Eric Yaverbaum, Robert Bly, Ilise Benun. Public Relations for Dummies, 2nd Edition

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Chapter 24

Ten Myths about PR — Debunked

In This Chapter

! Understanding what you may be thinking about PR that’s just not right

! Revealing the truth about myths that persist from one decade to the next

! Discovering what’s new today

t’s ironic: One purpose of PR is to get good press and avoid bad press, but

PR itself has had pretty bad press over the years. The public image of PR

has been produced in part by corporate flacks who made their living cover-

ing up toxic spills and oil leaks; by hucksters hovering around Paris Hilton or

P. Diddy; and by Hollywood operatives keeping drug-addicted movie stars’

rehab schedules out of the papers.

Your first step toward becoming a successful PR practitioner is to separate

myth from reality. What really goes on behind the scenes in journalism and

PR? How do stories make their way from the mind of the publicist to the front

page of the newspaper? What is the relationship between PR and media pro-

fessionals? I’m going to set up and knock down some of the common miscon-

ceptions about public relations.

Press Releases Don’t Work Anymore

Reality: Press releases do work, and they are often the most cost-effective

and least time-consuming form of PR. No PR tool is simpler to use or as effec-

tive as a basic, well-written, short press release based on a strong hook or

angle. Press releases still work. They work well. They’re easy to produce and

inexpensive to distribute.

I agree that, done wrong (as many people do them), press releases can

be a waste of time and money — yours and the media’s. But done right

(as explained in Chapter 8), press releases are one of the most hardworking,

result-getting marketing tools going: Nothing beats them.

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“Legitimate” Media Snub PR

Reality: Much of the “news” you read in the newspaper, hear on the radio,

and see on TV has its origins in PR materials sent to the media by organiza-

tions and corporations looking to promote their causes, products, or

services.

My reply is that prestigious and well-respected publications such as the

Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, and the New York Times are interested in

and will use good stories, regardless of whether they uncovered the story

through intensive investigative reporting or a press release sent to them by a

company or group like yours.

Virtually any media outlet you’re seeking publicity from can be swayed to

give you some coverage, provided that your materials are on target and you

can offer or create a story of genuine interest to an audience. And doing so is

relatively easy because there are only half a dozen or so basic themes or

hooks (see Chapter 15) for news and feature stories that will interest editors

and program directors.

Printed PR Doesn’t Work

without Follow-Up

Reality: Follow-up can help increase results, but well-written material will

“sell itself” and generate lots of publicity without a single follow-up call or

letter.

Follow-up is valuable and is a big part of what PR agencies do for clients.

What’s not true, however, is the notion that, without follow-up, printed PR

materials are not effective and have little or no chance of getting published.

In reality, a well-written press release containing interesting information can

get wide coverage from a significant number of media outlets without a

follow-up phone call to even a single editor.

So although follow-up can’t hurt and usually helps, it isn’t necessary, and a

lack of time to follow up on press release mailings shouldn’t stop you from

distributing press releases or from handling your own PR.

The situation is much the same with query letters used to interest editors

in running articles by or about you. Many of the successful query letters

shown in Chapter 9, for example, generated acceptance and publication of

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the article without a follow-up letter or call to the editor. If the query letter is

written according to the guidelines spelled out in Chapter 9, the letter alone

will get editors to respond to you without your having to contact them.

The bottom line: PR works even if your time and resources for editorial con-

tact are limited. Yes, it works even better if you can follow up. Follow-up is

helpful but far from essential. Well-written materials state their own case with

editors and get printed without your help.

You Need “Contacts” to Get Publicity

Reality: Contacts do help, but you can succeed beautifully without them. PR

professionals like to talk about their media contacts — all the editors, pro-

gram directors, and other media people they know and what an advantage

that is in getting publicity placement. I do it myself!

Does schmoozing — network building — help? Sure. In my early years, I

attended every networking function that I could, and every editor and pro-

ducer knew my name. And when I called, they either took the call or called

me back.

