Eric Yaverbaum, Robert Bly, Ilise Benun. Public Relations for Dummies, 2nd Edition
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! Talk shows range from local cable TV to Good Morning America, Oprah,
and Late Night with David Letterman. Stories they look for vary from host
to host and show to show. For example, Oprah Winfrey likes heartwarm-
ing stories, self-help, and fun; Jay Leno looks strictly for funny stories.
In Chapter 11, I talk about how I see my role as a public relations professional
to be not only an advocate and partner for my client — the business seeking
exposure — but also for the media in getting them stuff they can use. I prac-
tice this philosophy especially in TV PR. When a TV show is considering
doing a segment on you, think of the show as your customer. Provide what-
ever assistance they need to make the segment come off.
Recently, my firm worked with the Oprah Winfrey Show on behalf of our
client, IKEA, on a segment. Viewers wrote in to tell Oprah their home decorat-
ing horror stories. The show picked two viewers, and IKEA experts redeco-
rated and refurnished their homes. Managing the entire process from start to
finish took four months, but to get on Oprah, it was worth it.
Targeting a Specific Show
for Your PR Campaign
How do you go about targeting shows for your PR campaign? Here’s the step-
by-step:
1. Watch TV.
You will quickly be able to figure out which programs are a good fit for
your PR efforts, and which your target audience is watching.
2. After you’ve found a program you think you may want to get featured
on, watch it a number of times, paying attention to the format and the
types of segments it runs.
3. Think of a way to fit your message into the show’s format and, even
better, one of its regular segments.
4. Prepare a press kit to mail to the show.
What should be in it? The two documents discussed later in this chapter —
a pitch letter and a media alert — are essential. You might also include a
press backgrounder, your bio, articles published about your company —
anything that might help sell your story to the producer.
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5. Send the press kit.
6. Follow up with a phone call to the producer.
Ask whether he would be interested in running the story. If not, why not?
How does it not meet his needs? If he isn’t interested in this story, what
kind of stories is he looking for? Elicit information on why you’re being
rejected so that you have a better chance of getting a positive response
to your next story idea.
7. If you’re rejected, be gracious and end the call pleasantly.
Don’t sacrifice what could be a valuable long-term relationship with an
important media outlet in a fruitless attempt to badger the producer
into running your story. It probably won’t work, and it may very well
alienate the producer for life.
Many PR novices tell me that calling the producer is the step that causes
them the most anxiety. “How can I call a TV producer whom I don’t even
know?” they ask me. “After all, I’m nobody to them.” The secret is that the
person who makes the call may get on the show, but the person who never
gets up the courage to make the call is definitely not going to be on the show!
When I started doing PR for Matthew Lesko, I was a kid in my 20s fresh out of
college and with zero public relations experience. Because I didn’t know any
better, my first day on the job, I picked up the phone, called the Larry King
Live show, and asked if they would like to have Matthew — who was then
largely unknown — on the show. And guess what? They booked him! When
people asked Matthew back then how he got on Larry King, his answer was,
“A 20-year-old who does not know that ‘no’ is a possibility.”
Don’t accept no as a possibility. Or, at least consider that no means “no, not
now” — it doesn’t mean “no forever.” I always keep calling. As a PR pro seek-
ing placement for my client’s products and services, I always strive to turn a
no into a maybe, and a maybe into a yes.
Preparing Your TV Media Kit
You can use the same press releases and media kits that you prepare for
other media (refer to Chapter 9) when pitching PR to TV, without modifying
or customizing them for television. In addition to your standard media kit, a
few other formats are especially effective. You can use them as stand-alone
pieces or add them to media kits going to TV producers.
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Article reprints
Whenever you get coverage in major print media, such as the Wall Street
Journal or the New York Times, make reprints (with the paper’s nameplate at
the top of the page). Include the article reprints with all media kits mailed to
broadcast media. A TV producer will be more likely to run a segment on your
story if a national and well-respected print publication has already covered it.
Producers figure that if Time or USA Today ran the story, it must be legitimate.
