Digital Armageddon

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Much has been written about Todd Defren's template for a new generation of news releases, which he calls "social media press releases." He reports 2500 downloads from his blog thus far.

I commend the folks at Shift Communications for marrying today's digital tools to the staid old press release with the idea of giving it more legs than a "one-day stand" on a paid wire service. (Though I do wish they had called his new vehicle a "social media news release" in Defrence to the broadcast and online journalists on its receiving end.)

No matter how Web 2.0 (may I even use this term?) technology empowers the modern news release (ongepatshket?), the quality of the story and the language used to articulate it will continue to serve as the vital forces driving media pick-up and audience awareness. PR pros should not forsake these core competencies. Still, Todd's template is important in its potential to minimize a common PR angst: the strong story that doesn't find its audience (or vice-versa), e.g., "we built it, but they didn't come."

On that note, we arrive at today's candidate for the bad pitch blog (which also picked up on the social media press release). The do-good folks at Greenpeace mistakenly issued a draft release that took a page from Todd's template. Apparently, a junior PR staffer left an opening in the release for some incendiary language about a proposed nuclear power plant, e.g., "[FILL IN ALARMIST AND ARMAGEDDONIST FACTOID HERE]."

A candidate for PR Watch's "Spin of the Day?" Unlikely.

PR Greenpeace public relations media press release news release

Paulson and Nardelli

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Personally, I would have preferred that he be named to lead the EPA over the U.S. Treasury, but Goldman Sachs chief (and committed environmentalist) Henry Paulson has agreed to replace John Snow as Treasury Secretary. This is an astute move by a beleaguered President when one considers Mr. Paulson's pristine reputation on Wall Street and beyond.

The incoming Treasury chief's unwavering and "money-where-your-mouth-is" support for the environment -- he chairs the Nature Conservancy -- has certainly helped neutralize any criticism that might have flowed from his exceedingly generous pay package. (His net worth is estimated in the half billion dollar range.)

Even without Mr. Paulson's PSR (Professional Social Responsibility) program on the environment, his success leading one of Wall Street's gold standard companies will surely silence any of the CEO compensation police. (Let's now hope that some of his thinking on the fragility of our planet seeps into the administration's consciousness.)

Robert Nardelli, eat your heart out. With Memorial Day Weekend as a buffer, the Home Depot CEO is likely hoping that his major blunder last week will soon be forgotten. Portrayed as arrogant and uncommunicative with a few not unimportant stakeholders, e.g., his company's shareholders, Mr. Nardelli and his board thumbed their noses when faced with questions on his pay package and the sub-par performance of the stock.

"This is one of the worst meetings I've seen in terms of the arrogance coming from the front table," Richard Metcalf, corporate affairs director for Laborers International Union of North America, told Reuters on Thursday.

Virtually every major media outlet lined up against him.

What's unfortunate is that Home Depot's communications chief made a reasonable argument for Mr. Nardelli's pay package. Unfortunately, it was buried, save for a letter-to-the-editor in The New York Times. It did not address, however, his and his board's outright disrespect for company shareholders, which finally surfaced over the weekend in a statement:

"If the board of directors' absence or the structure of our annual meeting offended any shareholder, that was certainly not our intent," the statement said.

The company is now playing PR catch up big time. I guess the Web 2.0 value of stakeholder dialogue and engagement has not yet taken hold among the bricks & mortar set down in Atlanta.

"Arrogance will kill you," said one investor, upset that most directors were absent and that Nardelli allowed no time for questions. "If you aren't humble and decent, you will destroy this company."

Let's not forget transparent.

PR Henry Paulson Robert Nardelli public relations politics shareholder CEO compensation

"Video Ads"

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The aspirationally named Center for Media & Democracy, which fronts for the PR industry's self-anointed watchdog, PR Watch, has apparently succeeded in getting the FCC to take a look at the VNR industry. This, of course, follows the Congressional hearings that took place a year or so ago.

You may remember the organization's study that showed how dozens of local TV news operations used institutionally-produced footage during their newscasts -- B-roll likely -- without properly attributing the source of the footage. It was my contention at the time the study broke, as it is now, that the PR industry -- in spite of the Center's belief otherwise -- has more than satisfied its full-disclosure obligations by identifying who's paid for the satellite or hard copy-delivered video news footage.

I was amused by today's coverage wherein the FCC described the footage as "video ads" as opposed to "news footage." Geesh, if this is the work of an advertising agency, I'd say it's time for an agency review. The content in question is typically raw footage with straight cuts (no dissolves, wipes, etc.) no music, voice-overs or chyrons, and pretty much without any stylistic embellishments that will render it unusable in a news segment. VNR's, which are fully cut scripted news packages, are rarely if ever used nowadays.

Nonetheless, I agree with the Center in calling for TV news producers to be more diligent in identifying (and slating) the source for the video. Again, like the text-driven news release, the PR industry has fulfilled its end of the ethical equation by offering (hopefully) newsworthy and clearly identifiable news content tailored to the medium.

PR media VNR public relations FCC

Covered

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I recently wrote about how in-house magazine publicists scan the galleys of their publications for the best gossip/photos/news content to take to the tabs and other non-competitive media. Today's "Page Six" shines a spotlight on the always column-worthy Vanity Fair and its alleged practice of unexpectedly pulling a cover if the subject doesn't dish deep (salaciously) enough.