Does that mean you have to do the same intensive media networking to suc-

ceed with your PR program? Not at all. You can probably do nicely on your

own without it, thank you very much.

Although networking got my calls returned, it never once got the media to

publish any story of mine that they wouldn’t have otherwise used. When we

did our Pizza Meter campaign for Domino’s Pizza, I don’t think we made a

single call: The story was a natural and too good for the media to resist. Same

thing with the Strike Back idea I talk about in Chapter 1 — the PR campaign

that produced my first front-cover story in USA Today.

Editors Want to Be Wined and Dined

Reality: Editors don’t have time to be wined and dined. This is an extension

of the myth that close personal contact with media people is necessary to

getting media coverage. The intent is to get preferential treatment from edi-

tors and reporters by getting to know them personally and establishing a

close relationship with them, and also by giving them perks, such as taking

them out to lunch in a posh restaurant or giving them tickets to a basketball

game.

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Although editors are only human and some may respond favorably to such

treatment, my experience is that most don’t want it and would rather you not

try to monopolize their time with small talk and three-martini lunches. The

reason is that, like all of us, editors are busy people. But in addition to being

busy, they constantly face tight deadlines. (Few editors in my acquaintance

do not feel pressed by looming deadlines almost all the time.)

As a result, most editors prefer to keep PR sources, even good ones, at arm’s

length. They prefer to receive story ideas and proposals in a letter or press

release rather than have the details transmitted in a lengthy conversation.

Most editors and producers are print oriented and so prefer written commu-

nication; if they have questions, they’ll ask. If a conversation is necessary,

they’d rather it be five minutes over the telephone than a two-hour lunch.

So the truth is that it’s not necessary to wine and dine editors as you might

entertain an important prospect or customer. If you want to socialize, go

ahead. Just be aware that doing so is unnecessary.

Snail Mail Is Awful; Overnight Delivery

Services and Fax Work Great

Reality: A simple one- or two-page press release, sent to editors via first-class

mail, is just as effective as fax or overnight delivery services, such as Federal

Express, UPS, or DHL — and much, much cheaper. A number of distribution

services and individual PR practitioners contend that using a fax is a better

way to distribute news than through the U.S. Postal Service, but that’s only

partially true. A fax does get your material out much faster than if you print

and mail it. However, I see no evidence that editors give faxed materials more

consideration than mailed materials.

Similarly, a PR writer I know handled a project for a client who said, “Send all

the releases Federal Express — that’ll really get the media’s attention.” (This

occurred before faxes and the Internet were common.) The cost was tremen-

dous when compared with regular first-class mail for a 1-ounce letter, and we

saw no evidence that any editor was duly impressed or took any extra notice

of the material because FedEx sent it. Keep in mind that, every day, editors

get many packages from overnight delivery services as well as fax messages.

So sending your press release in such a manner has minimal added impact.

As for electronic submission, some magazines do welcome longer feature

material sent on a CD or via the Internet, but the standard format is still a

printed manuscript, and this is accepted by 99.99 percent of the magazines in

the United States. If you can provide a computer file, go ahead. But it isn’t

necessary, and it usually won’t increase your chances of acceptance.

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You Can’t Buy PR with Advertising

Reality: In some publications, you can.

Media and PR people have always been taught that “advertising” and “editor-

ial” are separate. That is, the editorial department of a media organization

operates separately, independently, and without the influence of the advertis-

ing department. Thus, the fact that you are an advertiser does not increase

your chances of getting your press release run in the publication, any more

than the fact that you are not an advertiser means the publication won’t run

your release.

But is this really true? Or can you “buy” publicity by promising to run a lot of

ads? With some publications, you can. But my experience is that at the higher

level, among well-known, nationally respected publications (such as the

Wall Street Journal and the New York Times), you can’t buy editorial space by

promising to spend money on advertising, nor do the PR materials of adver-

tisers receive even the slightest extra attention from the editorial staff. The

exception may be when the advertising department wants the editorial

department not to run a negative story about an advertiser, but unless you’re

in toxic dumping or public scandal, don’t worry about this.

