Reaching Your Audience: Discovering A Pr Campaign

by Michael Maynard

One of the goals of any advertising campaign is to grab the hearts of the audience and hold on until a sale has been made. Where the heart goes, the mind and dollars will surely follow, according to the conventional wisdom in advertising.

Public relations should have the same effect, regardless of the cause or the product. Not every issue will stir the depths of a person's soul and bring tears to the eyes of the masses. In most cases, the issue or product you're attempting to publicize will be a hard sell. Unless you're promoting the latest blockbuster movie or a new clothing line from the hottest designer, don't expect the media to come calling.

In public relations, you're attempting to reach the hearts and minds of the media, who will in turn, provide the media coverage you desire. At least that's how it works in a perfect world.

But as anyone who's ever attempted to engage in public relations knows, we're not living in a perfect world. The right pitch to the right contact at the right time is essential. A little luck also helps.

So how do you get the attention of an overworked, underpaid editor, reporter, or producer? How do you get inside their heads? Give them something new to base a story on, provide a unique angle or perspective, make it easy for them with contacts ready to go, information on hand, and photos or photo opportunities set ahead of time. You'll make their day by allowing them to fill their news hole with something a little different.

Your information has to have some news value. If you can be objective, ask yourself what makes the product or project unique. If you can't be objective, ask someone outside the company.

Trying to launch the same product again won't work no matter how you present your PR campaign. As a recent edition of 'Phillips PR News' put it, 'Journalists are more likely to choose kitsch over glitz in their search for oddities.' The publication cites a recent public relations campaign by Freeworks.com, a Silicon Valley software manufacturer that creates online office applications for such mundane items as purchase orders and expense reports. Did they tout the virtues of their products? No. They created a contest called 'The Funniest Expense Report.' The contestant who submits the most outrageous expense report story - in an e-mail of 150 words or less - wins a weekend for two in San Francisco, including a lunch with 'Dilbert' cartoonist Scott Adams. Do we know any more about the software manufacturer because of this contest? Not really. But traffic to its Web site showed a marked increase after the contest was launched as media interest and word-of-mouth spread.

While the silly and outrageous can draw publicity, make sure to step back and look at the big picture. Do you want your company linked with something flip. If you're a Life insurance agency or a law firm that wants to maintain its image, maybe not. But in the case of this software manufacturer, there were no downsides. They were taking products that are essentially boring and creating some fun. Note that they weren't making fun of their products or their customers. They were acknowledging a truth of the corporate world: People often fudge their expense reports.

Public relations campaigns that involve community service can also reap benefits. Media outlets like to promote the positive within their communities. Sensationalism does sell, but newspapers, radio, and television news programs want to demonstrate that they care about their communities. What better way to do so than showcasing community service programs?

Anton's Cleaners, with 39 stores in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, has been very successful with a program called 'Coats for Kids.' Working with WFXT-TV, the Boston Bruins hockey club, and the Salvation Army, the store collected more than 27,000 coats last year for needy families. The television station promoted the project and newspapers around the region published stories about the program.

Some community service projects are not what they appear, however. Bank of America showcased its employees as volunteers in its 'Adopt an ATM' program. But it was soon revealed that the bank was using its 'volunteers' to clean in and around its ATMs as a way to cut janitorial costs. This wasn't the kind of public relations that the bank sought. The lesson: If your program's a sham, don't try to sell it as community service.

That goes for any type of public relations campaign. While journalists will respond to the unusual, they can also detect when they're being scammed. And your public relations campaign could turn into a crisis communication.