While I don't profess to know the secret elixir for what cover art drives single-copy sales, I do know that there should be few such surprises if the pre-interview prep work is done correctly. It's simply not enough to unilaterally prepare a client for a media interview (not that Paris Hilton will ever subject herself to media training). You need to work both sides of the story equation.

Many of today's successful media trainers have a good grip on what it takes to make their charges more effective and comfortable in delivering messages no matter the medium. Few, however, have had any interaction with the actual journalist conducting the interview. Hence, the journalist's true interests arrive indirectly to the trainer via the "media relations specialist" or account handler.

For a news story to be truly successful, all parties to the interview need to emerge satisfied. Hence, it's key to ensure that your client not just delivers his or her finely honed message track, but that he or she delivers on the interests of the journalist. How many interviews have you organized that resulted in nothing, zilch, diddly? The most common reason: a disconnect between the expectations of the journalist and his or her subject.

PR media public relations Vanity Fair media training "Page Six"

Absolute Power

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No. I'm not talking about the aspirations of the U.S. Executive Branch, but rather the name of a buzz-worthy new TV series on the machinations of a celebrity PR firm. Australia's The Age gushes over the new series:

"IN THE murky, manipulative world of Prentiss McCabe, the fictional public relations company that is the centrepiece of the brilliant new satire Absolute Power , anything, or anyone, can be spun."

The BBC TV series takes a jaundiced look at the world of celebrity PR with a more literary approach than "Power Girls" (the "Show Girls" of the PR-in-pop-culture genre). The series producer added,

"You ask young people what they want to be and the idea of wanting to be something specific is being eroded. The answer has become, 'I just want to be famous or rich', and fame is more addictive than anything else."

That it is. In transitioning the program from BBC Radio to TV, the brief changed from dirty politics to celebrity scandals,

"The nice thing about a PR company, which wasn't just a political PR company, meant we could look at PR in all its forms."

Well, at least we now know that our industry has evolved to embrace new "forms." We "spin" both politicians and celebrities.

PR media Absolute Power> public relations BBC popular culture

Birth of a Salesman

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Very few advertising campaigns make news (other than a presence in Ad Age, Ad Week or the ad-oriented blogs). Provocative creative certainly can generate media interest beyond the trades. Take the Super Bowl spots. Virtually all attract some level of media scrutiny...for better or worse.

Some ad agency creative types even weigh a campaign's potential "mediability," e.g., its ability to spill onto the news pages, when conceiving or deciding on which creative approaches to deploy. My advice to them: look to a PR pro when assessing possible news value.

It is my fondest hope to one day convince a beauty products marketing chief to pre-produce a TV commercial featuring all of the Oscar nominees in the Best Supporting Actress category. After the winner delivers her acceptance speech, the network cuts to the commercial starring the lucky actress (with product or product spiel in hand)!

That certainly would make news, though not nearly as irreverent as those goofy Burger King spots and their goofier online executions. The creators were so successful at crossing over onto the pages of the mainstream media that they landed on the cover of Business Week.

Advertising ubiquity is a given in every media consumer's life. View the ads on Slate...in order to freely read the stories. Click on the video stream of a news segment on MSNBC.com, but first endure the 30-second commercial. Download a movie to your video iPod, but take the commercials with it. X-out on the ads before jumping to Forbes.com's home page. Spend 20 minutes watching commercials at the time the movie was supposedly scheduled to start.

Usually the creative content will drive editorial interest in an ad campaign. Today, however, the advertisement's context can also make news. This week, the first live commercial debuted on the New York City stage. Here's a case where the context, not the content, sparked media interest. As the communications director for the advertiser Visit London explained: "They're a captive audience. They can't switch channels or change over or walk out once the thing is started." (BTW -- no money changed hands since the production has a sister show in London.)

I'm not sure whether this is the kind of publicity the advertiser envisioned when he or she decided to take center stage. My guess is that theatre audiences too will eventually learn to accept the birth of the live sales pitch as it unfolds before them.

PR advertising Burger King Visit London Super Bowl public relations New York Theater marketing

AP Techno

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Technorati, the current authority in blog search and monitoring -- 40 million (mostly inactive) bloggers and counting -- issued a news release this morning via PR Newswire announcing a partnership with The Associated Press, the world's largest (and perhaps most venerable) news organization.

In essence, readers of AP copy on "AP Hosted Custom News" sites will be able to see what the blogosphere is saying about the story. The "dynamically powered" feature also will let readers know which five AP stories were the most blogged about.

"This gives AP members a way to allow readers to navigate between
authoritative news coverage and the popularity of blog comment," said Sue Cross, AP vice president for online services to U.S. newspapers.

For years, AP rival Reuters has bested the non-profit news co-op in the online content syndication game. Recently, however, The AP has issued a series of announcements and upgrades that freshen its image, which includes the AP Online Video Network and the asap news service "for younger readers."

