June 25, 2004
Choosing Between The Broadcast Media
If you've been around the public relations world for long, you've probably had an editor point out to you that there are two sides of their operation, editorial and advertising, and that what you're pitching to them is more of an advertisement than news.
And they're absolutely right. Some pieces are more appropriate for advertising. Plus, advertising is a key partner to many, if not most, successful PR programs.
But, when it comes to the broadcast media, typically one is able to afford either television or radio, but not both. Usually this is based on the prices for television advertising...it can be furiously expensive.
How does one choose between them? Here are the strengths of each:
Television:
1. Television presents the opportunity to reach larger audiences with a single ad placement.
2. Typically, TV can be geared to selected audiences by choosing different shows and broadcast times.
3. People are generally able to form a personal identification to television personalities than radio disc jockeys (though some of the radio talk show personalities are an exception to the rule).
4. Television combines video, audio, motion, and a sense of immediacy and involvement in the audience.
5. The advertising methods used on TV give you great flexibility in showing to a certain group of people and their chosen viewing times.
6. It's typically easier to buy a national advertising presence through TV than radio.
7. Television is a great way to demonstrate product superiority through a demo in your ad.
Radio:
1. Because it is only audio, the listener forms an impression based upon their own imagination, which can sometimes be greater than if you had supplied the image.
2. Radio reaches people during more hours than television.
3. Less involvement means that people can do other activities while listening. Most people listen to the radio while driving, working, and get togethers with friends.
4. Because listeners can phone in to speak with the DJ, this gives the impression that the listener is somehow involved.
5. Typically, radio advertising is much less expensive, though it's still possible to spend a ton of money on radio!
6. Radio is ideal for reaching geographically targeted audiences.
Many of these factors also apply to public relations. For example, let's say you were promoting a book about cooking. TV, because of it's visual nature, would be a far more powerful medium for you, because you can show the food being prepared, the beautiful spreads in the book, and the host's obvious delight in sampling the product.
On the other hand, radio wins out in other areas. It's often easier to get on radio, especially if you're content to start out on the small stations in small markets, then to use the power of those tapes to leverage yourself onto larger stations. They're great for book or celebrity tours because the talent can do the shows at home in their jammies, instead of having to physically be in front of a camera. There's also the impact of drivetime, allowing you to reach audiences that simply wouldn't be available during that block of time.
So, we recommend that you consider both of these important media sources, rather than just insisting that TV is the way to go in your next campaign.
Are you trying to find more information about radio and TV public relations? We have what you are looking for.
How to Get Booked on Radio Talk Shows, Give a Great Interview and Get Invited Back: This no-nonsense guide gives you the information you need to get yourself on the radio. Comprehensive in scope, all of the fluff has been removed. This covers the important information to get into the broadcasting circuit fast!
How to Get Onto Drive Time Radio Shows: The radio is heard more often in cars than anywhere else. It makes sense that you would want to be on the radio shows while people are commuting. This CD features Joan Stewart interviewing radio veteran George McKenzie.
How to Get on the Local TV News Tomorrow: Need television publicity fast? Listen to the tips from Joan Stewart on this audio CD, and watch your television campaign get catapulted to the top of its class. Learn the secrets of the big firms and use them to build your company's status.
Still looking for more products on these topics? Try going to our Television or Radio Subject Page
Posted by Angie at 02:47 PM | TrackBack
Newsworthiness -The Psychology of News
We often tout the phrase, "make sure it's newsworthy!". But what is newsworthiness?
Frankly, there's no one way to make a story newsworthy. But there are lots of different ways to consider.
Here's one example of someone who's done just that:
As you're aware, anti-war protests have erupted around the nation. There are so many, that some news organizations have decided that unless the protest is local or has 100,000 people or more, it won't be covered.
So, the biggest organized protests get the coverage while the small protests get nothing, right? Not always.
This past week a small protest took place in which several women went topless to protest the war. Their theme was something about baring their arms to prevent the US from bearing theirs (a fairly weak connection, I must add). But did it make the news? You better believe it! Here's why...
Shock value!
Believe it or not, part of what makes a news story "newsworthy is it's ability to entertain. After all, when it comes right down to the essence - ratings are what drive the media business, not the desire to communicate the news.
So one of the key learnings for most PR people, who probably don't represent organizations who consistently produce information that's newsworthy on its own, is to consciously step back and consider how to make a story more newsworthy. One key way to do that is through adding an element of entertainment value, or said another way, to add some element that will cause the media outlet's ratings to increase as a result of airing your particular story.
For example, consider many of the socialites like Paris Hilton, heiress of the Hilton Hotel fortune. She has steadily made herself famous, not for having done anything worthwhile, but because she keeps doing things that attract media attention.
She does things like dating Leonardo DiCaprio, showing up on every worthwhile red carpet in the world, and having regular vicious fights with high-profile people in public places.
In essence she's becoming famous because...well...because she's famous!
I'm not saying to make things up, I don't believe you start doing everything topless and throwing food, and I'm certainly not suggesting that you do anything illegal or unethical just to add a news element.
