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August 27, 2004
Go For The Gold: Pitching Lessons Learned From The Olympics
I, like many of you, have been watching the Olympics. In the midst of all the action and cheering for my favorites, have seen some real PR lessons.
In the U.S. broadcasts (and, I presume, those of many other countries), the reporting of the games has consisted of much more than who ran fastest, jumped highest, and executed the perfect tumbling pass. The reporting also included personal profiles, background stories, and interviews with the key players associated with the athletes in the games.
Thus, when Paul and Morgan Hamm from our own frigid state of Wisconsin were being featured, we saw pictures of the barn where they had originally started experimenting with gymnastics and heard the stories of them literally swinging from the rafters until their father decided that he'd better get them some formal training to keep them from killing themselves. This theme was then repeated frequently throughout the competition.
Then when Paul Hamm won the Men's All Around Gymnastics title we heard the words "It's a gold!... From the attic of a barn in Wisconsin, to the birthplace of gymnastics. One of the greatest comebacks in sports." (Apparently, it's not necessary to use complete sentences in sports reporting.)
These background pieces add life, emotion, and spirt to the event, fleshing out the what we know about an athlete into more than just 60 seconds of their amazing effort, but as a person with a history.
But more importantly for us, these asides give us crystal clear examples of hooks that work with the media and audiences alike.
By paying careful attention, we can take those hooks and build stories around them for our own businesses and causes. This will give us not only more reasons to get in front of the media, but also the possibility of a landing story that will build your company's personality and memorability with the public.
Here are a few of the hooks that I saw being used in the Olympics that you may wish to pitch:
Posted at 04:51 PM
Oprah's New Contract - She's Sticking Around
Is anyone else out there feeling a bit jealous of Oprah's new contract and agreement to stay on air for another 3 years? She's booked through 2011.
Well done Oprah! What a powerhouse she's become...
If you haven't watched Oprah for a number of years, or forever, you should.
She's doing some amazing things both to the world of daytime TV and to the lives of her audience.
Her audiences come out feeling motivated, informed and well... loved.
That's the word for it. Oprah makes them feel loved.
Posted at 04:46 PM
What's That Again: Targeting Your Market
An actual headline:
"Firms in Mexico target Hispanics"
I can hear the marketing planning meeting now: "You know, I've been noticing lots of Mexicans around here lately. Perhaps we should consider targeting..."
Posted at 04:44 PM
Capitalizing on Paul Hamm and his Medal
While we're on the subject of the Olympics, Joan Stewart points out that the debate swirling around U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Paul Hamm and his disputed title as the men's all-around gymnastics champion offers several pitching opportunities for all of us.
The media love this story. So does the public. In fact, the TV ratings so far for the Olympics have been far greater than predicted. And I'll bet the international debate over Hamm’s Gold Medal continues to be big news through this week and beyond. Here are some ideas on how you can piggyback onto this story:
Posted at 04:42 PM
August 13, 2004
How To Focus Your Personal Genius
Ah, Wisconsin in August - lazy sunny days, hot muggy nights...
Wrong! Yesterday our high temperature only hit 60 degrees. And it's August! At this rate, it should be a very interesting February. Anyone here looking for some on-site consulting in some Southern state in February?
On top of it all, my wife and daughter are out on a canoeing trip down the river. Everybody's freezing, especially their hands, as most didn't think to bring gloves.
Things became particularly unpleasant yesterday when the wind picked up right after lunch, until someone came up with a bright idea...
They pulled out a tarp, hooked five canoes together side by side, had one person in each of the outside canoes hold up the tarp and everyone else laid down in the canoes.
And they went sailing down the river!
Not only did most of them enjoy being protected from the wind, but they also arrived at their overnight camping site two hours earlier than past years. And their muscles weren't nearly as sore as expected.
Now that's what I call effective usage of resources!
Another example, I have a process in my business that I run about twice per month. Unfortunately, it's always cost me about a day's effort each time I did that work.
Posted at 02:10 PM
Watching A Marketing Genius At Work
In every industry there are a small number of true geniuses who quietly but effectively drive the industry. Those are the people you want to follow and get your hands on everything they have to offer.
