Making an Exhibition of Yourself

A day at Hospitality 2011 yesterday at the NEC provided me with some food for thought….


Most exhibitions don’t come cheap, yet it’s surprising just how many businesses fail to maximise their investment from a PR perspective:

Here are ten top tips:

1. Start early - remember deadlines may be months ahead of the actual event

2. Take time to read through the exhibitors’ manual, some are extremely informative and can save you lots of time

3. Find out which magazines are planning show/exhibition preview features and check editorial deadlines (remember ‘copy deadlines’ often refer to advertising deadlines, which will be a lot later than editorial deadlines)

4. Prepare your show preview press release highlighting what you will be exhibiting (ideally something new)

5. Distribute your release, along with a professional high res image

6. Spread the word – tell everyone you’ll be there. Don’t forget regional and social media!

7. Invite key journalists to visit your stand

8. Prepare a press pack for the show – a journalist’s first stop will be the exhibition press lounge, so make sure you have press packs available, summarising who you are and what you’re exhibiting

9. Unless you’ve got something really special to unveil/announce don’t waste your time hosting a press conference at the show – it’s usually better to work with the media one to one

10. Prepare a show follow up release – sing about your success!

Ice Road Truckers

Did you see last night’s Channel 5 Eddie Stobart documentary? http://www.five.tv/shows/eddie-stobart-trucks-trailers-and-tinsel/episodes/eddie-stobart-trucks-trailers-and-tinsel

What great PR! – an hour long special showcasing how the company’s truck drivers, gritting crews and logistics team battled against some of the worst snowfall in years to keep shops stocked with Christmas essentials.

It had it all – a chirpy, upbeat (and attractive) young woman trucker, the driver who kept his legs crossed to ensure his toy delivery was bang on time “well Father Christmas is never late”, and the lads who worked through the night to grit the depot by hand.

And while the PR bosses must’ve squirmed when one of the truckers insisted on cameras being turned off when he got his artic temporarily stuck up a snowy country lane, after missing the Tesco turning, it all came good in the end.

A great PR job guys – you made it look deceptively easy.

To be fair, it’s highly unlikely most businesses will find themselves the topic of a documentary, which is probably just as well. It’s not for the faint-hearted!

I worked closely with the film crew during the filming of a Delia Smith documentary a number of years ago and all I’ll say is that it’s a very delicate balancing act between what makes good TV and what you/the client wants to portray. You’ve only got to listen to The Real Housewives of Orange County bickering during a reunion show to get the gist…

So, unless you’re extremely media savvy then proceed at your peril when a documentary crew comes calling – you might not like what you see!

All I can say is well done Eddie Stobart.

http://www.stobartgroup.co.uk/NewsCentre/NewsArticle/Eddie-Stobart-Delivers-Christmas-In-Festive-TV-Special/

Keep It Simple

Generally speaking, effective PR campaigns don’t need to be über sophisticated. Indeed the most effective campaigns are often the simplest.

I’ve just read about an award winning campaign run by the Thames Water PR team I’d like to share with you. In a nutshell the campaign involved:

Research – which highlighted that 41% of people flushed unsuitable products down toilets (establish the facts)
Press material – coining the phrase ‘sewer abuse’ (tell the story)
A photocall – ‘come and see the sewers under Leicester Square’ (bring the story to life)
A link up with TV’s Grimefighters (piggy back on something popular/topical)
Christmas case studies – positioning workers as ‘sewer heroes’ (give it a human angle)
Result: The campaign achieved 101 pieces of coverage in target media, and there were 9,000 hits to the campaign site.
I’d call that a result wouldn’t you?

Well Seasoned

December is finally here – so it’s time to start thinking about your Xmas PR campaign right?

Wrong! Timing is key in PR planning and if you don’t take into account media lead times you’re wasting your time.

The glossy monthlies work up to six months in advance so when the snow’s on the ground it’s time to be talking picnics, swimwear and bbqs.

Weekly magazines will have shorter lead times but we’re still talking months. Newspaper and broadcast lead times vary depending upon which section/programme you’re targeting, but you still need to allow plenty of time.

If it’s the trade press you’re targeting then long lead times also often apply – particularly when it comes to features.

As a rule it’s always good to have time on your side. Local papers often appreciate copy they can hold over - particularly during holiday periods, when news teams are depleted and pages still have to be filled.

So, who fancies an ice cream?

A good day to bury bad news...

Well there’s nothing like a long-awaited royal engagement to capture the public’s attention is there?

It’s a few years ago now that a government press officer was hounded out of Whitehall for highlighting a forthcoming ‘good day to bury bad news’.

I can’t even recall what the bad news was, but the reaction was one of horror. As if a responsible government/organisation/business would do such a thing…

Well, sometimes press officers and PRs have a duty to release news that’s...well, not particularly good. And knowing how vicious the press can be, there are times when you really don’t want make the front page.

Openness and honesty are fine corporate values, but they cut both ways and sometimes you have no option other than to get on with it, and prepare yourself for the worst.

As spin doctors well know, it’s pretty rare that good news makes it onto the front pages and I’m sure the announcement of the royal engagement was carefully planned to lift the economic gloom.

And that made yesterday a very good day to bury bad news.

Playing the PR 'Long Game'

Norfolk’s flagship library at the Forum in Norwich has just been named as the busiest library in the country, for the fourth year running – with an incredible 1.4 million visitors through its doors between April 2009 and March this year. http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/News/NCC085659

Between them members borrowed a staggering 1,154,000 items – ranging from books to DVDs, console games and CDs.

Not bad, when the likes of Giles Coren (BBC 2: Giles and Sue Live The Good Life) describes modern day libraries as places ‘where lunatics go to shelter from the rain’. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w08q9

To be fair, Giles Coren’s view of libraries is pretty typical – indeed many libraries are pretty uninviting and uninspiring places. So it’s credit to Norfolk that it has a library service that is loved by local people and looked up to by the rest of the library world.

And PR has certainly played its part – helping to change perceptions and raise awareness of how things have changed. Changing hearts and minds can be a lengthy process and to its credit the county council has been prepared to play the ‘long game’ – a strategy which is paying off.

Public services are prime targets for criticism and there have certainly been some storms to weather over the past years, but let’s hope Norfolk’s Library Service continues to go from strength to strength.

As ever – it’s a case of use it or lose it - so with free internet access, free membership, free book borrowing, low cost film and music loans, free events and activities (and a place to shelter from the rain) – what are you waiting for?

And the award goes to....

As I’ve said before I’m a big fan of awards. There’s a whole host of reasons why entering – and even winning – awards is good for business.

And I’ve just read some interesting research, (carried out on behalf of the British Quality Foundation and the European Foundation for Quality Management), in respect of their Excellence Awards:

• Three years after receiving an award, 120 European companies outperformed non-winners by an average of 17% (sales) and 36% (share value). Improved financial performance was already evident 12 months after the win.

• In the US, smaller award winning companies showed a 63% increase in operating income and a 39% growth in sales, compared with non winners.

So, heartfelt congratulations to Chiltern Woodland Burial Park www.woodlandburialparks.co.uk
which was this week named a finalist in the Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards 2010 (Best Company to Work For).

If the last thing you won was a goldfish at the fair then perhaps it’s time get back into the winners’ spotlight!