Tag Archives: Don Beehler

For Successful Ad Agency PR, Pitch like a Reporter

Something that’s easy to overlook when pitching a story to a reporter is that in most cases the reporter has to turn around and pitch it to an editor. So, getting the reporter interested is only half the battle. The more you can arm him or her with good information about why your idea would make a good story, the more favorable the odds of selling the editor.

The best way to sell a story is to first do your homework and then tailor your pitch as much as possible.

When I was on the editorial side of a heath care magazine, I never ceased to be amazed at some of the obviously inappropriate pitches PR people sent my way. It was pretty easy to tell who had taken time to read our magazine and understand the types of stories we covered, and who had taken a shotgun approach to pitching.

When the time comes to make your pitch, be sure you not only think like a reporter, but that you write like one as well. In other words, don’t advertise or editorialize your story idea; write your pitch as objectively as possible emphasizing its news aspect.

To increase your chances of success, follow this rule of thumb: find the right reporter and make the right story pitch at the right time.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to advertising agencies and businesses.

WSJ Asks “How Much Is Free Publicity Worth?”

Trying to assign a value to publicity is a little bit like trying to nail jell-o to a wall. Still, clients want to have some idea of the return they’re getting for money spent to generate publicity, so over the years there have been a number of attempts to rate an article or broadcast interview on various factors and come up with a dollar value.

Carl Bialik, “The Numbers Guy” for The Wall Street Journal, raises this long-debated question again in his column, citing news media coverage of various events and asking what this coverage is really worth.

It’s a fair question, but one that’s very difficult to answer.

Max Markson, a publicist in Australia, gave it shot. According to Mr. Bialik, when a reporter asked him the value of a particular photo that received worldwide coverage, Mr. Markson replied it was worth $10.5 million.

He later admitted that he “pulled the figure out of the air” because the reporter was on deadline. And we wonder why people sometimes question PR’s credibility . . .

Rather than pulling numbers out of the air that have no apparent basis in reality, Ketchum Public Relations has a one-page “scorecard” to help simplify the media measurement process. As I previously mentioned awhile back in my blog, the Ketchum scorecard is a grid that rates coverage on a point scale based on the following:

  • Prominence of client mentioned
  • Prominence of position
  • Source of item (i.e. did it come from the company’s PR efforts or elsewhere)
  • Quality of primary messages
  • Quality of secondary messages
  • Format of presentation (a feature story with photos vs. a mention of the company)
  • Exposure index (how much exposure a story gets in a given media vehicle)
  • Favorability index
  • Audience reach

Of course, the Ketchum scorecard isn’t the only method of measuring publicity, nor is it a perfect system. But you can be sure it’s a whole lot better than Mr. Markson’s method.

I don’t know how much the photo Mr. Markson valued at $10.5 million is really worth, but I do know the value of credibility and integrity: priceless.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

 

YouTube Video Creates PR Disaster, Policy Change for Delta Air Lines

In yet another tribute to the stunning power and immediacy of social media, a YouTube video expose of Delta Air Lines charging U.S. soldiers returning home from Afghanistan a whopping $200 per-bag fee for extra luggage has brought about a change of heart and policy.

According to news reports, the video showing soldiers complaining about the charges was viewed nearly 200,000 times. The next day, a Facebook page popped up called Boycott Delta for Soldiers.

Sensing a disaster in the making, Delta apologized, reversed course and revised its baggage fees for troops, now allowing up to four checked bags for free.

Give Delta credit for quickly recognizing and correcting such an egregious policy rather than trying to defend it. But while the company’s actions shortened its crisis, the PR damage from gouging troops fighting to protect our freedom has no doubt tarnished Delta’s image,  at least until memories begin to fade.

Never before have average people had such power to make their voices and complaints heard. The Internet keeps companies—and the advertising and public relations agencies that support them— on their toes, and that’s a good thing for us all.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Foreclosing on Bank Creates PR Nightmare for Bank of America

In my previous post, I discussed one non-profit organization’s spot-on response to a negative news article. This time, I present Exhibit B, which is a model for taking on a mega bank.

In one of those big “whoops” moments, Bank of America tried to foreclose on a house in Florida that had no mortgage; the owners had paid BOA cash for it, but a few months later the bank filed a foreclosure claim against them.

Mistakes happen, but BOA apparently refused to respond to the owners or their attorney, despite their numerous attempts to straighten out this colossal misunderstanding. Big, inflexible banks can be irritating and cause a lot of headaches, but the owners turned the tables by winning a court judgment against BOA for their attorney fees.