Today's announcement, which didn't list a PR contact for The AP (nor is the release posted on the AP site), is nevertheless a smart one that will help polish the sometimes crusty, but still esteemed global news brand. Still, I bet there are purists within the AP's ranks whose eyebrows were raised by this tacit validation of the citizen journalism movement (with its editorial warts and all). Maybe that explains its conspicuous absence on the AP site?

PR Technorati journalism public relations media Associated Press

Careerists

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Last week, the Publicity Club of New York* held one of its media luncheons for New York's PR community. Some 100 pros turned out to hear from five journalists on the "Workplace" beat.

One of the panelists Penelope Trunk subwayed in from Brooklyn (the best way to travel in the Apple). She was joined on the dais by reporters/columnists/editors from TIME Magazine, Newsday, Working Mother and the New York Post. The club intends to post everyone's opening remarks on its website in the next week or so.

I wasn't all that familiar with Penelope's work, but her bio gives you a sense of how prolific she is: "Penelope Trunk writes about careers. Her column in the Boston Globe is "Climb," and her "Brazen Careerist" column is syndicated and has run in more than 100 publications including USA Today and the Wall St. Journal online. Trunk's forthcoming book is You Don't Need a Ladder to Get to the Top: New Rules for Success (Warner)."

(Another one of the panelists, TIME Magazine's Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, brought along an advance copy of her new book Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New (and Improved) American Way of Death, about which Publisher's Weekly wrote: "Journalist Cullen explores the innumerable ways in which funerals are being personalized, publicized, economized, commercialized, trivialized and, perhaps, humanized.") Geesh. I'm still working on my career!

Anyway, Penelope's starting to take her own blog more seriously, and in fact, posted an item on her star turn on the PCNY panel. Overall, the five panelists were unusually receptive to the overtures from PR people, but naturally wary of blatant commerciality. (Other than Ad Age or Brand Week, which journalistic enterprise isn't?). All required unusual, offbeat, colorful personality-driven workplace trends and anecdotes for their columns and news holes. Surveys are OK, but people-driven (versus client-driven) leads tend to prevail.

PR Penelope Trunk workplace public relations PCNY

* This blogger serves as president of the Publicity Club of New York.

Tears, Fears & Spears

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As a Dad, I shudder to think about some of the questionable parenting techniques my wife and I deployed with our oldest child. Let him cry, don't let him cry. Give his sled a nudge atop an ice-covered "suicide hill" when he was barely two years old. I'm sure glad there were no paparazzi around to document our momentary lapses in judgment!

I kind of feel bad for Britney. Sure she's come a long way from the trailer park, but are her baby mishaps as bad as they are trumped up to be? Every new Mom or Dad has parenting skeletons in his or her closet. Ms. Spears' latest splashed on the front page of today's New York Post, prompting tears during a paparazzo break at FAO Schwarz.

This latest mishap follows on the heals of celebrity publicists Cindi Berger, Ken Sunshine and Michael Levine dishing on how they ply their brand of PR on a CNN special called "Chasing Angelina." As Ms. Liz reports (also in today's Post):

"IN THIS vein, it was fun to watch p.r. giants on CNN the other eve where such as Cindi Berger, Michael Levine and Ken Sunshine spoke about how they "spin" the lives and loves of their celebrity clients. And not one of them spurned the use of that word - spin - either."

I confess that I didn't see the special, but I suspect that the acceptance of the word spin as a verb didn't add much to our industry's reputation.

To CNN, they are "power publicists." To Liz "p.r. giants." To me...well, I just wonder where Harold, Dan, Al, Howard, Richard, and others fit in the mix.

PR Britney Spears Liz SMith public relations parenting paparazzi

Fortunate People

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Last month, my friend and P-N media maven Dan Beeson and I held court at Infocom Group's Media Relations event in New York City.

The room was packed with scores of PR pros who traveled far and wide to learn "how to land holy grail business media placements" (among many other things).

These conferences invariably draw hundreds of in-house practitioners whose employers aren't in the headlines very often...but desperately want to be. I didn't have any magic bullets to share except to say that with a little internal mining, there's a news nugget to be found within most companies...and a media outlet pining to report it. If a company decides to paint its cafeteria, surely the monthly internal newsletter would publish that story...with before and after pictures!

The truth is: not everyone is blessed with working at a company whose every move is breathlessly chronicled in "holy grail" mainstream media and echo chambered in the blogosphere (but maybe not in that order). Today the e-newsletter Good Morning Silicon Valley, which arrives on my desktop sometimes as late as 4PM, carried yet another blurb on the king of the 2.0 world.

But what really caught my eye -- and I'm sorry I missed it - was Google's media day last week to make nicey-nice to the media. It resulted in a flattering piece in Fortune magazine absent any real news. Sure, there was some pretty good face time with the company's leaders, but since when does that merit a piece in Time Inc's flagship business book? I guess if Lindsay Lohan's sexcapades merit a spread (sorry) in Time Inc's other flagship book, then it's OK for Fortune to oogle over google.

PR Eric Schmidt Google public relations Fortune People magazine Lindsay Lohan

Fuzzy Math

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Americans love rankings: sexiest man alive, best-dressed woman, worst-dressed women, best colleges, best public high schools...and magazine editors gladly oblige.

