July 27th, 2009
Everyone loves something for free. Everyone enjoys receiving an unknown package the mail to unwrap. And in the past, sending a freebie to a journalist was often an assumed part of the PR strategy to secure media coverage. But the days of tightening budgets forces the question, does it actual work?
On the upside, sending a journalist a free product sample, free tickets to your event or a gift can help you stand out from the crowd. These days, an average journalist at a daily newspaper receives hundreds of media releases over email so by sending something in the mail you’ve instantly managed to separate yourself from the rest of the PR pack. You have their attention and if you know how to hold it, you just might achieve success.
On the other hand, many a PR consultant will agree that even the most generous of freebies will not guarantee a story. A journalist will accept your gift, even thank you profusely, but this doesn’t mean they will run the story the way you want them to run it…in fact they may not even run any story at all. In some cases, sending a free product is an important part of allowing a journalist to touch, feel and experience it so they can better understand and write about it. However, when it comes down to it, most of the time there are more valuable things you can invest your time and money in to increase your chances of getting media coverage. These include:
- Researching the media you’re targeting – read the publication over a few months – what stories do they run, what topics do they place importance on, what’s their main audience groups – then put together a story idea that will specifically be of interest to them
- Writing a succinct and interesting media release or pitch
- Building rapport with the journalist. This is done in many ways including being highly responsive and helpful when they require information, pitching ideas that are relevant and offering exclusives (as opposed to offering the idea/media release to everyone). Perhaps the occasional freebie can help to build a relationship with a journalist, just don’t expect anything in return.
July 27th, 2009
There’s nothing like a good PR hijacking. What is it? It basically involves one organisation putting the expense and effort into getting the attention of the public and then another organisation coming along uninvited to share the limelight, usually in a highly amusing way. To get your cunning and creative PR juices flowing check out the following hijacks – the first is a Nandos hijack of a Bruno premier and the second is a rebranding of ATM’s in Sydney’s CBD for Tax Today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIUlpkPKGvA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuRQACV8m3k.
