2006 August

Northwest Airlines PR nosedives due to tips booklets

8/17/2006 By Joan 4 Comments

Is anybody awake in bankrupt Northwest Airlines’ PR department?

How could anyone—even somebody with a brain the size of a pea—let the company distribute tips booklets titled “101 Ways to Save Money” to employees whose pay has just been slashed?

The booklets offer these tips:

Shop in thrift stores
Take a date for a walk in the woods or on the beach.
Don’t be “shy about pulling something you like out of trash.”

Northwest has stopped distributing the booklets and says the tips were “insensitive.”

Thanks to Gayle Lantz, an expert in leadership issues for CEOs and senior executives, and a member of The Publicity Hound Mentor Program, for flagging me to this one.

Filed Under: Crisis Communications, Information Products, PR Consultants/Publicists

Nag Oprah? Try it at your own risk

8/16/2006 By Joan 1 Comment

I despise Internet petitions and am sick to death of being asked to “sign” my name for whatever and pass it along “to everyone in your address book.”

Then along comes this post at book marketing guu John Kremer’s blog about a petition being circulated by an author who wants to get onto “Oprah.” In at least one case, apparently, nagging Oprah has worked.

That goes against everything I’ve ever heard about getting onto any TV show. You pitch. You maybe follow up a few times. But you don’t nag.

You particularly don’t nag Oprah’s producers, who have been so pestered to death that their names have since been removed from the trailer at the end of each show.

Susan Harrow, who recently recorded an interview with me on “How to Get Booked on Oprah,” suggests following up no more than three times. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to have the direct phone number or email of one of the producers.

Nagging, petitions and other odd strategies for tipping the scales in your favor seldom work.

What does? A story pitch and a pre-interview that promises producers a great show. Getting onto “Oprah” is all about one thing and one thing only.

Ratings.

Filed Under: Authors & Publishers, Pitching the Media, TV Publicity

Oprah booking: More difficult than ever

8/15/2006 By Joan Leave a Comment

Oprah In the old days, booking a coveted spot on “Oprah” was one of the most difficult tasks a Publicity Hound could face.

But there were some tricky ways to get around the problem. You simply recorded a show, then watched the recording in slow motion, checking the credits at the end for names of producers who were responsible for shows that tied into your own topic.

Then you’d call the show, ask for the producer by name, pitch your idea, and hope they bit.

Not anymore.

“They’re so protective of producers’ names that there aren’t any producers even listed in the credits after the show has been aired,” says publicity expert Susan Harrow, who I interviewed recently on “How to Get Booked on Oprah.” I first interveiwed Susan about this topic four years ago, but a lot has changed since then.

“They took all of that information off their website and off of the actual show credits,” she said. “They’re becoming more and more protective of their time because so many people approach them and don’t have any idea how to pitch a show or what’s appropriate.”

So what’s a frustrated Publicity Hound to do?

You have only two choices:

—Go to the Oprah’s “Be on the Show” page and read about all the upcoming shows. If you think you’re a good fit, email the producers and let them know.

—Or, if you want to pitch an idea that doesn’t tie into a show they’re already planning, you must use the special form at her website.

But you’re not done yet. You must know which topics push Oprah’s hot buttons. They’ve changed the last several years, and you can’t assume that the kinds of programs she featured five years ago are the same kinds she wants today.

She’s having so many celebrities as guests, for example, that it’s tougher than ever for regular folks to find a way onto the show. Susan has more ideas in her bag of tricks, however, and she explains them all on the CD we recorded. It’s also available as an electronic transcript.

Filed Under: Pitching the Media, Publicity on the Internet, TV Publicity

Terrorist plot story had some great tie-ins

8/15/2006 By Joan Leave a Comment

I saw two clever tie-ins to last week’s big story about Scotland Yard breaking up the terrorist plot to blow up as many as 10 U.S.-bound passenger jets.

Michelle Tennant of Wasabi Publicity Inc. and her team of 10 publicists immediately started pitching story ideas about their client, SATSair, which provides “air taxi’ services. (Update on March 15, 2011: SATSair has since gone out of business.) Their press release and pitch noted that the company was deluged with travel requests on the day we found out about the foiled terrorist plot.

The Associated Press picked up the story and distributed it to thousands of media outlets on Friday. On Monday, First Business, a nationally syndicated TV news feed, picked up the story and sent it to thousands of TV stations.

“Whew. It was a very good week, and our client was thrilled,” said Michelle, a graduate of The Publicity Hound Mentor Proram.

Wyndham Hotels posted a press release on PRNewswire saying that they’d come to the rescue of arriving guests who were forced to forfeit their toothpaste, contact lens solution and drinking water in their carry-on bags. It’s all part of the hotel’s longstanding guest service program called “We Remember What You Forgot,” which supplies travelers with the personal products they most frequently forget to pack. The hotel offered arriving guests a choice of 21 items, from deodorant to contact lens solution.

The item was picked up by the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, among others.

As I explain in my “Special Report #35: How to be the Local Angle to National Stories,” local media outlets love hearing about people in their circulation area who are the local angle.

In fact, if you’re pitching yourself as the local angle, use that phrase. Say, “I’m just letting you know that we’re the local angle to today’s story about…” The bigger the national or international story, the greater your chances for an interview.

Filed Under: Business Promotion, Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media, PR Consultants/Publicists

Sidebars enhance your story pitch

8/10/2006 By Joan Leave a Comment

If you’re pitching a story idea to journalists, give them a little something extra that will prompt them to say “tell me more.”

I’m referring specifically to what’s called a sidebar. It’s a short, often boxed auxiliary news story that’s printed alongside the longer article and typically presents additional information such as statistics or bullet points.

Let’s say you’re pitching a story about the heat wave that I discussed earlier, and you’re issuing tips for parents on how to keep their kids safe on playgrounds, where the temperature on metal sliding boards can burn kids’ legs. You could offer a sidebar that shows the exact temperature of a metal sliding board on an 85-degree day, a 90-degree day, a 95-degree day, and so on.

Sidebars can also include things like industry definitions, timelines, examples, step-by-step instructions, a quiz, etc.

On the CD I recorded called “Briefs, Fillers & Quizzes: How to Write Them and Why Editors Love Them,” I explain that journalists especially love quizzes because they engage readers, and they’re fun. You can use briefs not only as sidebars, but as stand-alone pieces.

Filed Under: Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, Pitching the Media