Courtesy of Media Guardian.
Archive for the ‘In the news’ Category
How not to position yourself as an expert for the media
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010Google Living Story could change online news
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009Google has been making a series of changes recently to the way it presents news online.
Partly this is to try and keep the newspaper publishers happy. For example it has a new scheme that will allow papers such as The Times to let their content be indexed and appear in Google News, but require readers to pay for reading some of that content.
The latest experiment from Google is the Living Story idea.
It’s explained in full here.
The concept is brilliant. You will have a single page for each story that is constantly updating itself as a story changes and new content is added by publishers across the world.
A stunning idea. If it works and spreads to the UK it could make it easier for you to track what the media is saying about your business.
The BBC picks Max Clifford instead of me
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009I make myself available to the media for comment on PR and marketing stories (it’s a great PR strategy to be a media expert and react to stories… primarily because the media come to you).
Just had a call from BBC WM, the regional radio station for the West Midlands.
Would I do a live interview this afternoon about this Tesco publicity stunt? Absolutely!
But 5 minutes later, another call from the BBC… seems they have gone for another PR expert instead. Some bloke called Max Clifford… personally, haven’t heard of him.
(actually I’m delighted to be on the same press contacts list as Max Clifford! And the BBC were lovely in the way they ‘let me down’, promising to turn to me for help in the future. Nice people)
BBC curry broadcast proves it really is all about the story
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009Virtually every time I meet a business owner for the first time I have to dispel the myth that PR is all about contacts.
It’s almost always about the story.
Good contacts can open doors and set up opportunities. But a great story gives you the biggest shot you’ll get at major PR coverage.
I caught the end of our regional BBC TV news tonight, where they did a live outside broadcast from an Indian restaurant that had introduced a curry so hot, no-one could eat a whole plate of it. And they had to fill in a disclaimer form before they did.
A classic publicity stunt. Getting plenty of valuable air time on a BBC TV show.
Fantastic.
OK, so it must be a slow news day. But you don’t get coverage like that “because you know a journalist”. You get coverage like that because you had a great story at the right time (exactly the timem the BBC had a slot to fill).
Why Hamilton Island was the perfect PR stunt (with lessons for your business)
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009So today Ben Southall from Hampshire was named the winner of The Best Job In The World. For the next six months he will be the caretaker of beautiful Hamilton Island, working 12 hours a month on a wage of £70,000. He’ll live in a rent free villa complete with its own pool.
The story has generated more than 500 articles already this morning according to Google News. And that’s on top of the thousands it has received over the course of the competition.
This has been the perfect PR stunt. Here’s why – and how you can use the lessons to generate publicity for your business.
It was packed with standoutability: This was the first time anyone had offered up a job such as this. Although an unashamed PR stunt from the very beginning, it was highly unusual. Calling it The Best Job In The World helped label it as more than just a normal competition.
It was aspirational: In these times of financial doom and gloom, it was the perfect antidote for a public and media weary of negative news. Pictures and descriptions of a beautiful island are high in demand.
It had legs: The competition has been running for months, and it’s virtually guaranteed that Ben will get extensive media coverage throughout the six months of his job. There are many different media angles to the story. This one stunt alone has generated a year’s worth of free publicity.
The stunt promoted the product: The product was the island and every story about the competition plugged the product.
So how can you use this to influence a PR stunt for your business? The most important of the four things above is standoutability. Do not underestimate the power of being the first to do something. This alone will determine how much media coverage you get.
And ensure you are plugging your product. It’s relatively easy to generate a publicity stunt that will get media attention. It’s much harder making sure a sell for your business is built into the stunt.
