Tag: Public Relations

I read a tweet from PR pro Robert Dowling this morning regarding death threats the PR firm for controversial mother of eight Nadya Suleman has received:

@RobertDowling Suleman’s PR resigns after death threats http://budurl.com/48u7 Sounds like an excuse – PR pros cannot be bullied away from clients!

On this point, Robert and I disagree. I believe PR firms should expect to be called-out for taking on bad clients (although death threats obviously take this way over the line). The PR agency in this case, The Killeen Furtney Group, either (a) knew going in that this client would result in a backlash or (b) didn’t know, which makes their counsel questionable.

Unlike law, PR is not a right. Agencies must weigh their conscience when taking on new clients — paid or pro bono (in this case, I suspect the “pro bono” was instead free work in exchange for the visibility the agency knew the client would create). If an agency chooses to represent a controversial client, it must accept the consequences of associating itself (and, quite frankly, its team members) with the baggage and backlash attached to that client.

• Octo Mom’s PR Firm Surrenders After a Week of Threats (laist.com)
• How to flack the octuplets story (laobserved.com)
• Octuplet Mum Gets Death Threats (news.sky.com)
• How Not To Promote Your PR Agency (parmet.net)
• Threats send California octuplets mom into hiding (windsorstar.com)

Image by b_d_solis via FlickrOne of the things I advocate to my clients is the concept of content repurposing. To put it more simply: What else can we do with the content we have beyond its single initial purpose?

For example, in the process of drafting a press announcement, most PR pros ask subject matter experts roughly the same set of 10 questions to get to the heart of the news. They then turn that interview into a press release (I’m being parochial on purpose here). Given the tools we now have at our disposal, why couldn’t we simultaneously do the following:

• Capture the interview as an mp3 or on camera and post it as a pod/vidcast?
• Repackage the interview into a Q&A?
• Tweet good quotes as teasers?

The idea is to do more, to get more, out of the content we have and the content we generate. For more, check out this post from SHIFT PR’s Todd Defren.

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Congratulations to Andreas Panayi and his colleagues at Kinesis Marketing on their new relationship with FTI (from PR Week):

FTI Consulting has acquired digital communications firm Kinesis Marketing. The acquisition expands FD’s digital capabilities; the firm will be rebranded as FD Kinesis and will complement FD’s established design, annual report, and alternative media services unit. Kinesis has 22 employees located in Morristown, NJ and Philadelphia, as well as consultants abroad, and a national client roster.

Andreas was one of the original driving forces in digital media way back in the pre-bubble days when he led Poppe Tyson’s interactive division.

I was quoted in an article by the Mistress of Measurement, K.D. Paine, yesterday. Katie explored measuring the impact of media coverage based on the influence of the publication. I argued — via Twitter — that influence is not measured in clicks or circulation, but decided by the value the audience places on the influencer (whether BusinessWeek, a blog, a comment in Twitter, etc.).

The fine folks over at the Marketing Profs Daily blog have an informative post today listing six telltale signs a company’s press release is full of BS (or, as Opie & Anthony would phrase it, “Bravo Sierra.” Look it up in the Brady Bunch encyclopedia if you need to).

The list is spot-on. Too often, companies waste enormous amounts of energy and budget spinning their wheels to get a press release onto PR Newswire or BusinessWire. The press release — whether in its traditional form or its Web 2.x form — is a lazy pro’s PR tactic (although I think the ideas behind the new media releases have some merit, not as releases, but for story support). Press releases don’t drive coverage. I’d go so far as to claim that they hinder it. The time spent in approvals and re-writes is time better spent on the phone or in conversation with the media (and, yes, I count bloggers and other new media influencers in this bucket).

So, what’s a company to do once it realizes the ineffectiveness of its releases? Some ideas:

• Build out the story beyond the “Company x announced today…”
• Interview one of the people behind the news. Capture the interview and post it as a podcast or videocast. Offer that person up to reporters. Personalize the news.
• Uncover customers and other third-parties that can talk to the impact your news has on your industry (afterall, your news does have impact, correct?).
• Find something provocative in the issues your announcement addresses and write an equally provocative blog post or byline on it.

I’m sure there are others. Feel free to chime in with yours in the comment section.

According to a story by John McKinnon in this morning’s The Wall Street Journal, White House press secretary Tony Snow is swapping the simple, utilitarian White House seal, American flag and blue curtain for a modern, techno video wall on the set of his daily briefings. As much as I agree with Mr. Snow about the need to keep pace with the tools for getting a message out, I have to wonder if this is going to be remembered as the day the press corps was eliminated from the American system of checks-and-balances, making it easier for this and future administrations to avoid the true role of the daily press briefing: allowing the American people — through their representatives in the press — to question its government leaders.