The Oscar Race is On & Hollywood’s Media Machines Rev Up

January 28, 2012 Leave a comment

Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo,” came away with eleven Academy Award nominations, and “The Artist,” which won the Golden Globes received ten.  The two films, which are both about the bygone days of film making, head the list of best picture Oscar contenders announced Tuesday.  Ironically there is a belief in Hollywood that films about films, particularly films about film making are doomed to die at the box-office.  If true, at least this year they’d do so in style.

It’s interesting to sense the difference between the Golden Globes and the Oscars.  As one well known film critic recently put it, the Golden Globes are so much fun, because they really don’t matter.  The sense is that people go to the Globes to see and be seen, party, have fun, say things you’d never say at the Academy Awards and possibly help create a bit of a media buzz for your film.   The Golden Globes is a PR vehicle.  A feel good party where the winners hope to influence the Oscar voters.

The Academy Awards remain the main event.  This will always remain the award the public views as the golden ring in the film business and it’s hard to tell the influence that the other awards have on the Oscars.

The best picture category is an interesting one with heavy hitter Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse,” going against, among others, Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.”  Allen’s film hit a chord this year, and could result in an (all is truly forgiven) embrace from the Academy.  Perhaps the most interesting inclusion is Terrence Malick’s (either love it or hate it) “The Tree of Life;” but it’s good to know mystics can climb the Hollywood heights.

Superstars Brad Pitt and George Clooney go head to head in the best actor category with Pitts’s “Moneyball” and Clooney’s “The Descendants” garnering a number of awards.  Those two are where the glitz and glamour is, but that’s not always where the awards go.

The best actress category includes Meryl Streep’s performance as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady” and Michelle Williams’ role as movie legend Marilyn Monroe in “My Week With Marilyn.”  It’s always a gamble bringing an icon to the screen, but in both cases the gamble paid off.

Now that the nominees have been named, the Hollywood movie machine media relations blitz goes into high gear.  From here to the awards date the publicity and media campaigns run 24/7.  Public relations, and some subtle and often not so subtle arm twisting are the staples of race to the Oscar.  As long as Harvey Weinstein is involved in the race, it will be interesting.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Seib, Al. “Plaster Oscar statuettes used for rehearsals.” Photo. The Envelope. Jan. 2012. 27, Jan. 2012.                                                  <http://theenvelope.latimes.com/news/la-env-oscars-winners-nominees-scorecard-2012,0,2535525.htmlstory>

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Starbucks’ Spirited PR Gamble

January 25, 2012 Leave a comment

A Big Mac along with a glass of chardonnay?  Who knows?  That could be on the way.  Starbucks is heading in that direction.  The chain will soon be selling beer and wine in select locations.  Four to six stores in the Southern California area will offer alcoholic beverages by the end of this year, as will some stores in Atlanta and Chicago

The chain began testing its new spirited approach in Seattle in 2010. Starbucks now offers beers for $5 and wines by the glass for $7 to $9 in five locations in that city and one in Portland, Oregon.

The questions are: what will this move do to the Starbucks brand? And how will customers have to change their habits in order for it to pay off?  Currently the chain makes most of its daily sales by 2 p.m., which explains the foray into the spirit business.  On the other hand around 75% of Starbucks customers are there for take out.  That won’t work in the beer and wine business.  These customers will have to say and enjoy their beverages in-house.  And what about the kids and teens that have made Starbucks one of their staples.  Will mom and dad be happy sending their kids to a beer and wine establishment?

If this were Europe, there would be no issue.  There families are used to going to pubs or cafes where coffee, food and spirits are sold.  But, the U.S. isn’t France or England and we generally have a different take on where liquor should and shouldn’t be served.  And what happens when a Starbucks barista has to 86 someone?  What will be the protocol for that?

Starbucks has built an amazing worldwide brand.  It has regularly changed its menu offering different types of drinks and food items, but a jump into the world of beer and wine is a big one.  Adding a new pastry, sandwich or fruit drink does not risk compromising the chain’s brand, but offering a happy hour where sprits flow freely will challenge the way many of its customers view the company.

