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press release a short essay that is written in the form of an objective news story
The most basic product of a public relations firm’s attempt to influence the media is the press release—a short essay that is written in the form of an objective news story. Because the goal is to get a reporter or editor to write about a particular aspect of the client’s activities, a successful press release finds a hook in the client’s tale that the reporter can use. PR practitioners know that reporters will dismiss as propaganda stories that simply tout the views of the firm’s executives or present the firm’s accomplishments. The trick is to write a story with an angle that the journalist will see as interesting to her or his audience and that can also include other firms and other points of view. A press release that is too obviously self-serving will rarely get picked up.
Because of the importance of knowing what attracts journalists to particular stories, PR firms and PR departments of organizations often hire former journalists as their press contacts. The Hill & Knowlton website proudly notes that:
We have a reputation for handling complex media situations in positive circumstances as well as in times of crisis. Our media relations professionals including former journalists, press secretaries and communications officers have delivered results throughout the world.
Using solid research and analysis, messaging, journalistic skills and close media relationships, we can deliver real business impact.
As these lines suggest, writing press releases is just part of a PR firm s media duties. The company must also hire practitioners who can field questions from members of the press who come to them for stories. PR practitioners are also increasingly involved in coordinating the production of audiovisual materials that present the points of view of their companies to various constituencies. A mobile phone company, for example, might send a video to high schools to describe for students the new technologies it is using to keep rates down while providing the best service. A university might prepare a home page on the internet that gives prospective students tours o t e campus. Also important is the role of digital vehicles that encourage target audiences to interact with them and feel friendly toward them. PR firms help clients set up Facebook pages or Twitter feeds that inform about discounts, answer questions, quash rumors, and exude a likeable personality. Again, here’s Hill & Knowlton:
The communications world is already digital—people are online no matter when, where or how. What companies do and say online is having a profound effect on their reputation and brand. Right now, communities are communicating with businesses and brands through consumer-generated or “social” media driving the transition to a digital world.
Smart companies are already shifting their marketing focus to reflect changing media consumption habits. Others are playing digital catch up in order to remain relevant and competitive. Either way, companies need to know how to harness the power of social media by building community around an issue or a brand, driving engagement, and building strong relationships with all audiences—and all this in a way that is open, honest, and genuine.
Companies involved in consumer public relations often decide to reach people in a less-than-open wav—by turning out their own I V “news" stories. For example, a computer chip manufacturer might create a short video for use on local news programs that shows how cutting-edge computer chips allow typical home users to perform an enormous number of tasks faster and make these tasks more fun. The trick to getting such a spot on the air is to make it seem like a “soft news” story created by the TV station. (See Chapter 2 for a discussion of soft news.) PR practitioners know that they should mention their client, the chip manufacturer, only in passing and show its logo only a couple of times. Subtlety is important. Overtly pushing the company and its products would be the kiss of death for a spot; a news show would never use it.
TECH&INFRASTRUCTURA: TWEETING FOR PR
Social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook are used by millions of individuals to announce their actions and opinions to friends. Over the past couple of years marketers have found that, just as these tools can be used to spread news and information, they can also be used for damage control.
Pepsi, Ford, Comcast, Amazon, and Southwest Airlines are among the many firms now employing social media directors who scan Twitter and Facebook for negative press regarding their companies. For instance, late in 2008, lawyers for Ford sent a shutdown request to TheRangerStation.com, a fan site. This action led to hundreds of online complaints against Ford. In response to the public outcry, Scott Monty, Ford’s head of social media, posted on his and Ford’s Twitter site that RangerStation was “selling counterfeit goods with Ford’s logo.” Ford didn’t want to shut down the site, he insisted, just stop the illegal use of Ford’s trademark. Throughout the “crisis” Monty posted constant updates, including when the site agreed to stop selling those products. He succeeded in dampening angry opinions of Ford in the Twitterverse.
PR practitioners cite the online retailer Amazon’s lack of openness with social network users about a controversy as an example of what not to do. In April 2009 the firm eliminated gay, lesbian, and transgender as a search theme on its site. Quite soon afterwards, Twitter was awash with comments about this act of apparent insensitivity. Although Amazon eventually rectified the situation (blaming it on a “glitch”), the company’s PR representatives did not reach out to the Twitter or Facebook audiences to try to quell the negative tweets.
In response to this silence, Tweets were instead filled with “boycott threats, petitions and caustic accusations against Amazon. As the Los Angeles Times reported, this is “an outcome that suggests that the growth of social media may be driving up the cost of inaction.” As communications consultant Shel Holtz observes, “social media have magnified the urgency of crisis communication.” For Amazon, this was certainly the case.
While many companies are turning to Twitter to help control their reputation, some are using the social media site as a tool for generating positive publicity and lending a helping hand. After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, MTV Networks participated in the “Hope for Haiti” telethon, which aired on network television as well as using Twitter to raise money for Haiti. The telethon raised more than $65 million for hurricane relief. The use of Twitter to help raise money seemed like a natural fit as the social media software was already being used by celebrities and everyday citizens alike to reach out for aid, locate missing friends and family, and share news of the devastation.
Sources: Sarah E. Needleman, “Theory & Practice: For Companies, a Tweet in Time Can Avert PR Mess,” The Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2009, p. B6; David Sarno and Alana Semuels, “Tweets Are an Ally in Crisis PR; Firms that Ignore or Fail to Speedily Reply to Online Chatter about their Brands Learn that that’s Not a Good Idea,” Los Angeles Times, August 20, 2009, part B, p. 1; “The Ranger Station Fire.” http://www. scribd.com/doc/9204719/The-Ranger-Station-Fire (accessed August 11, 2010); Mark Walsh, “TV Digital Heads Meet the ‘Splinternet’,” Online Media Daily, March 11, 2010.
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