘red tops’ (tabloid newspapers), certain women’s and lifestyle magazines, websites and so on – but make sure the celebrity’s image and values match those of your company/product!
5. Customer Testimonials – if you don’t have celebrity customer but do have one or more high profile, respected companies or business people as customers and they are willing to be quoted, this is very beneficial for press releases targeting business and trade media. Make sure also to use these testimonials on your website, social media, blogs – wherever u can! It’s much better to get your customers to talk about your company/brand/product/ service as it’s far more credible than you talking about it!
6. Are the 5x W’s and 1xH answered in the first two paragraphs?  

-     Who?

-  What?
-      Where?
-      When?
-      Why?     and
-      How?

7   Use a tone that’s right for the media you are targeting.  Become familiar with the publications, radio and TV programmes, websites you are targeting – and match your tone accordingly.  For example, press releases targeting business media should be factual and not feature superlatives while those targeting the red tops can be more humorous and informal. You may have to write a number of different versions of the same press release – if it increases your chance of media coverage, it’s worth the time investment!

8   Keep it short! No-one has time for waffle – so the shorter the better!  Particularly for broadcast and online media – if they want more detail, they’ll ask for it.

9  Write in the 3^rd Person – try not to use the word ‘you’ in a press release unless it’s in a quote – otherwise it’s an ad.  The idea is that you write the press release in the style that a journalist would

10. Don’t forget to include your contact details!  At a minimum, include your mobile phone number and email address.

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8 Mngt Lessons from Alex Ferguson, Science can predict a best-seller & stand out from crowd

Harvard’s ‘Fergie’ Project

Any tips Alex Ferguson gives will be listened to so I read with interest John Fanning’s article on Harvard University’s “Fergie Project.”  Here’s 8 Management Tips from Alex Ferguson: Start with the foundations; dare to re-build your team; set high standards and hold everyone to them; never, ever cede control; match the message to the moment; prepare to win; rely on the power of observation; and never stop adapting http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/media-and-marketing/harvard-s-fergie-project-hailed-as-blueprint-for-success-in-business-1.1651084?page=2

Science can predict a best-seller

A sad day for writers and creativity? Science can now predict if a book will be a best-seller?!  Apparently “scientists have developed an algorithm which can analyse a book and predict with 84pc accuracy whether or not it will be a commercial success.” Worth bearing in mind if – sorry when – I fulfil my 2014 ambition to finish a book I’ve been writing for 10 years!

http://www.independent.ie/business/scientists-develop-an-algorithm-for-writing-a-bestselling-novel-29902572.html

How to stand out from the crowd

How tech start-ups try to stand out from the crowd – didn’t see anything too imaginative listed here. But the message is right – your attention-gathering activity has to relate to your branding and messaging. http://www.irishtimes.com/business/standing-out-from-the-crowd-is-key-for-start-ups-at-shows-1.1651094?page=2

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case study in lobbying, 9 inspirational people & are PR companies sidelining the press?

A case study in lobbying

The story of how the drinks industry here lobbied against a ban on their sponsoring sports events is detailed in today’s Irish Times – well worth a read.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/powerful-play-by-drinks-sector-to-block-ban-on-sponsorship-of-major-sporting-events-1.1645201?page=3

“PRs turn their back on the press”

“Rather than seeking the approval of journalists, the PR industry and its clients would rather reduce the press to the margins.”  Rubbish!  This article makes the UK Independent’s Ian Burrell sound a bit churlish as he states that PR companies are turning their backs on the press and focusing purely on producing content for their clients which is distributed via social media.  He does cite some good examples including a law firm, Mishcon de Reya, which has its own show on Jazz FM and its own TV channel, Morgan Stanley which produces its own financial news, interviews CEOs etc and the international PR company, Weber Shandwick which states that it can’t rely on a ‘middle man’ i.e. journalist to get client messages out in the way that they want.  But content creation is only part of what Weber Shandwick and every other PR company does.  It is true that PR companies – as well as business in general, celebrities etc – use social media to get their messages directly to their target audiences – but I would bet my house that the companies mentioned in this article see social media as an additional – albeit very powerful – communications channel – not as their sole distribution channel - and that Mishcon and Morgan Stanley target ‘traditional’ media as well.  The important thing to remember when deciding on your target media is to ask yourself what is my target customer reading, viewing, listening to etc – and that’s your target media.  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/opinion/ian-burrell-as-corporate-pr-plunges-into-digital-and-socialmedia-does-it-still-need-the-traditional-press-9040288.html

9 Inspirational Entrepreneurs

Here’s a bit of inspiration to kick start the new year – 9 emerging entrepreneurs to watch in 2014.   These 9 are finalists in the 2014 David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Awards, the winner of which will be announced on Thursday, 30^th January.  I’m declaring an interest here as I’m on the Awards committee, I’m one of the sponsors and look after the PR for the Awards! http://www.davidmanleyawards.ie/2014-finalists/

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