Oh dear – not all is well in PR

A growing handful of journalists aren’t happy about PR.  The tension has been growing for a while and it’s really getting noticed in the blogosphere.

The PRs continue to use services such as Vocus and Media Disk to create long media lists and then spam the same email to all and sundry.  They might not think of it as spam but it is often irrelevant and as a result may as well say “enlarge your P@en*1s”.

In October last year Wired’s Chris Anderson named and shamed a lot of PRs.  One month’s blacklists made it onto Chris’ blog.  People from big name companies such as Bite and Weber were on the list.  All because there mail was not targeted or research well enough.  This has been followed up by another PR Spammers Wikipage.  And covered in the Guardian.

PRs are naturally defensive about it.  Yes, they didn’t create the list.  Their boss is ordering them to send the pointless press release out.  The client has requested it go.  The client is paying.  And no one has the backbone to stand up to the client.

Actually, that last statement is unfair.  It is wonderful when a client accepts the consultancy it’s paying for but all too often it merely sits down and ignores advice.

This has also got worse as the much needed transparency comes to the fore.  It’s easier to justify a 30-40 journalist distribution to a client than it is a list of seven.  Even if Cycle Repair Monthly (sorry if there is actually this title) makes it into the press list for a release on a coffee machine.

It seems to me that a PRs need to learn the following:

1) Releases should be sent by RSS and an additional 5 or 6 journalists be contacted if it’s relevant.  This would allow journalists to sign up and follow key companies.  And not get pissed off about receiving 100 releases about a company you don’t care about and ensure your two mails a month get noticed and given the attention they deserve.

2) Push back on clients has to happen.  We’ve all been in the situation and it is what separates the men from the boys.  The best PRs I’ve worked with have lost clients because they’ve said no.  They’ve also used the newly available time to get clients that respect what PR is and accept the advice they’re paying for.

3) PRs need to do more value add.  Anyone, and I do mean anyone, can distribute a press release.  I’ve seen agencies send out nothing more than ‘This release was distributed by’.  Creative ideas that deliver the message work well.  The press release is dying.  This is because it has been done to death.  For a mere £500 you too can put out something that is perfectly on message without saying anything new and won’t get picked up by anything other than reprint sites.

4) Learn that the press release is not what should get printed.  If it is then something has gone wrong in the world of journalism.  Therefore, don’t worry about getting the press release to big up the company. Do not put a three liner at the start about what the company does.  Do not put the company tag line into every release.  If it gets covered with that in it will not get read by anyone.

5) Give a personal touch.  Darren Barefoot, co-founder of Capulet Communications has got phenomenal results with an 88 second clip posted onto YouTube.  Each is targeted and personalised.  Journalists know when the Hi <insert name> has been done.  It’s especially easy to do that when it says Hi Features Desk or similar.  This apparently got a 2000 (yes thousand) per cent increase on web traffic to his client’s site – that’s earning your fees.

6) Make it different.  Fantastic, the new WF8357 has been put out by company z that does <insert three line waste of press release space>.  Why is this good.  Once again, WHY IS THIS GOOD.  Put this benefit bit early on.

7) Learn that Sally Whittle doesn’t cover travel.