A lot of cross-pollination exists between print and broadcast media. Pay atten-
tion to the media. You’ll soon notice that stories you read in USA Today in the
morning you then hear on the radio driving home from work at night. During
the first season of the TV show Survivor, we conducted a campaign to promote
a PR firm by asking CEOs what they would do if stranded on an island. CNBC
picked up the story directly from the Washington Post article about our survey.
Those in the TV world see an article reprint from a major paper as a legiti-
mate media endorsement of the story. Always try to get one big print place-
ment in the beginning so that you have an article reprint to include with your
outgoing media kits.
Articles that appear in a magazine or newspaper are the copyrighted prop-
erty of the publisher, as is the publication’s nameplate. Be sure to get permis-
sion before photocopying either piece.
Media alerts
A media alert is a short, one-page notice that looks like a cross between a stan-
dard press release and a wedding invitation. It quickly hits the highlights, using
a graphic format that makes it easy to scan, and sticks to the facts without puff
or elaboration. As you can see in Figure 14-1, media alerts focus on the basic
five Ws and one H of journalism — who, what, when, where, why, and how.
Figure 14-1 shows a media alert used to announce a promotional event.
Notice that the times for photo opportunities are given. TV crews don’t want
to waste their time standing around or fighting to get the star or celebrity on
camera. You should set aside a specific time when camera operators can
shoot video of the featured attraction and specify this time in your alert.
If the media wants to do a live remote, cooperate fully. For a live remote at
an IKEA store featuring IKEA’s chairman, we were inside the store at 4:30 a.m.
helping the TV crew set up for a 7:00 a.m. spot on a morning show. Why is this
important? When we got to the store, we found that there was an automatic AC
timer that had turned on the air conditioning, the noise from which would have
made the live remote inaudible. Because we were there to handle it personally,
the problem was fixed, the show went on, and IKEA got the PR coverage.
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There’s an old saying: “God is in the details.” Well, TV is a detail-oriented
medium. The TV crews that show up expect your site to be “TV-ready” — no
odd noises, no lighting problems, no logistics hassles. If things aren’t just
right, the shoot won’t come off.
For events, you can use either a pitch letter or a media alert. Figure 14-2
shows a pitch letter that my firm did inviting TV producers to a fun event fea-
turing TV personalities of yesteryear. The event got coverage on national net-
work TV.
Figure 14-1:
Sample
media alert
announcing
an event for
television.
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Prepared footage
So far in this chapter, I’ve talked about sending written documents with the
goal of getting TV placement. But because TV is a visual medium, should you
create video PR materials and send them to TV producers? Yes. Will they use
them? Yes.
Producers have limited crews and limited budgets. Much as they’d like to,
they can’t always send a crew to cover your event or story. Without video,
Dear Dave,
They entertained and educated millions of children
during the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s...and now they’re back!
On Saturday, November 15, 1997 on Long Island, the
original “Captain Kangaroo,” Bob Keeshan; Bob
McAllister of “Wonderama” and “Kids Are People Too;”
and Tom White and Donna Moore of “Zoom” will join
with Children’s IKEA to present “Let’s Rewind and
Play.”
The gala event will be an interactive, educational and fun
playland (tons of activities, giveaways, etc.) for children
and adults headlined by performances from these icons
from the past. And it’s all to benefit children’s
development-related charities.
We are delighted to invite you and your audience to
attend this first-ever event. So, if you’re interested in
spreading the word to your audience, stopping by, or
arranging any interviews with the celebrities or IKEA
spokespeople, please call me at 212-645-6900. I'll be happy
to help you.
Enclosed you’ll find in-depth details on the event and the
introduction of Children’s IKEA...plus some other
“goodies” for your enjoyment. We hope you’ll come
“rewind” and “play” with us.
Sincerely,
Crista Rizzuti
Figure 14-2:
Pitch letter
for an event.
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they’re less likely to use the story (although on-air personalities doing the
news mention many stories that aren’t accompanied by video clips).