Only time will tell if this gamble will pay off.  Because it directly impacts their brand recognition, it could either turn out to be a PR miscue or a public relations homerun.  Chances are it will land somewhere in the middle.  Since they are only experimenting with a handful of stores, if the publicity effect is extremely negative, they can quickly shut the program down.  But if the reaction is simply lukewarm, or only somewhat negative, they will most likely give the news stores a fair shot and launch a media relations campaign extolling the virtues of this new approach.  If it works, it could become a one stop shop for buying one’s stimulants in the morning and depressants in the evening.  The next big question could be, how are they going to get people to leave?

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2012

Sato, Kiichiro. “Starbucks’ alcohol menu being tested in a handful of shops in Seattle and one in Portland, Ore., includes Rogue Dead Guy Ale, a Pinot Noir from Oregon, a Prosecco from Italy and a Malbec from Argentina. Above, a Starbucks in Chicago. ” Photo. Los Angeles Times. 24, Jan. 2012. 25, Jan. 2012. <http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-starbucks-beer-20120124,0,5910879.story>

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Creating a PR Pitch that Works

September 7, 2011 Leave a comment

An effective public relations campaign can reach your target market, establish you as an expert in your field, and offer you validation and legitimacy that comes with being featured as a news story.  That’s great, right?  But how do you come up with the right pitches and ideas to grab the media’s attention?  You can send out press releases and media blasts all day long, but if you don’t have a compelling story that meets the media’s needs, your PR campaign is not going to work for you.  So how do you go from concept to actually landing TV and print stories?  Brainstorm.  Think like a journalist, not like a business person.

  • Set up a brainstorming session with your PR consultant, or, if you’re doing this in-house, meet with members of your staff that understand your practice.
  •  Allow everyone involved to speak freely.  Start with a list of the obvious stories, then drill down to more unique stories or review different ways to present stories.
  • Think out of the box.  Be creative.  Remember you don’t have to use all of these stories, but the deeper you drill, the better the chances of finding a great story, so let the ideas flow-freely.  You’re pitching TV, so think in terms of the strongest visual stories you can present
  • Divide the stories as per the various media outlets you’ll be approaching.  There will be some stories that are timely, others that are seasonal and others that are evergreen.  Come up with a schedule of when to pitch which stories
  • Divide the stories into local, regional and national.  Different media outlets have different needs.  You want to pitch towards their specific needs.

You want to illustrate why your story and pitch is a perfect fit for their readers or viewers.   You want them to see the value in your story.  To do that you have to come up with a pitch that speaks to each media outlet’s specific audience.  You very well could pitch Vogue, the Today Show, the Wall Street Journal and your local newspaper the same story, but you’d have to tailor you pitch to meet those outlet’s specific needs.  You’d need a female angle, a visual angle, a business angle and a local angle.

Remember, your job is to present yourself and your product or service as a story the media will want to cover, not to do a sales job.  As soon as you try to “sell” a producer or an editor, you’ve lost.  To interest the media don’t pitch your product or your service, pitch a story; pitch your value.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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Is All Publicity Good Publicity – Well, Maybe If You’re Lady Gaga

August 22, 2011 Leave a comment

There is perhaps no bigger myth than the one that states all publicity is good publicity.  PT Barnum is said to have made that statement along those lines.  But who knows.  If it wasn’t PT, whoever said it certainly made an impression, since it has now become a part of our lexicon.  If he did say it, I’m not sure you want to take branding and image advice from a guy who owned a circus and made a living out of promoting what he referred to as freaks.   If you own a circus, maybe your PR standards are a bit different, but even then, all PR is certainly not good PR.

For example, being caught with a hooker, that’s probably not going to do a heck of a lot for you or your career; getting caught sending lewd photos on Facebook or Twitter isn’t one of your better brand building approaches; and having a YouTube video in which you’re shown ingesting huge quantities of drugs would maybe be somewhat of an image mistake.  There are politicians with sex and money scandals, sports figures with sex and drug scandals, actors and singers with a Chinese menu of scandals.  The list is a long one.

You can come up with a litany of media train wrecks and image disasters that convincingly illustrate that all PR is certainly not good PR. Entrepreneurs and PR consultants that look to generate interest through shock and scandal are walking a tightrope.  Pushing the envelope can pay off for some.  Lady Gaga would not be where she is without controversy.  But how many Lady Gaga’s are there?  And even she wouldn’t welcome any media coverage.  Plus, how many business owners and professionals want to foster that particular image?  If you do, great, take off the gloves and go for it.  But if you’re looking to build a different type of image and create a strong lasting brand, I’d suggest perhaps considering a different approach.

