Why Holiday PR Is Not Just for Retailers

My last couple of blogs, The Holiday Season: A Marketing Opportunity & A PR Necessity and Creating The Perfect Holiday PR Pitch: Tapping Into The Billion $ Spending Season focused on why it is so vitally important for any company business, service or profession to launch a media relations campaign and market during the holidays.  To briefly recap:

A) The holiday season represents a huge opportunity when in comes to selling your product or service. According to the National Retail Federation, “in 2010, holiday sales increased 5.2% to $452.9 billion,

B) For some retailers, the holiday season can represent anywhere between 25-40% of annual sales.

C) Consumers spent $407 million on Thanksgiving Day 2010.  $407 million in one day alone!

D) The last quarter of the year presents unique opportunities to get your story out to the media.

E) The holiday season is also a period when the media is looking to run articles and segments on gift giving stories.

F) Marketing during the fourth quarter also offers you an opportunity to further establish your brand for the New Year.

Keep in mind; holiday marketing is not just for retailers.  Whether you’re a physician, attorney, accountant, psychotherapist, business coach, or nutritionist, there is no more effective strategic time to launch a public relations campaign than during the holiday season that runs from Halloween to January 1st.  The following are some holiday oriented PR pitches that we’ve used in the past.  Keep in mind, most of these are basic suggestions, if you work on it a bit and drill down you can come up with catchy, media friendly stories and angles that will work.  

Hair Stylist – Creating the perfect look for holiday parties.  Come up with and name some holiday hairstyles for parties, gatherings and how to discover your new look for the upcoming year.

Fine Artist – Giving an enduring holiday gift.  Present your work as a special, unique holiday gift.  Have a special holiday show.

Primary Care Physician – Staying healthy for the holidays.  Pitch the media stories on how to stave off colds and flu during the holiday season and how to best treat them.

Cosmetic Surgeon – New Look for the New Year – Pitch a holiday package and give it a fun catchy name.  Your pitch could focus on non invasive or less invasive techniques for creating the perfect look.

Psychotherapist – Beating the holiday blues and coping with holiday stress.  The holiday season is one of the most stressful times of the year.  Pitch secrets on lessening stress and tips on how to deal with the holiday blues.

Film Director – Review the classic holiday films and discuss which have influenced you and the culture the most.  Find ways to tie your film into the holidays.  It doesn’t have to be fun or cheery; the holiday season usually showcases serious shows with more depth.

Fitness Trainer – Holiday travel workouts.  Pitch stories on how to say fit on the road and while traveling.  Develop, and name, programs that you offer to prepare clients to be fit and healthy in the New Year.

I thought I’d pretty much covered holiday pitch ideas, but there’s still more to review.  In my next article I’ll be reviewing how other professions and businesses can pitch their holiday stories.  Remember the holiday season is one of the most effective times to launch a public relations campaign.  As I mentioned, start with the obvious pitches and then drill down, you’ll be surprised with the PR stories you can come up with – and the media coverage you can land.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011