Is there anything in a university PR person's life that causes more agida than his or her employer's standing in U.S. News & World Report's highly debated and dissected annual college rankings issue? I wonder how many PR/image/marketing consultants claim to have the code for cracking the news weekly's formula for bolstering a university's position? (Likely the same number of SEO experts who claim the power to elevate a website in Google's organic results rankings within the TOS.)

Today, the Washington Post/Newsweek education reporter Jay Matthews took some heat for Newsweek's admittedly ill-conceived methodology that ranks the nation's public high schools. Apparently, it's a pretty simple algorithm. Divide the number of students taking AP classes by the number who go to college. It doesn't make a bit of a difference that the students in those AP classes might scores 1's and 2's out of a possible 5. The more students who take AP classes, the better the school will fare. Simple as that.

"Newsweek's one-variable-takes-all ratings of the 1,200 best high schools are often at odds with federal, state and local assessment systems that typically use more than a dozen measurements of performance" according to the piece in today's Times.

The controversy probably doesn't rise to the clamor that hit Newsweek when it published reports that Americans at Gitmo flushed a Koran down the toilet, but I would think that Mark Whitaker and company might strongly consider revamping its high school rankings methodology so that the results are more meaningful. It's just "the right thing" to do.

PR best high schools best colleges public relations Newsweek U.S. News & World Report

Shroud Lifted

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Heading home last night I passed a church with a marquee out front that read: "The Da Vinci Code: Faith, Fact or Fiction?" followed by dates and times for special sermons on the soon-to-be saturated subject.

In a posting last August, I observed how the film's production was completely shrouded in secrecy. In early March, I re-visited the subject when the film's growing number of detractors got organized and started making noise. I even made a half-hearted suggestion that the film's marketing team save their massive marketing budget and let the viral word-of-mouth and controversy fuel interest and awareness. The film's star Tom Hanks concurred:

"'I think the movie may end up helping churches do their job," Hanks told Entertainment Weekly last month. "If they put up a sign saying, 'This Wednesday we're discussing the gospel,' 12 people show up. But if the sign says, 'This Wednesday we're discussing The Da Vinci Code,' 800 people show up."

On the cusp of the presumed blockbuster's premier in Cannes today (followed by global headlines and reviews tomorrow), we learn that producer Brian Grazer, director Ron Howard and the marketing teams at Imagine and SONY Pictures have in fact kept an immovable lid on advance PR and word-of-mouth screenings of the film. The theatre owners, who are legally obligated to see the film before agreeing to show it, only saw it for the first time on Friday.

Sharon Waxman, L.A.-based scribe for The New York Times, reports on how a marketing tactic that usually portends doom & gloom for a motion picture's critical and box office prospects -- no advance screenings -- has been deployed in the case of "The Da Vinci Code."

"'There was an inordinate amount of interest in this film, and we wanted to contain the excitement and anticipation,' said Valerie Van Galder, president of domestic marketing for Sony Pictures...."

I suspect the word "contain" is the operative here especially nowadays when anyone attending a private preview can syndicate their views (and reviews) online.

We even learn that the offer of a TIME Magazine cover story -- the PR "Holy Grail" in Ms. Waxman's words -- was turned down since the reporter would be required to see the film in advance! No fret. The award-winning newsweekly will write about it big time anyway since it's kind of like dating: the more available you are, the less attractive you'll be.

Anyway, we're about to find out whether this marketing gambit of abstinence will reap divi-dends or be sent into purgatory.

PR movies public relations Da Vinci Code Cannes Tom Hanks marketing Brian Grazer screening

Two Guys

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A hat tip to my friend Scott Baradell at the Media Orchard blog for posting the TV interview of a London "cab driver" waxing poetic on the recent legal ruling between the two Apples.

The London cabbie, who turned out instead to be a graduate student from the Congo, apparently was mistaken for a tech journal editor (both named Guy) when the BBC's production assistant grabbed him from the waiting area and put him on the hot seat. (He was there applying for a job.)

The segment (from YouTube) gives new meaning to the term talking head, and gave me a good laugh this Monday afternoon. So much for media training.

PR BBC journalism public relations media Guy Apple

Transforming

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Last week, PR pundit Paul Holmes joined the chorus of media and PR watchers to weigh in on Tony Snow's first day on the job. He cited the E&P story that reported the series of e-mails Mr. Snow fired off to the most assertive of the news organizations questioning the policies of this administration, e.g. CBS News, The Times, etc.

Perhaps, Mr. Snow should get acclimated to his new role before taking to task the administration's adversaries from the fourth estate? Other than that, he seemed genuinely pleased by his new position of power, "You play a much more vital role working for a president than sitting behind a mike hurling stones." (For now!)

Many outlets reported on Mr. Snow's inauspicious first press briefing, which he thought would be less formal (and more congenial) by holding it in his office. Unfortunately, he misjudged the size of the gaggle, many of whom were left stranded in the hallway straining to hear what was being said.

Today, Howard Kurtz throws the former Fox anchorman (and the Post reporter's current reliable source) a bone with the obligatory puff profile. Mr. Kurtz does raise some tantalizing questions:

"Can he be an effective advocate for the press, as he has promised, and still please the president's people?

Will he be an active participant in policy debates, as he has been assured, or wind up out of the proverbial loop?