One of those players whom I deeply admire is named John Reese. John is a brilliant marketer who works alone in his Florida estate, yet quietly pockets several million every year from his efforts.
The thing I like most about John is that his mind just doesn't work the same way that most people's do. He looks at the world and sees things that others simply don't consider. Oftentimes, those things seem simple on the surface, but have an incredible level of power if you truly consider them.
John recently published a Special Report that absolutely blew me away. And I wasn't alone -- tons of people rushed to his blog to say how this one Special Report had a profound impact on them and the way they look at marketing.
Because I am constantly on the look-out to share great information with you, I got ahold of John and asked his permission if I could send this Special Report issue to you .
It is just that good!
John said 'no problem' and is letting give you a copy of that report.
BUT...
I need to WARN YOU about it before you read it...
Posted at 02:07 PM
What's That Again? Truth In Advertising
From the Minneapolis restaurant Yellow Page listings:
"Modern Cafe:
Everyday Special
All You Can Eat For
As Much As It Costs"
Honey, we've got to stop in this restaurant next time we're in Minneapolis! Sounds like a bargain to me!
Posted at 02:04 PM
Toys R Us Soon Will Be Toys Rn't Us - How NOT To Brand Your Business
Toys R Us, that bastion of toy-dom, with 1200 toys stores, has now decided that they need to dump their toy business so that they can focus on their more profitable baby business.
We could point out lots of negative lessons one could learn from the incompetence that Toys R Us's management has repeatedly shown over the last 5 years - like the importance of creating efficient supply chains, dealing with inventories (have you been in a store lately - they've got inventory coming out of their ears in everything except what you want to buy!), watching and creating trends, creating advertising that makes people want to buy, positioning yourself as a specialist against the -Mart generalists, figuring out how to properly market stuff online, etc. (Can you tell that I sold my stock in this company a decade ago in disgust?)
But one thing I can't let pass without at least throwing out a comment is the stupidity that most people have when it comes to branding.
I constantly see people try to brand the wrong thing.
Posted at 02:03 PM
August 05, 2004
How To Get People To Recommend You To Others
My daughter received a most interesting phone call the other day.
It was from a woman who wanted my daughter to baby sit her kids. Unfortunately, Megan was unavailable, so she had to decline.
But then the call got interesting, (keep in mind that Megan had never yet done any babysitting for the caller.) "You'll probably get a call soon from a couple of other people to whom I've recommended you."
Wait a minute - she's being recommended to other people. But she's never actually baby sit for the person who is recommending her!
How did this happen? It all started with a babysitting job she had done for yet another person, who had such a great experience that they started talking about her with their friends.
Then, (key here) on the basis of that good recommendation, the hearers are telling their friends about her too.
That's word of mouth...
And that's golden!
What created this onslaught of chatter?
Posted at 12:19 PM
Want To Reach Educated, Affluent, Influential People? Try Pitching To In-flight Magazines
If you're targeting an educated, more affluent audience with your message, and your topic is a good fit, in-flight magazines can be one of your best publicity tools.
A quick look at the statistics should convince you:
- 57 percent of their readers have incomes of more than $75,000 a year
- Many of these magazines have high circulations
- 60 percent are men; 40 percent women
- 74 percent are in the 25-54 age bracket
- 86 percent are college-educated
- 56 percent hold management positions
Here's what Joan Stewart learned this past week, while updating contact information for our special report #29: "Fly High with Publicity in In-Flight Magazines":
- The editors' biggest pet peeve is
Posted at 12:16 PM
What's That Again? Proper Usage Of Headlights
This headline was recently run over an advice column's article:
"Darkness is good reason to use headlights"
I didn't know that!
Posted at 12:12 PM
PR Basics: Preferred Method To Receive Press Releases
This week's email brought a good question. In what format do journalists prefer to receive press releases? Mail, Fax, email?
The simple answer is, it depends on the journalist. Each journalist, and each media outlet has their own preference. The best way is for you to contact your key media targets and ask them specifically. Then, once you have that information, send it to them in the format they've requested.
Yes, this means that you're going to mail some, fax some, and email some releases each time. Oh well!
But what about everyone else that you're sending to who isn't on your top contact list? What format should you use for them?
Posted at 12:10 PM
