No Such Thing as Bad PR!

I don’t suppose acclaimed journalist AA Gill will be hurrying back to Norfolk anytime soon, judging by his rant this week’s Sunday Times.

Food writers are often criticised for their apparent unwillingness to travel outside of central London – and AA Gill clearly wants to make the point that, well, it just isn’t worth the trouble.

Not content with reviewing his meal, he turned the piece into an all-out, no-holds-barred attack on Norfolk:

…Norfolk lives up to its stereotype with wall-eyed, tongue-tied, spittle-flecked indignation. As you cross the border from Cambridgeshire, there’s a proud sign saying, “Norfolk, twinned with Narnia… This has always been a place apart. The hernia on the end of England. A flat, fertile, damp, dank land out of which has grown all manner of revelation and dour certainty. It’s a place of witches and heretics, of revisionists and canting contrarians…

Given the hot water the BBC Top Gear team found themselves in following their remarks about the Mexicans, AA Gill had better watch out.

There are whole armies of marketing and PR folks here in Norfolk who dedicate themselves to promoting the wonders of the county – and articles such as this certainly do not help.

The tourism and hospitality industries are tough places to make a living and an awful lot of people in Norfolk are doing the very best they can.

From a PR point of view I hope the .….does hit the fan and that Norfolk gets its chance to fight back and laugh in his face. After all - there’s no such thing as bad PR!

When PR is simply not enough....

Breaking news: Britain’s top banks are poised to hire a PR agency to rehabilitate the industry’s reputation among small businesses.

Oh, and it’s believed that there’s about £200,000 in the pot for the first six months.

From where I’m sitting, it’ll take more than PR to reposition banks as business’ best friend!

Off-shore call centres, lack of access to ‘business managers’, incredibly slow processing times for loan applications, hefty bank charges (for paying money in as well as taking it out), miserly interest rates, blatant disregard for their own ‘service promises’…..

What’s amusing – and alarming – is that someone, somewhere clearly thought that all it would take to sort the banking crisis out was a bit of PR.

And it’s not even April 1st.

Making PR Count - On the Bottom Line

The fascinating thing about helping businesses with their PR is that you get to find out what makes them tick.

In these tough economic times marketing and PR are easy targets – something that’s nice to have when there’s plenty in the pot, but easy to cut overheads when things get tough. Why? Well unless your marketing and PR can really be seen to be adding value then of course they’ll be considered ‘non essentials’.

Which is why you have to start at the beginning. Before the talk moves onto headline grabbing stuff, any PR professional worth their salt will want to understand what your business is all about.

For a start what are your goals, challenges, strengths – and weaknesses? What’s the competition like? how do they market themselves? and so on. It’s only then that a PR programme can be devised that is genuinely in tune with your business – one that is totally geared towards business objectives. Importantly, one that really adds value.

So if you’re serious about PR then be prepared to share (what might be sensitive information) and to be challenged. Don’t be impatient at the beginning – proper planning will ensure your PR is built on solid foundations. After all, who wants to live in a house built on sand?

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?