Will his relationships with Washington reporters, who generally like him, help with Bush's coverage, at least at the margins?

And will he be comfortable defending policies -- such as leak investigations that could lead to jail time for journalists -- with which he might disagree?"

People always ask me whether a background in journalism is imperative for a career in public relations. Invariably, I say that understanding the news process is vital. However, there are far too many journalists who come to the task of PR with a "holier than thou/I can do it better" attitude. Most have an inherent aversion to pitching stories or being suppliant to their former colleagues.

From Mr. Snow's new newsmaking perch, he'll most certainly have a rude awakening trying to balance the daily message points with his former colleague's demands that he be forthcoming and transparent. Already some have offered up their own "expert" advice.

As a career newsman, Mr. Snow may very well find the spin zone he's entering too much for his editorial sensibilities to reconcile (his background at Fox notwithstanding). Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan certainly sold their souls. It will be fascinating to watch the transformation of Mr. Snow in this position. His first decision: whether to ban cameras from the daily press briefings.

PR Howard Kurtz journalism public relations media Tony Snow

Idol Chadder

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Hanging chads, questionable Diebold voting machines, Katherine Harris, Florida, Ohio... Just when you think you've heard it all on the voting scandal front, a new election brouhaha has emerged that may just put the others to shame.

No, it's not some red state-blue state affair. Nor does it concern one of the political patronage appointments this administration is so fond of. In fact, even Silvio Berluscino ill-fated campaign pales in comparison.

The dispute involves the odds-on favored candidate Chris Daughtry. Whom you may ask? Come on, don't you all watch the fair and balanced network's "American Idol?" (I know I don't.)

As if Paula Abdul's alleged affair with a contestant didn't test Simon's crisis expertise, he now has to deal with allegations of voter irregularity. Mr. Daughtry's fans claim that their phone votes were misdirected to his opponent, which led to the shocking ouster of the North Carolina crooner. They are demanding a recount.

When the show screwed up on the phone numbers previously, the contestants were given another chance to compete. Right now, it's unclear how this will pan out. Let's keep an eye on whether the producers "do the right thing." Maybe the zealous NC fans made it all up? It sure wouldn't be the first time we're hearing of some unproven allegations emanating from that state.

PR media American Idol public relations voting Chris Daughtry

Buoyant Arrival

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According to the client leader from Weber-Shandwick, planning for the U.S. arrival of the world's largest cruise ship was two years in the making. Having personally helped lead the same NY Harbor arrival to introduce the then "world's largest cruise ship" from the same cruise line over a decade ago, I read with some interest the contrasting accounts that appeared in today's New York Times and New York Post (print edition only).

For the Times story, the agency somehow inserted itself and its PR doings into the copy, i.e., "a nautical publicity stunt coming in from sea." For the latter, the ship was front and center with a fab photo and a prominent rundown of all this vessel has to offer. "LET FREEDOM RING: World's Biggest Liner Hits Town" blared the headline in the Post.

No journalist wants to hear about positioning for the best photo angle or the other media outlets planning to cover the story. In fact, the moment one senses that he or she is witness to "a PR event" (i.e., being manipulated), the hype-alarms sound and the best laid plans veer off course. The PR propeller should always remain below deck since it will invariably detract from the real story -- in this case, a spectacular feat of nautical engineering with unsurpassed amenities and mind-boggling specs.

I wonder what the client thought when the agency seeped so prominently into the Times story? Step aside I say and let that ship make its own news waves. It certainly has all the media buoyancy it needs to do so.

PR Freedom of the Seas media cruise ship public relations

Vlogs

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Yesterday I accompanied my friend and colleague Andy Plesser of Plesser Holland Associates over to The New York Times digital headquarters to grab a digital video interview with NYTimes.com editor Len Apcar.

No. Andy and I didn't forego the PR profession to moonlight for CNN or CSPAN. Rather, Andy plans to post the interview on his new video weblog Beet.TV. Mr. Apcar, who did a great job talking about the evolution of nytimes.com, will be in good company alongside digital and media luminaries like Esther Dyson, CNET's David Carnoy, and others.

This week, PR Week's Hamilton Nolan reports on how PR professionals are using video weblogs to advance their clients' communications objectives. While they may never replace the mainstream thrill of a "Today Show" appearance or CNN news package, the video weblog is poised to become an increasingly effective PR tool as consumer broadband access flirts with ubiquity.

Why am I so bullish? If a fledgling outlet like beet.tv can land Ms. Dyson and Mr. Apcar; if Eric Schwartzman's Spinfluencer audio podcast can secure Ken Auletta and Harold Burson; and Hobson & Holtz can commandeer the leaders of the new digital media economy, who's to say that CNN or CSPAN has the exclusive beat on reasonably compelling content?

More tantalizing are the prospects for creating one's own digital audio and video feeds to advance a client's goals. (And I'm not talking about those digital video streams that play out on a corporate website.)

Consider this: you fail to land your client on one of the three network morning programs. Instead, you opt to interview the client yourself (or produce a video package) for posting on a weblog you've built (with the client's fee). The video is tagged with keywords so that anyone "intent" on finding more about the topic can easily stumble upon the video through search. The video is eminently discoverable, linkable, viral, and, controllable so that a client's message successfully penetrates the exploding number of digital consumer devices with broadband access.