When BOA didn’t pay up, the owners foreclosed on the local bank, bringing their attorney and two sheriff’s deputies to take whatever assets they could get their hands on to pay the debt. An hour later the owners magically had a check from BOA.

This was a PR failure from top to bottom for BOA, and it has paid a heavy price through what can only be described as humiliating national media coverage of the fiasco.

In the interests of full disclosure, my wife and I have been banking with BOA for at least 15 years, and we’ve never had a problem. In fact, our local branch has always been very helpful and responsive whenever we’ve had a question or issue arise.

But this BOA branch in Florida obviously was a different story, and its lack of concern about doing what’s right ended up tainting the BOA name system-wide. It may also have caught the attention of the Florida’s attorney general’s economic crime division.

This is a great example of an issue which, if managed properly, would have quickly gone away. Instead, it became a full-blown crisis, and it will take BOA a long time to live it down. Because of their novelty, “man bites dog” stories always seem to find the light of day.

Ad agencies may not be able to directly influence their clients’ customer service, but they can remind them about the consequences of negative PR and that paying attention to their customers is one way to avoid a costly mess.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Ad Agencies Beware of Speaking with Reporters off the Record

Brian Lewis, a former reporter for The Tennessean newspaper, described in a column the different levels of speaking with reporters:

Off the record:  “To have an off-the-record conversation means that the information will not be used in any way in a story.  Many editors, including mine, don’t allow reporters to have off-the-record conversations.”

On background:  “To have an on-background conversation means that the information may be used in a story, but the person who is talking will not be named in connection with the information that is ‘on background.’”

On the record:  “This is the standard conversation with reporters.  However, reporters should identify themselves as working on an article before beginning an interview…once a statement has been made on the record, it cannot be taken off-record.”

While Brian’s explanation of these three levels is helpful, my advice to ad agencies is to never speak off the record, unless you really know and trust the reporter.

Even then, there are risks.

Consider this headline from a story by the New York Times News Service:  “India’s nuclear identify unclear.”  The subhead reads:  “‘Off the record, we are totally unprepared’ says one of its top military strategists.”

I wonder how the career of that military strategist is going these days. He certainly should have known better than to make such a remark to a reporter, and I suspect he learned his lesson after getting burned so badly by someone he apparently trusted.

What’s even more disturbing than this official’s lack of judgment, though, is that The New York Times  had no qualms about using something he told one of its reporters in confidence and clearly thought was off the record. 

The paper’s subhead admits it can’t be trusted, which is why if you don’t want to risk having something appear in print or on radio, TV or the Internet, don’t share it with a reporter!

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Ad Agencies: Here’s an Easy Way to Get Publicity for Your Clients

One of the easiest ways to get publicity for a client is to be able to comment on what’s already in the news, such as trends or breaking news.

Some time ago I read about a PR agency that advised a client with expertise about animal behavior as follows:  “Whenever a kid gets attacked by a dog somewhere in America, you need to contact newspapers and radio/TV shows in that city immediately and let them know you can comment on why it might have happened and how this attack could have been prevented.”

The agency suggested the client use Google Alerts to learn when a dog attack story hits the news. 

Within 90 days of using this strategy, the client had gotten publicity in more than 40 different media outlets.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Increase in Web Advertising Has Implications for Ad Agency PR

It was bound to happen: Web advertising revenue in the U.S.has surpassed that of newspaper advertising revenue.

An April 14 article in The Wall Street Journal cites a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP report for the Interactive Advertising Bureau that shows a rebound for Web advertising after a modest decline in 2009.

The IAB estimates that Internet-ad revenue in 2010, which rose 15% to $26 billion, surpassed that of newspapers, which amounted to $22.8 billion, as well as $22.5 billion from cable TV networks, $17.6 billion from broadcast TV networks and $15.3 billion from radio.

Given the growth of the Web and the decline in newspaper readership, this changing of the guard was inevitable. Still, it is amazing to think about the relative speed with which all this has happened.

The prominence of the Internet as an advertising vehicle also has implications for ad agency PR. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., as well as free and paid Internet news release distribution services, are important ways to get news out to key audiences beyond traditional print and broadcast outlets.

While social media plays a vital role in generating awareness for public relations initiatives, some are still not up to speed on its potential.

Commenting on the gap that exists between the percentage of time consumers spend using digital media and the percentage of spending that marketers allocate to the Web, John Suhler, founding partner with private equity and media forecasting firm Verohnis Suhler Stevenson, noted: “Dollars always follow eyeballs.”