Typically, I hire a video production company to shoot the event. The company
sends a crew — usually a camera operator and a producer or director — to
take footage. The result is what we call prepared footage or b-roll: a quick
video compilation designed to give a TV producer footage of a story that he
can use to create a feature segment on the event or product.
B-roll is best produced by professional, video-production companies, using
professional-quality video. TV producers generally won’t use home video
unless it’s a news event of extraordinary value or extremely rare footage, like
a hurricane, earthquake, or the Rodney King beating.
Time is of the essence when it comes to b-roll. The footage should be shot
on the day of the event, preferably early in the day. The production company
will edit the video to contain several different segments on the event, ranging
from 30 seconds to a few minutes. Some of these segments may be question-
and-answer interviews, and others are merely sound bites — snippets show-
ing people making brief comments. The video should also contain action
shots, such as kids throwing pies or riding roller coasters.
Immediately after completion of editing, send the b-roll to the appropriate
TV producers. If you’re targeting local TV shows, make quick duplicates of
the b-roll and deliver the tapes via messenger for possible airing that day.
What will it cost? Production for one b-roll will run $2,000 to $5,000. Add
satellite uplink service to distribute your video to TV producers (refer to the
next section), and you’re looking at a package price of around $15,000 to
$22,000.
Satellite feed services
What if you’re targeting national media or other media not in your town?
Overnight shipping won’t work in most cases, because an event held today
will only be covered today; by tomorrow, it’s old news. In such cases, the
solution is to use a satellite feed service. These services take your b-roll
video footage and uplink it to a satellite. (I’m not sure of the exact technical
method, but for our purposes here, it really doesn’t matter.)
TV producers are then given the coordinates of the satellite. They can down-
load the video from the satellite and use it on their shows that day. With a
satellite feed service, you can distribute your b-roll to TV stations throughout
the entire country on the same day you shoot and edit it.
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Video news releases
A video news release (VNR) is a more elaborately produced video than pre-
pared footage (otherwise known as b-roll). Instead of a series of short clips, a
VNR consists of one entire feature story, usually running 30 seconds to 3 min-
utes. It’s meant to be run in its entirety, although many producers use only a
portion of the video. B-roll is the current format of choice when you have a
current event, a hot announcement, or another story for which immediacy is
paramount. VNRs are more complete pieces used for feature stories rather
than hard news. The trend today in PR is away from VNRs in preference of
b-rolls. Reason: B-rolls are cheaper to produce than VNRs, and TV stations
like them just as much.
Creating a good VNR is very expensive — production costs run $10,000 to
$20,000, plus satellite uplink distribution for a total package price of $20,000
to $30,000. Yes, that’s a lot more than a press release, but a high-quality VNR
is the only one that has a chance of getting used. Plus, it’s a lot less expensive
than most TV commercials.
Pitching Your Story to Producers
How do you approach a TV producer? In much the same way that you
approach a magazine or newspaper editor (refer to Chapter 9), with just a
few differences.
! If you’re trying to impress a producer with whom you have no prior rela-
tionship, a nicely packaged media kit sometimes helps.
! If you want to increase your chances of getting coverage on a particular
TV show, offer the producer an exclusive on your story — give the show
first crack at running it. If the producer accepts, she gets to run the story
first; then you’re free to give the story to other shows and stations.
Offer an exclusive only if the story is breaking news or something else
important enough to warrant it. When my agency did PR for best-selling
author Peter Golenbock’s book on a college basketball scandal, Personal
Fouls, the media considered it a big story. We got continual coverage by
offering a new exclusive angle on the story to a different media outlet
each day.
! When time is of the essence — and this is frequently the case for TV
producers, who produce segments daily and often focus on the day’s
news — fax press releases and media alerts. The best way to make sure
that a producer knows about your event is to fax a media alert and then
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follow up with a phone call. The first thing you want to know is whether
the producer got your media alert. If he received it, ask whether he
needs additional information or wants to interview anyone.
! Don’t push too hard to sell your story to the media. Yes, you’d like to get
it on the air. But you’re also building a relationship with that producer.
