The Sounding Board’s “Five Scariest Things to Tell a PR Firm”
Click on the link below, PR fiends!
The Sounding Board: The Five Scariest Things to Tell a PR Firm.
Don’t Be An American Idiot–Talk to the Press
When you’re on the ropes and something good finally breaks your way, you should tell the world about it–especially when the news media are practically begging you to do so.
Case in point, the producers of “the financially shaky musical American Idiot got a huge boost this week as Billie Joe Armstrong, the front man for Green Day who wrote the show’s songs and co-wrote its book, stepped into a key role onstage for eight performances.”
Great–just the shot in the arm they needed–and a real draw for new ticket sales, right? Well, no. Read on (source: Portfolio.com - emphasis mine):
“But one day after Armstrong made his Broadway debut to thunderous applause at the St. James Theater and raves online, something odd happened—neither the producers nor the publicist wanted to talk about the show, it’s finances, the impact Armstrong would have on the its long-term health, or Broadway’s appetite for rock and roll.
The lack of comment is not only puzzling, it’s stupid. It’s akin to Donald Trump refusing to talk after a particularly heated episode of The Apprentice or Steve Jobs demanding to be left alone after sending out a press release announcing a new iPhone. Small-business owners and entrepreneurs take note: Going dark to the media when your product is hot is no way to make friends or keep the “positive” going.
Great advice.
And I say that not as a hater of the musical. Far from it. I saw American Idiot in previews this spring and walked away thinking it was one of the best shows of the last Broadway season.
Yet the producers stonewalled reporters at a time when the anemic musical could use a shot in the arm. Don’t they understand that when the smell of death starts to linger around a Broadway show it usually makes people turn away in droves? The Armstrong boost makes now the time to talk to the media–especially media so obviously disposed to writing a positive story. Instead, the reporter wrote this:
It all made me eager to write about the brilliant move behind getting one third of Green Day to fill in for the actor who normally plays St. Jimmy, who had to take time off to deal with a family matter. But then when I got shot down by the publicist—and, by extension, the producers—I was left only with a set of unanswered questions.
I’m sure they have their reasons, and they may be very good ones–but the fact is they blew a great media opportunity. Keep that in mind when something good happens to your company or organization. Don’t let the opportunity to make a splash with the media slip by.
To put it plainly: don’t be an idiot. Sing when you’re winning.
KC’s Art for Arthritis Event Raises $50,000
As MC, people hung on my every word. Sort of.
My third time as MC of the annual Arthritis Foundation “Art for Arthritis” auction was great fun. Kids living with arthritis were paired with local artists to make some incredibly beautiful works of art that were auctioned to benefit the Arthritis Foundation. The event at Studio Dan Meiners was very successful–generous Kansas Citians donated approximately $50,000.
Most people don’t think about children having arthritis but more than 3,000 children in the Kansas City and Western Missouri area have some form of this painful disease. Our Art for Arthritis event teamed 17 local children affected by juvenile arthritis with area artists to spend a summer together creating unique pieces of artwork. The artwork is auctioned off at the end of the summer our gala fundraising event in order to raise money for nationwide arthritis research, as well as local programs and services.
Your humble MC interviews a young artist while auction legends the Nigro Brothers look on.
This event, however, is much more than a fundraiser. Art for Arthritis empowers participants by introducing them to children with similar circumstances who can work together to fight against arthritis by raising awareness about their disease and supporting an agency that advocates on their behalf. It also exposes children to alternative forms of expression through granting them access into the local Kansas City arts community.
Thanks to all of you who supported these brave kids. If you wish to donate, there is still time. Click here. (Thanks to loyal readers Tim and Lisa Lester for their generous donation!) Thanks also to the Arthritis Foundation for asking me back. I loved it!
Don’t Let A Restless Leg Kick Out Your Message
Today we have a guest post by the inimitable Robb Yagmin of PSPR, the firm he runs with PR legend Pete Swickles. Robb is an ex-TVer whose first career was telling stories. He’s interviewed two presidents, many do-gooders and a million criminals. One of the best media trainers in the business, Robb offers up some great tips on acing your TV interview:
Don't Be A Relentless Restless Leg Victim.