PR can grow your business, bring in clients and customers, build your brand and establish you as an expert in your field.  It is the most important marketing tool available because it offers you the credibility and validation of being featured as a news story.  With that in mind you want to create a list of objectives and develop a game plan and launch a targeted well thought out campaign.  You also want to control what you can.  In this age of blogging and social media, never forget that what you post on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube or any other social media site is most likely going to be there for a long time to come.

When it comes to traditional media, think long and hard about your stories and how you want you and your company to be perceived.  Remember a good story is what effective media relations is all about.  Transformational stories are the best when it comes to garnering media placement.  How have you made someone’s life easier, more fulfilling, healthier, etc?  You want to establish yourself as an expert and your product or service as one that positively affects people’s lives.  Focus on your strengths and expertise.  Present yourself as a problem solver.

Those are the areas you want to focus on when it comes to your PR and press coverage. Media train wrecks are good news for the tabloid magazines and sensational TV programs.  They sell magazines and build ratings, but that’s about all they’re good for.  Unless, of course, you’re Lady Gaga.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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Why Politicians Should Forget Their PR

July 21, 2011 Leave a comment

Politicians should stop focusing on their image and PR; sounds rather naive and Pollyannaish coming from a PR consultant.  Yet, now more than ever, PR and image should be the last thing that politicians are focusing on.  Trouble is, in this world of online media and 24/7 news coverage it seems that they are focused on little else.  Few politicians seem to be working for the good of the country as opposed to focusing on keeping their jobs.

Congress is more polarized ideologically than it was a generation ago.  Any resonance between the two parties is all but non existent.  Moving towards the center, where the bulk of Americans reside, seems to be anathema to most politicians.  The gap is no longer simply ideological; it has become a marketing approach.  The focus is not on working with those on the other side of the aisle to reach a rational, workable compromise, but on strutting ones inflexibility online and on the cable channels.  Cable news makes its living off of this approach, but our elected officials should not.

Yes the right and the left inhabit opposing ideological camps and have different agendas, but the purpose of our democracy is to work those differences through and forge programs and solutions that serve the greater good.  Politicians can’t be held solely accountable for the current climate; seismic shifts have changed the body politic, and they affect more than politicians and partisan zealots.  The nation is seemingly more divided than it has been in decades.  Or is it?  Is the division as real as it appears or is the media playing into the hands of those who scream the loudest?  The reward for divisiveness is ink, print and face-time on news shows and what politician can resist those?

In this new political terrain, compromise, which is the true backbone of any party system is only viewed in the pejorative sense.  Without true compromise nothing is accomplished.  Politicians dig in their heels refusing to budge, holding on to the purity of their ideals, which often seems to be more show than substance.  It’s a way to strut and appear to be taking the high road, where in truth all they are doing is bringing the government to a standstill.  Most realize that to truly move forward requires give and take.  Most are savvy enough to understand how true progress works, but that’s not where their focus lies.  The focus is on how they’ll look in the media, or whether they’re marching in step with their party.  It’s on keeping their job regardless of the cost to the nation.

Politics has always been contentious, but we seem to have hit a new high in polarization.  This new crop of politicians seems to value dogma over effectiveness.  If sticking 100% to their point of view means that nothing will be accomplished, or that people will lose their homes and their jobs, or that the country will suffer, then the county is surely going to suffer.

Whether dealing with healthcare or the debt ceiling, the housing crisis or the economy, the drill seems to be the same as both sides hit their talking points, close ranks and refuse to focus on the greater good.  They are all so frightened to be seen as walking out of step with the dictates of their party, that they have all become mirror images of one another.  Ostensibly, we elected them to think, to work through and work out problems and to fight for the greater good.  Sticking to route responses leaves room for very little, if any, creative thinking or problem solving.  It certainly precludes anyone taking a true stand.  We do not elect politicians to become the puppets of their particular party, but that’s what we’ve ended up with.  Few politicians are willing to take an unpopular or contrary stand and deal with the wrath of the party.

If politicians were willing to truly take practical as opposed to ideological stands, if they were willing to work with those on the other side to truly make a difference, it could backfire.  They could be singled out, denounced and the political and media push back could be overwhelming.  But, they could also shine a light and forge a path for others to follow.  They could change politics as we know it.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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PR: The Play

June 22, 2011 Leave a comment

An office.  Two men are sitting at a table.  One is talking very animatedly.  The other is listening and occasionally taking notes.  

