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Defining the Spin
Effective public relations comes from
thinking like the media
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Business New Haven
7/3/1995
By: Lynn DeJoseph
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Years ago, they used to be called press agents. Obnoxious, glib and ready to pull off any stunt to make the papers.
Well, the business of publicity has turned respectable. Now it's called public relations - those professionals trained in communications who speak softly without sensationalism and write with determination. Any area of communications that reflects a company's public image
is PR.
How easy is it to get free press that is timely, positive, informative and well-placed? About as easy as parting the Red Sea. Moses may not have had much of a problem, but then he was well connected.
In fairness to writers, editors and the powers that be in the media industry, they are, for the most part, overworked, deadline-harried and saddled with the burdensome task of filtering through the multitude of potentially newsworthy stories waiting to go public. The fact is, every press release doesn't make a story. Even so, there are still a few basic pointers on effective PR.
1. The prime rule is to have the first paragraph contain answers to five questions: Who? What? When? Where? and How?
Since the attention span of most media consumers is practically microscopic, assume that the reader won't get past the first paragraph. Using this guideline, you can at least get them to read all the facts before they put it aside in favor of something else. Bear in mind that your release is subject to rewrite, since it has to be converted to a news article. But the less rewrite work you give an editor by following proper journalism form, the greater the chances are for getting your story published verbatim.
2. Be credible. Be honest. Don't stretch the truth. Keep it simple and focused. Of course, your objective is to draw attention to your company or service, but your long-term goal is to develop a good rapport with the media. Sensationalism makes good copy only once, and no one is in this simply for 15 minutes of fame. If your story is honest, factual and well-written, you're making the editor's job easier.
3. As business expands and diversifies, new developments in technology, industry and human interest take place all the time. Columnists and editors depend on information sent to them to fill space in the media outlets they represent. It is practically impossible for them to cover all events.
4. When possible, include a photograph. It's always more interesting and commands more media space - whether it's a new product, a new facility or a new employee. (If it's a new employee, get a recent picture. Using a photo that's ten years old is embarrassing - and deceiving.
It would be wonderful to imagine that all the press your company will receive during its lifetime will be positive. But what happens when you're the subject of bad publicity. Here is a case in point of how one corporation used PR and an advertising campaign to blunt negative press.
During the late 1980s, U.S. Surgical Corp. took quite a bit of heat from animal-rights activists for testing new surgical clamps on laboratory animals. Through a well-placed and well-executed print and radio advertising campaign, U.S. Surgical explained its position with a quick and focused response: Human life was most important.
The newspaper ad showed a closeup of a small girl with enormous frightened eyes. “Meet one of the newest guinea pigs,” read the headline. A radio spot let us eavesdrop on a doctor discussing a prognosis with two anxious parents: “We have a new procedure that may save your child's life, but it's never been tested on a living creature before.” Heavy stuff.
Whichever side you agree with, the emotional impact of the campaign could not be dismissed. U.S. Surgical had turned a volatile situation into positive PR.
I know of some excellent firms around that specialize in PR only. For me, the visual side of advertising and public relations are so closely related I try not to separate the two. Those of us in the business of communications deal in images, in ideas, in perceptions. Whether it's through press releases or TV spots, feature stories or product and service ads, our goal is to somehow influence the public enough to provoke a response - and thereby benefit our clients. BNH
Lynn DeJoseph is president of the DeJoseph, Ohlsen Group in Orange.
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