So according to FishbowlDC … MSNBC’s Chris Matthews could have restless leg syndrome. He recently was caught bouncing his leg up and down and up and down and up and down while talking about an Obama speech. I’m not going to say if he was happy or mad about the president’s speech, but if you are familiar with the journalist, THAT is not a secret. First, a professional shouldn’t tip his hat one way or another about their political leanings. We all learned objectivity in Journalism 101. But I digress.
Matthews was shaking his leg SO much that a guest laughed at him and they spent time talking about THAT instead of what he wanted his message to be. During my media training seminars, this is one of the main things I try to teach nervous folks about television. When you score a TV interview, whether you are nervous or not, sit in a chair that doesn’t have wheels OR a swivel seat OR a reclining back. Keep both feet flat on the ground. Sit up. Period. I was on TV for 15 years and cameras don’t worry me, but I still would be tempted to sway, move around and generally just fidget. If an interviewee does any of these things, it takes away from the message they are trying to convey.
If you are nervous, here are a couple other on-camera tips:
- Take a quick swallow of water before an interview starts. If nothing else, it lubes the pipes and limits the ‘clicking’ sound when your spit is too thick in your mouth. That sound is annoying.
- Only answer the question you are asked. You are a professional. If you don’t know the answer, say so and offer to call with the information ASAP or get someone else to help out.
- No gum. (Do you really need to tell me this? You’d be surprised). The viewer will notice this distraction and it reduces the effectiveness of your message…have I mentioned this before?
- If the photojournalist is asking the questions and he remains behind the camera (no reporter present) DON’T look into the lens…answer the question by looking at his ear. Exception: a live or satellite shot and you are hooked up with an IFB.
- Nerves are normal. If your interview is taped, do not feel bad if you need to just stop and say, “I’d like to start over.” Unless you are being bird-dogged by a reporter for embezzling money, editors aren’t going to put you on TV stumbling all over yourself. If the interview is live in studio and you draw a blank, just stop talking. The anchor is skilled in filling the gap. Believe me; the more they can hear themselves talk, the better they feel anyway.
Remember, if you are lucky, you may only get 20 seconds on TV. You want the viewers to listen and remember your message…not anything else.
Want more TV tips, tricks and strategies? Goto Pspublicrelations.com, where this piece is cross-posted.
Stunning Stats on Twitter, YouTube, Photos, & Apps
A friend of ours in the broadcasting biz shared this data with us. Check it out!
The Bandwidth Music & Technology Conference in San Francisco last month featured discussions where attendees shared some incredible data points. Take a look:
The latest on Twitter…
# of tweets, daily: 70 million
# of tweets, monthly: 2 billion
# of registered users: 145 million
# of account sign-ups, daily: 300,000
(Source: Matt Graves, Communications Director @ Twitter.)
The latest on photos…
# of photos uploaded onto Facebook, monthly: 2.5 billion # of photos uploaded to Facebook, annually: 30 billion # of approved photos typically needed by a band, 2000: 6-9 # of approved photos typically needed by a band, 2010: 300-400.
The latest on YouTube:
#2 search engine in the world (of all engines, separated from Google) # of videos rotated by MTV, during its 80s prime: 30-40 per week # of views for Tyler Hilton’s cover of “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon: 748,099
The latest on Apps:
# of downloaded apps, App Store: > 5 billion (as of June)
# of artist apps typically downloaded (per artist): < 100,000
(Source on YouTube, photo and apps data: Jeremy Welt, SVP of New Media, Warner Bros. Records. Total downloaded app statistic from Apple.)
Google Commands Big Cash from PR-Damaged Brand
Public relations is all about reputation management–your credibility is the coin of the business realm. We’re pretty hard on companies and brands that take a cavalier attitude about their credibility–because once you lose that, it’s all over. Or is it?
