Successful PR Pitch Examples

November 10, 2011 Leave a Comment

The media wants stories.  Producers and editors want journeys that offer a strong narrative, something that will capture the public’s attention.

There are hard and soft news stories.  Unless your story is timely and generally relates to a breaking news story, chances are your pitch is going to fall in the soft news category.  Hard news stories cover such topics as a war zone, or a political race or a natural disaster; soft news focuses on human interest oriented stories, such as a new technology product, or a story on a disabled runner participating in a marathon.  The following are some media stories we pitched that worked.  Each illustrates a different way of landing a story.

1) We worked with one client who was down to her last few dollars.  She had developed some fashion-oriented products.  It took some time, but they began to sell.   She made it through the rough patch, built her business into a million dollar enterprise and created an amazing story that resonated with both the media and the public.  Stories on her and her products, boosted sales, but they also gave entrepreneurs, particularly female entrepreneurs hope.  This is a “yes you can” type of story that gets people excited about what the human spirit can accomplish.

2) We also placed a story on acupuncture facelifts.  This was a more fun upbeat story.  It combined health and beauty, offered TV a good visual and offered the acupuncturist an opportunity to discuss some of the other more health-oriented acupuncture treatments she offered.  Unlike traditional facelifts the procedure was non invasive and made for a good TV segment.

3) There was also a story where grade school kids from a local elementary school “adopted” seniors who were living at an assisted living facility.  This was a feel good story about kids giving to seniors and shattering the age barrier.  It offered some good visuals, but also made for a good print feature story.

4) Still another revolved around a cosmetic company that made a product that camouflaged tattoos.  We placed stories on how grooms use the product at their weddings and prospective employees use it at job interviews.   This offered great visuals and allowed us to tailor the pitches to the specific media outlets we were approaching.

These generally fall into the soft news category.  The following is one that is more in the hard news arena:

5) We pitched a story about a physician who was working on clinical trials for a new treatment for pancreatic cancer.  The hospital was looking for people to participate in the trials.  The stories reviewed what the treatment entailed and the type of trials they were running.

Public relations can be the least expensive and most effective means of getting your message to the public, policy makers and  investors . But to be effective you need to recognize what a good story is and then create news stories related to your work that appeal to the media and the public.  So study the media, learn the types of stories they run and pitch them accordingly.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

 

 

Filed under business, Public Relations Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Perspective Creates Reality: How the Media is Prolonging the Economic Mess

October 18, 2011 Leave a Comment

We’re fooling ourselves if we don’t think that the media profoundly shapes our reality.  We are what we know and if all we hear and see is that the economy is tanking, that our politicians are useless and that things are getting worse on a daily basis, then in time those thoughts and feelings define us.   I’m not advocating ignoring the facts and viewing the world through rose-colored glasses, but I am saying that collectively we act and react based on what we hear and see.  Watching a continual stream of segments on how the economy is tanking and reading article after article on how there are no jobs and why credit has dried up is going to impact the choices we make and that in turn impacts the economy.

Fearing the worst, individuals are going to spend less, employers are going to take a wait and see attitude towards hiring, and banks are going to tighten their lending practices.  That is human nature.  That is how we work.  We act and react based on what we know and corporations and governments act and react the same as families and individuals.  I know we like to think that CEOs and politicians are above such human frailties and act in sane rational ways, but they’re simply people and they react as we all do.

Consider the stock market.  We basically bet our economy on this system, yet its ebbs and flows can be measured on a daily basis by what news the media is reporting and how it is reporting it.  And I’m not talking about fact-based reporting, but on speculative stories.  If CNN, the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times run a story about something that might happen, or about an event that could have a potentially negative effect, the market generally reacts in a big way the following day, not based on facts or figures but based on emotional reactions. Surely that is an oversimplification of how the market works, but it is a much bigger factor than experts generally give credence to.

It’s as though we want to pretend that in the worlds of economics and politics, human beings suddenly act and react in non human ways.  We want to believe we’re rational grown ups and that the economy is based on facts and numbers and therefore is not subject to fears and fantasies.   That is simply wrong.  Continual doses of doom and gloom causes (guess what?) you got it more doom and gloom.  We are creating a self fulfilling prophecy, but we refuse to see it.  We want to pretend that grown ups don’t act in such emotional irrational ways.  But it’s been shown time and again that they do.

So, what if the focus shifted?  What else would shift?  My bet is quite a bit.  The media’s not going to change; they are convinced that if it bleeds it leads and that’s where they’re going to stay. But what if collectively we changed?

This is where personal public relations, particularly media relations, along with social media and blogging can make a huge difference.  It’s true that PR is used to drive business, but it can also help change attitudes and policies.  It can impact the stories that are covered and can help change the direction that the media takes.  If a story you pitch is covered, another possibly downbeat story gets bumped.  If a momentum starts, then a shift begins.  It’s cumulative, it takes time, but collectively it helps us take some control back.   What if we were to start pitching and blogging and posting good news stories?  What if the media no longer defined our world for us?  Who knows how the world would change.  I say, let’s give it a shot.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Marketing, Media, news Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why You Should Launch a PR Campaign in a Tough Economy

October 13, 2011 Leave a Comment

No one is going to buy your product or services if they don’t know it exists and this is particularly true in tough economic times.  As counter intuitive as it might seem, the slow times are the times that you can’t afford to cut back in your marketing efforts.  It has been documented that companies that increase their marketing efforts during a recession can improve their market share as well as their return on investment at lower costs than they can during good economic times.  This is true because during uncertain times consumers need the reassurance.  They need to see you’re there.  While your competitors are cutting back and going into stealth mode, you should be keeping yourself and your company in front of your target audience.  While the competition is out of sight and out of mind, you should be front and center.

Understandably you don’t want to take on an expensive advertising campaign during lean times, but you do want to market.  You want to be creative.  You want to focus on how to best reach your market at a reasonable cost.  You also want to be realistic and understand that you’re going to need to invest in yourself and your company.  As the old adage says, it takes money to make money; but it needn’t take a lot.

  1. Initially, study your market and define your specific target market.
  2. Next, do some research and find out how to reach that market.  What do they read?  What do the watch?  What social media sites do they use?  What web sites do they visit?  You don’t need to hire a firm to do this market research for you.  Give someone the parameters you’re looking for, put them in front of a computer and get them started.  Twitter and Facebook alone offer a wealth of information on consumers and their likes and dislikes.
  3. Make a list of the media they read, watch, and visit.
  4. Develop a marketing campaign that will speak to your target market.

Because advertising and direct marketing can be expensive, I generally recommend a targeted marketing campaign that combines traditional public relations with an online campaign that includes blogging and social media.  Media relations is so effective because it reaches your target market, establishes you as an expert and offers you the validation of being featured in the news.  It also gives you powerful ammunition for your social media campaign.   The story pitches and press releases that you develop to present to the traditional media can also be modified and used online in your blogs and social media posts.  Always keep in mind that your objective is to present yourself as a problem solver.  Don’t pitch your business or product, explain how you can solve your client’s problems and make their lives easier, more efficient, healthier, etc.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

Filed under business, Marketing, small business Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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