The elements of great PR

Owning a marketing and PR firm I constantly get asked, “why are some companies always in the papers and others aren’t?” People always seem to assume the companies getting press have an “in” with an editor or a reporter, or they must just have a lot of news happening at their company. It really is much simpler than that. The companies that are always getting the attention of the media are the companies who are investing the time and money in PR to get their names out there, effectively targeting the media, building relationships with the press, and reaping the rewards of great hits. Once again it is all about relationships…relationships that take time to establish and time to nurture.

 

Most editors are time starved, furiously working against deadlines, and are always on the lookout for news. So what are they looking for?

 

Timely stories

Take for example the recent article in the Providence Journal that mentioned the dedicated AAA workers who reported for duty on Christmas Day, helping stranded motorists make it to their families in time for holiday festivities. The Journal writer probably wanted to publish a story that would appeal to his readers’ emotional drives, and when AAA’s heartwarming news crossed his desk, he most likely did not hesitate to print it. 

 

Creative stories

Starbucks has a really great creative machine. I loved the recent “cup on the car” campaign. They hired people to drive around major cities with a Starbucks Holiday cup magnetized to the roof of their car. Anyone who stopped the driver to tell them that they had left their delicious drink on their roof was rewarded with a drink coupon. This idea got a lot of attention, right in time for the holidays.

 

Emotional stories 

Benefits Unlimited, a PR client of ours, loved their office manager. They wanted to do something to show how much they appreciated her and they wanted it to WOW her. Knowing that her son was serving in the Army overseas and she missed him terribly, and also that her 25th wedding anniversary and Thanksgiving were approaching, the three principals of the company decided that they would surprise her and get her son home for the holiday. They worked for weeks with the military and made this a reality. Surprisingly, they almost didn’t tell us they were doing this, as they did not see this as a story idea, but rather a good thing to do. Once we knew what they were up to, however, we were able to get all 3 TV stations and all the area papers interested in covering this story. They all met the son coming off the plane and drove caravan style to her office where they filmed her surprise. This story landed on the front page of the Providence Journal (above the fold) the next day and all over all the other media. It was even highlighted again as one of the best stories of the year by the Providence Journal.

 

A new approach to an old idea

Dr. Leonard is a PR client of ours. As a hair restoration surgeon, it is not always an easy task to get the media to cover this topic. We are always trying to think of ways to get Doc’s business in the news. Doc has always told us that people are drawn to men with a full head of hair. We decided to see if that held true in Presidential candidates…and what did we find? We Americans have never elected a bald president! So we released a new study that predicted who would be more likely to win their gubernatorial elections based on the amount of hair they had. This study was picked up nationally and Dr. Leonard got press from The New York Post to Politico.com.

 

Companies you see in the paper, hear on the radio, and see on the news have a great PR person, or team of PR people (either in-house or outsourced), who understand the importance of strategic, targeted, and effective PR.

 

I’d love to hear if anyone else out there has a great example of effective PR. Whether it be an emotionally appealing piece of news, a great relationship with the media, or a truly creative idea, these are the tactics we should all be looking for and aware of to develop our own strategies. Even the most seasoned and accomplished PR gurus need to keep an eye out for best practices, so let me know if you see anything great! Drop me a line at april@fortheloveofmarketing.com.