I'm also not suggesting that shock value is the only way to generate newsworthiness. In fact, it's a tool that you can only use ocassionally before it stops working. But I am suggesting that you do make this a conscious part of every PR decision. You'll get more attention as a result.
Want more information? Try How To Get On Your Local TV News Tomorrow:
Still have questions? Post them on our new Discussion Board
Posted by Angie at 01:52 PM | TrackBack
June 23, 2004
Get the Local Angle
One of the best ways to get free publicity is to offer yourself as the local angle to national or international stories you see in print or on TV or radio. Local media are hungry for the local angle. That’s because local news is their bread and butter. Any time they can find someone in their area who can offer background, commentary or story ideas that piggyback off a national event, or someone who is part of a national trend, they will usually bite.
In fact, it’s standard practice in newsrooms all over the globe to pursue the local angle. Reporters sometimes labor for hours trying to track down someone in their area who can shed new light on a national issue, or who can offer an interesting local visual to accompany a national story.
13 ways to be the Local Angle
Here are 13 ways to get into print and broadcast stories by being the local angle:
--Offer yourself as an expert. For example, a consumer credit agency that sees a story in USA Today about the increasing number of college-bound freshmen who are already in debt from credit cards can call local TV stations, tell them about the USA Today story, then offer their experts for on-camera interviews. Offer to do the interview anyplace but in your office. Suggest that they film you at a local shopping mall or anyplace else where high school students spend a lot of money.
--Create an experts directory. If you’re a larger organization such as a university, or a company or non-profit that has a wide variety of experts who can be contacted by the media, create and distribute an experts directory. It can be as elaborate as a spiral-bound directory or as simple as a two-page list of experts. Many colleges distribute these directories every year or two to local and national media. The experts are listed by alphabetized subject categories. Each category then lists the names of faculty and staff members who have agreed to be interviewed, along with their title, phone and fax numbers and cellphone or beeper numbers. It’s helpful if you even include home phone numbers. When a skirmish breaks out in the Middle East and a local newspaper wants commentary from someone in their community, they can simply dig out the directory and find a professor who is an expert on the Middle East. Post your list of experts at your web site.
--Offer a tip sheet. The consumer credit agency mentioned above can offer a list of 8 tips on how high school students can get out of debt.
--Create a tip sheet with an enticing headline. Then simply list the 7 or 8 tips, and close with a paragraph that lists the name of your agency, contact information and web site URL. Tips sheets are frequently used by print media. But even TV stations often flash tips on the screen after a video segment. Be sure to include your phone number where people can call for more information. (See Special Report #16: How to Write Tip Sheets That Catch the Media’s Attention)
--Offer the people angle. If you or someone in your company or neighborhood is the local angle to a national story, contact the media immediately. If the national media are buzzing about a new fashion trend, such as the return to hip-hugger blue jeans, and a Baby Boomer you know has been wearing hip-huggers ever since her hippie days and has a closet full of outlandish hip-hugger outfits, the media might be interested. This would be a particularly good story for television because of the interesting visuals.
--Be a contrarian. The media love contrarian viewpoints and usually go out of their way to present both sides of a story. If you disagree with results of a national study, for example, and can explain why, you might be “the other side of the story.”
--Present results of a poll or a survey. That's what BuyCostumes.com, a costume shop, did in September 2001 when it asked visitors to its web site whether they would wear a Gary Condit mask at Halloween. Fifty percent of respondents said it’s good idea but wouldn't buy the mask, 23 percent said they would buy it and 16 percent say the whole thing is a bad idea. Eleven percent had no opinion. Jalem Getz, chief executive officer of BuyCostumes.com, said he put the poll on the web site after the Connie Chung interview with the controversial California representative. About the same time, customer service reps began getting requests for a Condit mask. The story received coverage in local newspapers in Wisconsin, where the company is located, as well as in national publications.
--Be part of a trend. If a local restaurant sees a story in a national food magazine that explains how lettuce is the trendy new wrap for sandwiches, and they have lettuce wraps on the menu, the local food columnist might be interested. If you’re part of a trend, pitch the media quickly, before the trend becomes nothing more than a fad, then disappears.
--Offer commentary on budget and legislation stories. If Congress or your state legislature has just introduced a budget that will harm you or help you, let the media know. This is a chance to promote a particular cause or issue.
--Write letters to the editor and opinion columns. Sometimes it’s much easier to get a letter or a column into print than it is to pitch a story idea to a reporter. The difference between submitting something for the editorial page and pitching a story idea for a newspaper’s news pages is that a letter or column should be very opinionated and come down hard on one side of an issue. It also must follow the newspaper’s guidelines for word count. So check that before you write.
--Submit a quiz. Magazines, in particular, love offering quizzes to their readers. They’re fun, they’re short and sometimes they help fill odd-size holes on a page. I saw one recently that caught my attention. It was a quiz on whether married couples are compatible financially, which piggybacks onto the national story of the skyrocketing divorce rate. If you can devise a quiz that ties into a national story, it can bring you far more exposure than a paid ad.