Client:  You don’t understand, this is a story that the media will pay you to pitch them.  Listen, I know PR.  I could probably teach you a few things.

PR Consultant:  I’m not quite sure about the way you want it presented.  I mean the fact that you can change people’s lives is great.  But we need to show the media how you do that.  We need to offer them transformational stories with a strong narrative.

Client:  Just tell them to read my book.

PR Consultant:  You can’t always count on them reading your book.  We need to give them short, concise easy to understand pitches that will offer them a good story.  We need to pitch a story that meets the media’s needs.

Client:  (Irritated) What do you mean they won’t read my book?  Do you know how long it took me to write that book?  Do you know how much time, effort, money, blood, sweat and tears went into creating that book? (Raising his voice)  And now you’re telling me they won’t read my book?

PR Consultant:   Some will, but our job is to get them to talk about your book, to get them to interest the public in buying and reading your book.

Client:  Well that’s your job.  Do it.  And besides, I’m telling you, it’s easy.  As soon as they hear about my book and read it they are all going to be begging me to go on the show or to do interviews with me.  I’m telling you.  This is basically shooting fish in a barrel.  You should be paying me.

PR Consultant:  Believe me no campaign is easy.  What we need are stories that grab the media’s attention.  The way we do that is by pitching them stories that will appeal to their readers, viewers or listeners.  We need to think backwards from their perspective.  Once we meet their needs, we’ll meet yours.

Client: (Starting to lose his patience) I’m telling you; just explain to them that I change lives.  There’s really no one else out there like me.  I can’t believe Oprah went off the air.  She would have begged to have me on

PR Consultant:   What we need are specifics.  We need specific stories that we can pitch to women’s magazines, news publications, talk shows, etc.  That’s what I wanted to go over today, specific stories on how what you do changed the lives of people you’ve worked with.  Their transformational stories are your best stories.  For example, when representing a physician, I’ll focus on patient stories, that way you can see the impact, the transformation and people relate to that.

Client:  You don’t get it, this isn’t about my clients: it’s about me!  I don’t see why you just don’t send them my book and then call them and get me on national TV.  You’re making this much more complicated than it needs to be.  I tell you once they read my book, it’s a done deal.  This is easy; I should have my own TV show by next season, right?

                                                                                                Lights Fade: End Act One

Yep, true story.  He wasn’t a bad guy, he simply didn’t understand the process or the media’s needs.  More importantly, he didn’t want to take the time to learn how the process works, educate himself and pitch towards his strengths.  What I needed were short, concise, transformational stories.  I needed to be able to show the media how he transformed people’s lives.  To him it was obvious.  It was all about him and it was all in his book.  But the story was not about him, it was about how he changed people’s lives.  His client’s stories were his best story.

As to having the media read the book, the trouble is that nine times out of ten the media’s not going to take the time to read it.  They’re going to look at the cover, read the back page and read a press release.  And you have to sell them on the story then and there.  It had a second act and a good ending.  We met again and were able to come up with some specific story ideas that grabbed the media’s interest and his PR campaign was a successful one.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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The PR How-to Bible

June 18, 2011 1 Comment

It’s said that you can’t find the right answers until you ask the right questions.  So with that in mind if you are thinking of hiring a PR firm or of launching a media relations campaign for yourself, the following is a list of how to questions to ask yourself before moving forward.  Done correctly, a PR campaign can establish your brand and build your business and establish you as an expert in your field.  It’s the most powerful marketing tool out there, so give it a shot, but first do your homework.  Find out what you need to know how to do in the list below.

As you go through the list, write out your answers and see where you feel most comfortable and where you feel you need some help, or points that you need to give more thought to.  Once you’ve reviewed the questions and developed your own list, you can start searching for the right answers.