More and more, eyeballs are turning to the Internet for news and information, and that trend likely will continue growing in the years to come.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Ad Agencies: Avoid Confusing News Release Headlines

During my days as an editor for a healthcare magazine, I received some interesting mail.  Here’s a news release headline a well-meaning hospital PR executive sent me one day:

CDH TO HOST LAPAROSCOPIC HERNIORRAPY PRECEPTORSHIP

Huh? I’m guessing one in a half-million or so people would have a clue what that headline was about.  And ask yourself: how much interest does it generate?  The release itself was fairly well written, and once I read the first few sentences I realized the hospital was hosting a seminar about advancements in hernia operations.

Trouble is, most reporters wouldn’t get past the headline – the release would end up in the recycle bin before the first paragraph was read.  Why not just say in the headline, in simple terms, what the seminar is about?

Headlines are vital to attracting interest and getting people to read the release or article, similar to how the wording on a subject line can make the difference between you reading or deleting an e-mail.

If you are handling your ad agency’s PR, make sure your news release headlines are compelling and readable, or risk having the releases discarded before they even gets read.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Ad Agencies Tips for Dealing with a Crisis

According to the Institute for Crisis Management, the majority of crises are of the “smoldering” type, meaning that a potentially damaging condition is known to one or more people.

Less than 25% are events that occur suddenly with little warning, such as natural disasters and accidents.

If something is smoldering at your agency or with one of your clients, deal with it now because chances are it won’t go away and may get much worse if neglected.

When a crisis strikes, those charged with managing it should have three primary objectives:

  1. Maintain control of the message
  2. Minimize damage
  3. Achieve accurate and balanced coverage through the news media and Internet

Having managed communications in a variety of crisis situations over the years, the following are tips I’ve found that apply to any crisis:

•       Tell what you know and can legally disclose as soon as possible.

•       Tell the truth.

•       Demonstrate concern for those affected.

•       Emphasize the positive, when appropriate. For example, if you’re dealing with layoffs, emphasize how many jobs are being   saved by this action and explain what your company is doing to help those who are losing their jobs.

•       Give updates as soon as new information is available and confirmed.

•       Seek third-party support to add credibility to your position.

How well your team manages a crisis, especially in the early stages, could affect your organization’s credibility and reputation for month or even years.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

 

Ad Agencies: Face Reality When Dealing with a Crisis

When I was growing up in Indiana, one of my friends and neighbors was a boy named Billy.  We were both around ten years old at the time.  One day Billy was playing with matches in his bedroom and set the curtains on fire.  He tried putting the fire out, but its flames quickly spread.  Billy was so overwhelmed by the situation that he walked out of his room, closed the door and started watching TV in the living room.

For a few minutes, he didn’t have to deal with the awful reality of what he had done, and he was able to go about life as usual. 

However, it wasn’t long before the entire house was engulfed in flames.  Fortunately he and his family escaped, but the house burned to the ground.

When I tell that story, people usually are amazed at such irresponsible behavior, and rightfully so.  Yet, I find that many companies with intelligent, well-educated leaders often take the same approach to dealing with a crisis in their organization.

Rather than face reality, they try to ignore the crisis or put a lid on it.

More often than not, the crisis grows and becomes consuming, and in the process devours valuable time and resources.  Sometimes the organization’s reputation is severely harmed, and out of the ashes investigations suddenly appear.

The pity is that engaging the crisis in its early stages would have made it more manageable and less damaging.

As Henry Kissinger once said, “A problem ignored is a crisis invited.”

One of the most important things an ad agency can do in a crisis situation is help its client see the reality of the situation and what needs to be done.  

The agency also needs to help the client keep the situation in perspective and focus on the long term. 

It’s easy to panic and develop a siege mentality when an organization in crisis is under intense scrutiny from the outside, but that only makes matters worse. 

Properly managing the crisis is vital, because facts alone don’t win in the court of public opinion—perceptions do.

One of the best ways to help you and your clients maintain control and minimize damage when a crisis strikes is to have a flexible crisis management plan in place. 

An effective crisis plan:

  • Contemplates the types of crises that could occur
  • Sets forth policies to deal with them
  •  Identifies audiences
  • Has a pre-selected crisis management team in place
  • Establishes ways to communicate accurate information quickly and effectively

If your agency or your clients don’t have a written crisis plan, now is a great time to create one.  If you have plan, be sure it is updated regularly.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.