However, in smaller-circulation publications; in those that are more special-

ized or regional; and in industry-specific (vertical) publications versus gen-

eral business (horizontal) magazines, the plain truth is that advertisers do

sometimes get preferential treatment. I have seen it many, many times and

know it to be a fact beyond dispute.

Every Fact Reported in the Media

Is Checked and Verified

Reality: Most PR materials are picked up and run with almost no verification

of any kind. I have found that editors rarely do much interviewing of sources

to add to the material in a press release. Part of the reason is downsizing

resulting from budgetary cutbacks at media outlets. Newspapers and broad-

cast stations simply don’t have enough people to check every fact. Editors

and producers tend to run PR materials pretty much as is; if they edit, it’s

usually for style, grammar, and space limitations, not to add or verify factual

content.

I do PR for many dot-com companies and have mailed dozens of releases. I

have found that 90 percent of the phone calls my clients get from editors are

to verify the spelling of the Web address or the name of the company; rarely

do they question the features listed or the accuracy of claims made.

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Although editors may be too busy to check the statements in your releases

for accuracy, they don’t want to appear to be endorsing you, nor do they

want to take responsibility for claims you make about your product in your

own materials. So if there is doubt as to the accuracy of information, or if

your copy states an opinion or makes a claim that is likely to be challenged,

the editor may get out of this dilemma the easy way — by simply not printing

your material.

Getting Publicity Is a Matter

of Luck and Timing

Reality: Chance favors the prepared mind, and timing can be controlled.

People who are unsuccessful at public relations (or anything else, for that

matter) often view those who are successful with suspicion and cynicism.

“Oh, they’re lucky,” claims the executive at one company who sees a favor-

able story about his competitor in an important industry journal. “They must

have contacted this staff writer with the right story at the right time. When

we mailed our release, the magazine wasn’t interested in this topic, so they

didn’t run it. Now, of course, it’s a hot topic, and our competitor must have

suggested the story to them just when they were planning to cover it.”

Do I disagree that timing is important? No. In public relations, marketing, pro-

motion, new product introductions, and selling, timing is critical: You suc-

ceed largely because you reach your media contact, target market, or

prospect at just the right time.

A strategy that works well for me is to time PR efforts with major events

already going on. To launch the new children’s department at IKEA Home

Furnishings, we gave a free crib to any mother who went into labor on Labor

Day. This tied into the holiday in a creative way, while also promoting our

children’s section.

It Doesn’t Take A Lot of Time

Public relations that get results requires an investment of time, no matter

how much money is involved. You don’t write a press release and see it in the

paper the next morning. Lots of time is spent writing (even if you’re a great

writer), developing appropriate media lists, and most important, doing

follow-up phone calls before anything actually hits the press. If you’re send-

ing out a thousand press releases, you should be making a thousand calls.

Spending that time is how you get the best results. The more time you put in,

the more you get out of it.

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Chapter 25

Ten Reasons to Do PR

In This Chapter

! Telling the public about your brand, product, or service

! Getting more for your money

! Establishing yourself as the expert

! Raising venture capital

! Seeking the spotlight

don’t believe that any press is good press. And I don’t think that the

desire to get your name in the paper should have anything to do with the

decision to invest your time in a PR program. I do, however, believe that this

chapter provides ten excellent reasons why you should consider doing a PR

program.

You’re a Little Fish in a Big Pond

Your competitors may be bigger, may be better established, and may have

more money. They probably spent more on that giant booth at the industry

trade show last week, or on that full-page magazine ad last month, than you

can afford in a year.

Beating someone else’s ad campaign with your own paid advertising can be

difficult if your competitor can afford to outspend you ten to one. But PR

levels the playing field. In advertising, money buys you more media space

and airtime. In PR, creative thinking wins you media space and airtime. The

big companies don’t have an advantage here. If anything, their bureaucratic

structures sometimes hamstring them from moving quickly on creative

public relations ideas, while smaller firms can move right away.