One warning. Remain diligent about identifying sponsored video content (versus pure editorial). On Plesser's beet.tv, CNET executive editor David Carnoy waxes poetic on how "the new generation of inexpensive video cameras will fuel 'clip culture.'" It's an informative interview -- well worth watching -- but more importantly, it discloses that CNET (and its subsidiary Ms. Dyson's company) are clients of Plesser Holland. Good thing since the PR Watch police are always lurking in the shadows ready to pounce.

PR digital video video weblogs public relations

Enterprise Reporting

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A hat tip to my former B-M colleague, fellow PCNY board member, and friend Lisa Kovitz for reminding me why I need to read The New York Times "Public Editor" (i.e., ombudsman) column each and every Sunday. This past week, its editor Byron Calame took it upon himself to conduct an intelligently designed survey to determine the origins of the paper's enterprise reporting.

Mr. Calame set out to learn the original source for the story ideas that were published in the paper, in this case, on Sunday, April 16. He selected 23 "enterprise" stories (versus breaking news pieces) and e-mailed queries to their by-lined reporters. He learned:

"The initial idea for 16 of the 23 articles came from the reporter. Editors came up with the basic ideas that launched five stories, with no reports of an idea that 'came down' from any of the 13 top editors on the paper's masthead. Only two of the 23 stories started with ideas from public relations practitioners, although one was so flattering that a couple of complaining readers correctly surmised its origin."

"The results were in line with the estimates of Jill Abramson, the managing editor for news, about enterprise story ideas across the entire paper. "By far, the greatest percentage of ideas comes from reporters," she told me. 'They bubble up.'"

In thinking about this experiment, I began to wonder what degrees of PR influence exist at other outlets. Here's an informal survey. Tell me what you think (<10%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%). My answers below.

Business Week _50_

ABC "Good Morning America" _75_

Newsweek _25_

"Entertainment Tonight" _100_

The Associated Press _<10_

NBC "Meet the Press" _50_

Gawker.com _25_

FOX "Hannity & Colmes" _50_

US Magazine _100_

PR Byron Calame public relations mainstream media enterprise reporting journalism PR Pitch

Demand from Damascus

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In the previous post, we talked about how the public responds to the work of high-profile actors' whose off-screen behavior contradicts their on-screen personas.

Lindsay Lohan and Tom Cruise were obvious choices in the Times story that prompted the post, as was Angelina and Brad who've given new meaning to the strategy of "doing good and doing well."

Today I came across a related item that moved via the "fair and balanced" Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). It carried comments made by Syria's Minister of Information Dr. Muhsen Bilalnews during a visit to the Syrian Association of Public Relations in Damascus. (Who knew there was one?)

Dr. Bilalnews, whose name makes Tony Snow envious, called for people to "care" about public relations:

"There is a clear defect in the way through which Syria’s image is presented to the West, paving the way for distorting campaigns to act freely," he said.

I suppose if his country wasn't one of the most destabilizing terrorist-sponsoring, human rights-violating dictatorships in the world, perhaps the West might appreciate its "true image." Public relations is grounded in facts. Unfortunately, in Syria's case, the facts speak for themselves.

PR Syria public relations media

On-Screen, Off-Screen

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In a career-enhancing profile of bad girl-good actress(?) Lindsay Lohan, New York Times film critic Caryn James today poses the following:

"Lindsay Lohan crystallizes a question now haunting so many movie stars: how much does the off-screen image bleed into, and possibly hurt, the reception of the work?"

Her piece follows by a day an AP interview with Rob Moore, Paramount's head of worldwide marketing and distribution, wherein the reporter extracted the following quote on how Tom Cruise's off-screen, off-beat antics affected the first weekend's box office receipts for "Mission Impossible 3,"

"There's no question it concerns us if the press is writing about things other than the movie. If people are writing about his personal life, then by definition, they're not writing about the movie."

Hollywood Reporter attributes the relatively soft-showing of the film less on Mr. Cruise's antics and more on the film's early release and the softness in the theatrical film box office in general.

I'm not an expert, but I sense Mr. Cruise's hyperbolic promo day in New York, and his general bizarro public behavior had something to do with the soft opening. (A fickle public, no doubt.) The good news: these events can actually be managed through thoughtful and assertive PR counsel. The bad news: many A-listers rarely adhere to such advice. "Lindsay, please be home for your 12:00 curfew!"

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Tube Watch

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So let me understand this. After using its news credentials to gain entry to the White House Correspondents dinner, C-SPAN is making waves for YouTube for posting its Colbert footage...after giving YouTube rival Google Video the one-time rights to post the entire affair. Furthermore, the non-profit network is offering for sale a DVD of the event at $24.95 a pop.

Sure, we learned to live with the blatant product placements in prime time sports and entertainment programming. Just check out any episode of ABC's "Extreme Home Makeover" or any NFL broadcast. We're also seeing more and more commercial plugs in quasi-news programs, including the network morning shows and the early fringe entertainment shows.

But the idea of leveraging one's press credentials for eventual syndication and sale rubbed me the wrong way. Will the decision to cover a news story be guided by the resulting video's viral marketing potential? A slippery slope, I say.