--Write how-to articles. Every spring, the media offer lots of free advice to people getting ready to prepare their income tax returns. CPAs, accountants and financial planners submit how-to articles that pass along helpful tips to readers. If you have a topic that helps people save time, save money, be healthier or feel better—and you can tie it to a national story—pitch the media with your idea before you begin writing. If writing a column, ask if you can also submit your photo.
--Piggyback off census figures. The U.S. Census Bureau releases a wide variety of census figures that the media love. For example, results of the 2000 census show a huge increase in the number of Hispanics. If your company is targeting the Hispanic community, your story could be a perfect local angle to this national story. You’ll find a wealth of information at http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet, where the Census Bureau has demographic profiles, state-by-state results, and information on the economic census. You can even enter your street address and find Census 2000 data for your neighborhood.
--Don’t forget follow-up stories. The media love to follow up stories they already have covered. If you missed being featured in the original story, your story idea might be a good follow-up. For example, a hospital that wasn’t mentioned in a local story about how fewer women in their forties are getting mammograms might be the perfect “follow up” if they start a series of free classes on healthy breast care for over-40 women and learn the classes are one of the most popular they have offered. You can refer to the original story in your pitch.
Posted by Angie at 02:41 PM | TrackBack
June 22, 2004
How To Get Onto Your Local News Tomorrow
Want to get on your local news? Would tomorrow be soon enough?
Try using food!
Bagels and cream cheese, cans of caramel corn and pretty baskets filled with fresh-baked croissants make your local TV station look more like a gourmet food shop than a newsroom. Yet that's often how the game is played. Find out the name of the assignment editor or the producer of the 6 o'clock news and send a sweet treat along with your story pitch. Before you know it, you're often on the air.
Shawne Duperon, who has been in TV news for more than 10 years, knows the game all too well. The food bribe worked beautifully recently when she did some pro bono PR work trying to drum up TV coverage for an Easy Bake Oven Bake-off sponsored by General Motors at two inner-city schools in Detroit. The kids baked cookies in an Easy Bake Oven, which uses a light bulb as the heat source.
"We sent a basket of Mrs. Field's cookies to the TV newsrooms along with a little note saying, 'If you think these are great, just wait until you see what we're baking.' The local ABC and NBC affiliates covered the story. But the local print media barely mentioned it. Savvy PR people know that while food bribes are a no-no at print media outlets, they work like magic at TV and radio stations.
"The reason is because TV news people work so hard and they don't get the accolades the print people get," Shawne said. "The people behind the scenes who bust their butts, like the assignment editors who are insane 9 hours a day or the line producers who are producing different shows, are the ones who are making the people on camera look good. They are also the people who are really making the decisions about news coverage."
Of course, if your story idea is a stinker, the food bribe won't work.
But there are lots of other tricks - 19 to be precise. Shawne shared them with us in a recent teleseminar titled "How To Get On Your Local TV News Tomorrow." We taped it, turned it into an audio CD and are offering it to you for just $29.95. To find out more about this powerful CD (after all, which of you wouldn't like to be on the local news tomorrow?)
Posted by Angie at 02:24 PM | TrackBack
On the Air: How to Create Valuable TV Coverage
When you think TV, don't just think Oprah, Rosie and the nightly news with Peter Jennings. Think about the many local news shows that need compelling guests. Those include the early-morning feature shows, mid-morning talk shows, noon and nightly news shows, and weekend public affairs programs. Authors, speakers, consultants, successful small-business people and anyone who has an interesting story to tell are all likely prospects.
TV producers want good visuals to go with the story. That’s the most important thing you can offer a TV station. Without visuals, you stand a far less chance of making them interested in your story.
That means you must be well-groomed and dressed correctly. It also means that interesting props increase your ability to get booked on a show. Let’s say you've written a book about cosmetic surgery and you can offer the producer before-and-after photos of people who have had various procedures done and who have given their permission to appear on TV. The producer will be more interested than if you simply offered the cover of your book as a prop.
What TV News Assignment Editors Want
- The local angle to a national story. If gasoline prices are skyrocketing, and your service station is undercutting the competition and seeing lines a mile long, let your local TV stations know.
- The local angle to network movies. Keep your eyes open for upcoming movies on topics that tie into your company or non-profit organization. If the network features a movie on domestic violence, for example, administrators at local women’s shelters are often interviewed for the lead story that same night on the local 10 or 11 o'clock news. Be sure you call a week or two in advance.
- Free advice. If there’s a hot story in the news and you can provide tips or free advice that will help viewers, offer yourself as an expert source.
- Great visuals for upcoming events. If your service club will be mixing huge vats of pancake batter for the community pancake breakfast this weekend, call the assignment editor. They love great visuals.
- People stories. On slow news days, TV news shows often feature profile stories of interesting people who have achieved a goal, overcome a handicap or simply made the community a better place to live. If you know of someone, suggest the idea to the assignment editor.
Visit Special Report #32: How to create valuable TV coverage for lots more tips.