Some of the public relations techniques described in this book, such as

events, can be expensive. But most can be done on a shoestring budget.

Running your TV spot during the Super Bowl costs a million dollars, not to

mention the $100,000 or more for producing the commercial. But sending a

press release that gets you booked as a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show

costs only the first-class postage.

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Your Product or Service Is the Best —

and Nobody Knows about It

Advertising can, surprisingly, sometimes be very ineffective at getting con-

sumers to buy your product because of a real advantage inherent in your

product over another. You can write an ad that clearly communicates the

advantage, but consumers are skeptical about advertising. It’s precisely

because you, the advertiser, are stating the advantage of your product that

the reader is inclined not to believe you.

Consumers know that an ad is an ad. So when you start talking to them in an

ad, their defense subconsciously goes up, and only a really great ad can pene-

trate that defense. PR, with its elevated credibility, never raises those defen-

sive shields in the first place: When people read an article about you, they

tend to believe that it’s true, for better or worse

In public relations, you can’t merely state a product or service claim, because

the media is not interested in advertising your product for free for you. To get

media exposure, you have to demonstrate your claim in an interesting and

entertaining way. For instance, when my agency represented Domino’s Pizza,

we worked on a “World’s Fastest Pizza Maker” contest among Domino’s

employees. This event dramatized that Domino’s could deliver faster because

it made pizza faster, not because its drivers drove too fast.

PR has two advantages over paid advertising. First, you’re forced to tell your

product story in a more engaging manner. Second, the consumer, reading

your message in an article or seeing it on a TV show, is more inclined to

believe it, because it is, in a way, “endorsed” by the media.

Your Product or Service Isn’t

Better than Anyone Else’s

Winston March, an Australian business consultant, says that to succeed today,

“It’s more important to be a good marketer of what you do than a good doer of

what you do.” You may have cringed when you read that sentence, but the

fact is that the most successful people and organizations are often the best

self-promoters, not the best at making widgets or whatever it is they do.

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The more PR you do, the more you, rather than your competitors, become

established as the leader in your field. Read the brief case history of the mat-

rimonial attorney in Chapter 22, if you haven’t done so already. Is he neces-

sarily a better lawyer than his competitors? It doesn’t matter. As long as he

keeps sending editors useful material that they’ll publish, people will read his

articles and consider him a knowledgeable authority.

In Chapter 11, we discuss the strategy of becoming the “go-to guy” — estab-

lishing yourself as the source the media people call on when they need an

interview for a story on your particular subject of expertise. You may have

said to yourself in disgust concerning a competitor, “Why is he always quoted

in the media? He doesn’t know anything about widget technology? That

reporter should be interviewing me!”

The reason he’s quoted so much is because he deliberately pursued the

media for the exposure, and they came to rely on him as a good source for

stories. Even if he’s not as knowledgeable as you are, journalists find him

clear and credible. And just as important, he’s always available when they’re

on a deadline, any time of the day or night.

Believe me, these go-to people never have to go out and cold-call to get new

business. Prospects come to them in droves, cash in hand, ready to pay their

rather hefty fees for advice, service, expertise, and product — simply

because they used the media to make themselves stand out from the pack.

Management Cuts Your Marketing

Communications Budget

Marketing costs go up every year. Ad space costs more, printing costs rise,

hourly rates of graphic design studios increase, and photographers up their

day rates. Yet marketing budgets often stay flat, even though management is

adding products, divisions, services, and new markets.

Public relations is arguably the most cost-effective marketing on the planet. It

can achieve equal or better results than paid advertising at as little as

⁄100th of

the cost. When your ad budget is slashed and you can’t run as many ad inser-

tions as you used to, step up your public relations efforts. PR can continue to

help your presence in those media outlets that are important to you but in

which you can no longer afford to advertise as frequently as in the past.

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