Being too aggressive can turn him off and ruin your chances for future
placements.
Look to target TV segments that others aren’t pitching. I already gave the
example of remote shots for TV weather. Another underpitched segment is
monologues on talk shows. Here’s an idea: Call shows like the Tonight Show
with Jay Leno and ask who’s in charge of writing the monologues. Then send
feature material to that person. These shows can always use good jokes, and
if what you send fits, you just might hear it on the show that day.
Once, we did a humorous campaign for Domino’s Pizza in which we gave free
pizza to college seniors who came in with rejection letters from potential
employers. Johnny Carson talked about it on his monologue on the Tonight
Show, and pizza sales for Domino’s soared the next day.
Many TV shows plan their shoots for the day by consulting the AP Day Book.
Each day, the AP Day Book wires stories and events to TV producers around
the country. I recommend that you send all your TV media alerts to the AP Day
Book; doing so can increase TV coverage of your events and campaigns. The
Associated Press (AP) has bureaus in major markets throughout the United
States, and each bureau has its own daybook covering its region. AP bureaus
are listed in major media directories, such as Bacon’s Publicity Checker.
Doing TV PR on a Shoestring
What if you don’t have $10,000 to $30,000 to spend on a b-roll or VNR? Relax.
There are many less expensive, yet just as effective, ways to use TV PR to
make you and your product famous.
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Finding the right angle
For one campaign, my firm’s job was to publicize
a tool called RotoZip, which you use to smooth
small dents in your car. Media interest was mild.
But when I had the wife of the company owner
demonstrate the tool, the story began to get TV
coverage. The idea of a woman fixing her own
car instead of relying on a man to do it seemed
to be the angle that producers were looking for.
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Here are a couple techniques I have used with success:
! Come up with an angle that appeals to a TV audience. If you have an
interesting angle, the producer will have you come to the studio and be
interviewed — or, better yet, have you do some kind of demonstration
on her set. For Jeff Stein, cofounder of Camp Beverly Hills Clothing, we
got major TV coverage by positioning Jeff as the “Clothing Psychologist.”
On the air, he would look at someone and then recommend a wardrobe
based on the person’s personality.
! Pay attention to the media. Certain segments on TV repeat every year;
in the trade, we call them evergreens. For instance, you can bet that next
Thanksgiving, hundreds of local stations across the country will have a
chef visit the set to show how to make Thanksgiving dinner. If you run a
food company, you could send a pitch letter offering to have your chef do
the segment with some unique recipes featuring your company’s prod-
ucts. If the producer is looking for a new chef for this year’s segment —
and that’s often the case — your chef may just become the station’s new
holiday gourmet.
Getting a Tape of Your Guest Appearance
Whenever possible, get a tape of each TV (and radio) appearance you make.
These tapes have a number of uses:
! You can use them to convince producers of other radio and TV shows
that you’re a good guest — entertaining, pleasant, bright, and informa-
tive, with information relevant to their audience. Producers are some-
what reluctant to book guests who are experts but have no or little
experience in broadcast media. An audiotape of a good performance can
eliminate that reluctance.
! Listening to the tapes can help you improve your performance so that
you’re better the next time.
! You can use the tapes as marketing communications tools. For example,
if you’re a consultant who specializes in quality and you were on a radio
show to discuss quality, you can make copies of the tape and send it to
clients and prospects.
! You can give copies of the tapes to your parents. They’ll be thrilled. (The
extra copies are for mailing to Uncle Ned and Grandma Nellie.)
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How do you get a tape? Before your scheduled interview, call the producer
and say, “May I ask a favor? I would love to get a tape of the broadcast. If I
send you payment, would you be willing to tape the show and mail the tape
to me? If not, no problem, of course.” Most will agree and, further, will not
charge you for the tape (but you should always offer to pay). Others may ask
for a nominal sum to cover the cost of duplication and mailing, usually just a
few dollars.
Although getting an original tape from the studio is best (because originals
give the best-quality duplications), you can always arrange to tape your
appearance yourself.
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