Admittedly, we have strongly implied that you can’t buy your way out of a PR disaster, but the oily BP sure makes us think twice:
Before BP could stem the oil gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, it unleashed $100 million in ad spending, largely on network TV, to stem the damage to its image. But it also started spending heavily where it had never spent much before: buying ads in Google’s search results.
How much did BP spend on search? In two months, BP went from spending very little on search advertising — about $57,000 a month — to becoming one of Google’s top advertisers, dropping nearly $3.6 million in the month of June alone, according to an internal Google document obtained by Advertising Age. That pushed BP into the upper echelon of search advertisers, in a league with Expedia, which spent at least $5.9 million in June, Amazon, which spent at least $5.8 million, and eBay, which spent at least $4.2 million.
This is a significant outlay, even for BP, which spent $94 million on advertising in 2009, and $78.7 million in the first six months of 2010 alone excluding search, according to Kantar Media. Search advertisers only pay when their ads convert or get a click, and in June the crisis was still at full-boil, driving clicks on BP&’s ads. But if BP kept spending at this rate, search would’ve become one of its bigger advertising line items by the end of the year, up there with network, cable or spot TV.
[...]
BP’s increase underscores how important Google has become for reputation management, and in the battle for public opinion. In the wake of the spill, Google was a natural first stop for people seeking information, and BP bought up dozens of keywords associated with the disaster such as “oil spill,” “leak,” “top kill” and “live feed” as it vied for clicks with news stories, images of oiled wildlife and plaintiff attorneys trolling for clients.
via What Big Brands Are Spending on Google – Advertising Age – Digital.
According to BP, ad expenditures during the active spill were $5 million per week.
BP’s ad strategy now follows the typical trajectory of crisis PR, he says. It didn’t start out that way. BP was slow to connect with consumers and gulf residents right after the spill. Tony Hayward’s numerous gaffes didn’t help the company’s image, which came across as inept and out of touch. There’s little question that his mismanagement of the company’s public image led to his ouster as CEO.
So how’s the advertising paying off in PR improvement? A recent AP poll says that “some 66 percent of those surveyed continue to disapprove of BP’s performance, down from a whopping 83 percent in June.” Though still dismal, it does look like the ad spending is helping. However, it’s also certainly due to the fact that time has passed and the oil spill isn’t leading the newscasts anymore. The public has turned to the latest Sarah Palin Facebook pronouncement, Paris Hilton’s cocaine possession arrest and even something important, like the president’s new rug.
Sure, we’ve seen the TV ads BP is using to rebuild its tattered, oil-stained image–that was as predictable as a blob of oil on the beach at Destin. But who would’ve thought they would have spent all that coin on Google search ads?
Clearly, the internet is now the 800 lb. gorilla of reputation management, and Google has some serious bananas.
Hat tip to Shelly Kramer for inspiring this post.
Filtered for Your Pleasure
Posted by Alex on September 18, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Reading SmartMoney magazine I came across a story by Anne Kadet about PowerReviews, “a little-known outfit processes reviews for online stores.” She adds that “Since the company’s 2005 launch, it has screened 9 million reviews.”
Kadet’s feature describes PowerReviews as the filter that many online stores use to screen out profanity, obviously false (inauthentic!) or off-topic reviews.
It’s an interesting story if you’ve ever wondered why your complaint about bad customer service at ACME Co. went missing:
So, retailers scrub the reviews on a regular basis. Oh well, even so if you have a gripe you can always blog, Tweet or Facebook about it on your own. And you should.
Filed under G Whiz, Message & Strategy, Public Relations, Tips & Tricks · Tagged with AlexanderG Public Relations, Anne Kadet, Bad pr, Brand identity, Branding, comment filter, Kansas City, Kansas City Public Relations, online complaints, PowerReviews, PR, PR tips, product reviews, profanity, public relations blog, review comments filter, reviews, SmartMoney, strategic public relations, trust agents