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Bahrainian Boo Boo

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Month after month, the PR teams at Conde Nast's glam glossies pour through their respective magazine's galleys to hone in on the content and controversy that will create a buzz.

From Vanity Fair's James Bond-like photo of CIA agent (and now author) Valerie Plame and her husband to British Vogue's cover of a tainted, but still alluring Kate Moss, most have great material with which to lure the attention of the media-catalytic New York Post, or a wire service.

In spite of the pundits' predictions of print publishing's demise, the Conde Nast books, above all others, still hold considerable editorial cache and compelling advertising creative.

For the privately-held company's PR folks, the best case scenario occurs when their glossies set their sights on the famous, or infamous, prompting the object of their affection/disaffection to issue a very public response. This weekend Michael Jackson blew a gasket when he got a look at the "Where's Michael" photo layout in the current issue of GQ.

Mr. Jackson's PR rep apparently failed to dissuade the gloved one from stirring the media pot, thus saving the magazine's publicists the chore of trying to drum up some buzz for the current issue (featuring an overexposed Tom Cruise on the cover). "

In a statement, Jackson's representative, Raymone Bain, said: "Mr Jackson is furious that his image has been used in such a misleading way, and is demanding an apology from the editors of GQ, and its publisher, Conde Nast. Mr Jackson is also demanding that the magazines be pulled from newsstands."

GQ editor Jim Nelson happily jumped into the fray:

"It is very clear that the pictures in the story... are satirical, whether it's a picture of a Michael Jackson imitator sitting in a Bahraini cinema or an image of The Gloved One standing flamboyantly in the desert. Mr Jackson may feel that the person in the photographs is an 'impostor', but he is merely an imitator," said Nelson.

Net net: by making an issue out of the issue, Mr. Jackson (and his handlers) may have made a (better-selling) issue out of the issue

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Driving Miss Dozey

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Just when the lack of media coverage lulled them out of crisis mode, the makers of Ambien were jolted awake yesterday when a member of America's most famous families fingered the sleep medication for his traffic accident near the Captiol Building "on his way to vote" at 2:45 in the morning(!).

Patrick Kennedy, the sleep-driving Congressman from Rhode Island and son of the deep-driving Senator from Massachusetts, initially released a short statement denying that alcohol consumption had anything to do with his early morning motoring mishap.

In fact, PR man Jim Graham sent me a note drawing attention to the story and commending Rep. Kennedy's PR person for his (seemingly) deft handling of a supposed minor traffic accident:

"I was involved in a traffic incident last night at First and C Street SE near the U.S. Capitol," Rep. Kennedy said in a written statement. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake."

Mr. Graham wrote: "I think this is near flawless. Admit you were involved. Quell any potential of a rumor relating to alcohol. Confirm that you're cooperating with the investigation." Of course, this was all before the drug-infused details emerged in the second write of the story. (I hate when that happens!) Mr. Graham (and I) thus retract any kudos we were prepared to bestow upon the Congressman's PR rep.

As far as Ambien, well, it's back in the news in a context that even the best-known crisis preparedness experts couldn't have predicted. Hey, it could have been worse: what if Tom Cruise was behind the wheel?

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Travels in PR

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When I first started in the business, fresh out of college, my friend David Friendly, a writer for Newsweek, was working on a piece about college grads who "go back to the nest," i.e., to live with their parents. Since I sadly fell into that category, David asked if he could interview me. I naively agreed.

The only quote that survived the editing process had me grousing about the drudgery of "having to make my bed again." I swore I'd never do another purposeless interview. Why give the journalist what he or she wants without getting something, anything in return?

In fact, the whole point of professionally engaging the media revolves around advancing an agenda, e.g., new product exposure, issues advocacy, business building, crisis diffusion, etc. This is in spite of a media culture that thrives on showcasing the "famous for being famous" crowd (or more likely, infamous .)

Selective and strategic media exposure with a purpose usually prevails over gratuitous publicity, Donald Trump notwithstanding. It was therefore with some trepidation that I agreed to this.

Perhaps I'll suffer Bob Feldman's fate? Two weeks after The Times ran a large feature story showcasing the then GCI CEO's NYC apartment, he landed the top PR job at Dreamworks Animation. (I bet he got a handsome premium when he sold.) As for me, I'm just pleased my boys liked today's piece (and that my media consultancy was mentioned).

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Mr. Burson's Opus

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Actor Richard Dreyfuss has a new role: media pundit. The star of "American Graffiti," "Close Encounters," and "The Goodbye Girl" (for which he won an Oscar) takes the mainstream media to task in a Reuters piece.

"Dreyfuss is eager to point out that he is not anti-technology: 'I'm not in love with technology and speed but I don't want to sound like a luddite. We've got to be aware of the power of technology and the speed at which it allows us to transmit information. You have to encourage prose, analysis and detail -- otherwise people will go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan without really knowing why.'"

Mr. Dreyfuss must have had a close encounter with PR eminence grise Harold Burson's blog last week:

"In effect, the time frame for opinion formation has been compressed -- a shorter time span for ideation, response and action. Consensus is reached more quickly and the place where an idea originates is no longer a concern. The flow of information is both instant and ubiquitous."