With that in mind, before you move forward on a PR campaign, you want to know:

PR CAMPAIGN CHECKLIST:
How to set up your public relations objectives
How to outline your PR timeline
How to develop your story
How to come up with 5 story angles.
How to write a press release
How to decide which stories to start with,
How to decide what angles to pitch local and national media
How to deliver press releases
How to create a media list
How to pitch the media
How to do an interview
How to develop an interview script for TV, local, newspaper, national
How and when to send out press releases,
How to brand your company using PR
How to create a compelling PR story
How to use media relations to reach your long term marketing goals
How to pitch your story and not your product or service
How to establish yourself through the media as an expert in your field
How to find a media trainer
How to meld social media and PR
How and why to develop a blog
How to use video marketing in your public relations campaign
How to create a story online
How to magnify and amplify an article or TV segment on the internet.
How to pick a PR consultant that meets your needs
How to use PR to launch and develop your brand
How to use your media in advertising, online marketing, and social media.

These aren’t all of the how-to points you need to review, but if you’ve gone through and answered all of the above questions, you are well on your way to launching an effective public relations campaign for you and your company. Perhaps the most difficult question is how to know how long to give a campaign.  Generally, I’d say give it at least six months.  Trying a campaign for one or two months is counterproductive.  If you stop in two months, you’ll never know how successful it could have been.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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Public Relations Brainstorming Tip 2

February 19, 2011 Leave a comment

Tip 2: This is a group process.  Don’t simply brainstorm on your own, set up a brainstorming session with your PR consultant, or, if you’re doing this in-house, meet with members of your staff that understand your business.  If you’re a one man, or one woman show, bring together some friends or associates who understand your business.  You want people you can bounce ideas off.  You want feedback, plus you want energy.  Make it fun; make it a game, but one with a purpose.

Sites to Help Your Media Brainstorming:

The Huffington Post Media Page

Mashable Media Page

CNN

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2011

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How to Figure out if PR is Right for You

August 11, 2010 Leave a comment

To PR or not to PR, that is the question.  Well, maybe that’s not “the” question, but it certainly is a question.  How do you know if public relations is the ultimate marketing direction for your business?  To start, you need to write out your priorities.  What do you need your marketing to accomplish?  Do youneed to drive sales? find new clients? build your brand?  reach a new target market?  PR and media relations can achieve a number of goals, but before launching a campaign, you need to define exactly what your specific goals are.  Once you have your marketing objective list, your next step is to review your marketing budget.  How much can you realistically spend to achieve your marketing goals?  Your budget is going to help define your approach.  If you have thousands that you can dedicate to marketing each month you have different options than if you have a couple of hundred or less to put towards your marketing efforts.

If you have a finite marketing budget, your first focus should be on establishing an online presence, by building an easy to read, informational website that speaks to your clients’ needs.  The Internet offers you a way to position yourself and your company online without breaking the bank, but simply having a presence on the Internet does not mean anyone is going to see it.  You need to drive visitors to your site.  This is when a social media outreach program, article marketing program and a blog can help.

But back to the PR question, although your budget will dictate how you’re going to implement your marketing campaign, your budget, or lack of it, does not need to stop you from utilizing media relations.  I’m a firm believer that every company should implement an effective PR campaign.  And the fact is that every company can.  From my perspective, the question isn’t if you should launch a PR campaign for your company, but how you should launch it.  If youhave a limited budget you can still decide to launch a PR campaign, but in this case you will be implementing a good deal of the campaign yourself.  As opposed to hiring a public relations firm to launch a PR campaign for you, you might choose to hire a consultant for a few hours and have him or her draw up a PR gameplan or blueprint which you will then work on your own.

But whether you hire a PR company, PR consultant or buy a good PR book that will take you through the necessary steps to launch a campaign, it’s important that you launch some type of PR outreach.  One well placed article or TV segment can turn your business around, take you to the next level and drive customers and clients to your site.  Media begets media, so, if you do it correctly, the more media you get – the more media you’ll continue to land.  Ifyou have the ability to hire a PR company do so, they know terrain and it’s their job to launch and implement an effective media campaign for you.  If youcan’t, you can certainly start out on your own to get the ball rolling; but a word of caution, don’t start contacting the media before learning how the process works.  You can do your company more harm than good if you don’t do your homework.  Hire a PR consultant for a few hours.  Learn the basics.  Draw up a campaign blueprint.  Then move forward.  Don’t waste valuable marketing time trying to figure out if you should launch a PR campaign, focus onhow.  It is the one form of marketing that reaches your target market, offers you validation and credibility and establishes you as an expert in your field.  So, should you launch a PR campaign, yes and now!

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2010

Filed under Business Strategy, news, PR, Public Relations, small business, Target Market, traditional media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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