Mr. Burson continued:

"The problem for society is whether leadership can survive under conditions that are influencing, perhaps even forcing our leaders to respond to measurable public demand. Would it have been possible for President Roosevelt to support the British war effort against Nazi Germany with the constant din of the media and polls overwhelmingly in favor of strict neutrality? Could President Nixon have opened the doors to a relationship with China if diplomacy had been conducted in a fishbowl?"

Today's advice: Take the time to digest the 24/7 barrage of words and images before reaching your conclusion...if possible.

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Almost Famous

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Daily News gossipist Lloyd Grove has come a long way from his former perch atop the Washington Post's "Reliable Source" column. I just wonder why he's so obsessed of late with the usually behind-the-scenes sources for much of his column fodder - entertainment publicists.

Today Mr. Grove reports on the efforts of one strictly New York publicity shop to raid the client ranks of another west coast-based ink-and-airtime operation. Last week, it was CNBC's PR man Kevin Goldman whose brush-off of Grove's researcher prompted a tongue-lashing in the column.

On stealing clients, I was smitten with the efforts of Dan Klores's Rob Shuter to nab Britney Spears from WPP's Ogilvy's Baker Winokur Ryder's Leslie Sloane Zelnik. Apparently he sent a cold letter to Ms. Spears' management offering his services to the put-upon pregnant(?) pop princess. (In New York, we call this chutzpah.) He was rebuffed.

Is there an accepted protocol for stealing another firm's client, or is it anything goes? I didn't see client acquisition guidelines in the Council of PR Firms' "Statement of Principles." Ironically, DKC's efforts to raid BWR comes on the heals of the defection of another BWR client Nick Lachey (Jessica's ex) to a second decidedly New York firm Ken Sunshine. Maybe it's an east coast-west coast thing?

Many stolid PR pros would question why one would even want to represent these misbehaved gossip headline-makers. Are their fees higher? No! Surely they must be fun to work with? (Client from) hell no. What about all the freebies and goody bags? Don't bet on it, Christopher.

Their allure as clients is simple: in today's media culture, these celebrity iconoclasts open editorial doors for their PR reps. After all, wouldn't many PR types prefer to be fielding fawning media queries than pitching them? And then of course, there's the paparazzi-induced aura of accompanying the latest A-lister into a hot new club or at a fab media event, i.e., "almost famous by association."

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Puck's Luck

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The name Wolfgang Puck is synonymous with trendy gourmet California cuisine. Whatever venture the famed restaurateur lent his name to invariably turned to truffles...until now.

My old friend and foodie PR vet Robbie Vorhaus percolated this morning in a Times piece espressoly defending Mr. Puck's self-heating latte drink, which allegedly explodes upon "activation."

The combustible (and decidedly non-delectable) combination of food prep and high tech has prompted some lawsuits that out-caffeinate even the litigation-prone scalded coffee drinkers at McDonalds. Jonathan Weisz, CEO of OnTech, the San Diego technology company that designed the self-heating package mechanism, exclaimed: "The cans do not explode."

Hmmm. Tough assignment, Robbie. Not easy building consumer demand now that the catalytic chemistry is out of the can.

...it "relies on a mixture of water and quicklime, which is mostly calcium oxide. When latte drinkers push a button on the can, water is released inside a sealed inner cone filled with the chemical. The reaction produces enough heat to warm the latte to 145 degrees in six to eight minutes."

One customer "got an intense burning sensation in her throat from leaking calcium dioxide." What a way to start the day. Sure beats a double espresso!

Some of the eco folks also have taken issue with the packaging. USA Today's DC-based marketing reporter Bruce Horovitz, who spent many years on the ad beat at The L.A. Times (where he likely met Mr. Puck), chimed in earlier this year with an uncharacteristically benign story on the latte for the lazy .

Wolfgang, perhaps adding your name to a line 'o joe at Dunkin Donuts would have left a less bitter taste?

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Scared Straight

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"I got caught up in scare stories," Stossel says. "We believe what we want to believe, and the clueless media often are ignorant about science and economics and take information from people who want to be in the news and run with it without doing good checking."

This is the quote/epiphany from John Stossel today in USA Today. His recognition of faulty science and the practice by (mostly TV) journalists to use scare tactics to advance preconceived story premises (to boost ratings) can be found in his new book out next week Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity (Hyperion, $24.95).

It's kind of refreshing to hear Mr. Stossel take such a journalistically contrarian approach (aka "Give Me a Break!"). After all, how many companies and industries have been brought to their knees by these frenzy-producing and fact-flimsy investigative segments? Think alar in apples, acceleration in Audis and e.Coli in bagged lettuce (last night).

Hey, maybe we shouldn't complain since our profession has been the direct beneficiary of these dramatic TV news packages. Virtually all have necessitated the hiring of a PR firm (at crisis billing rates) to mount counter campaigns. (Didn't Duke just hire Burson-Marsteller?) Still, who among us would ever wish upon a PR colleague some crusading TV news producer hell bent on taking down a client?

Anyway, take a visit to my new friend Trevor Butterworth's site and have your fill of junk science exposed. And be sure to check out Mr. Stossel -- coming soon to a city near you. Of course, there are many who won't.

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