there’s been a bit of an uproar in the pr biz due to scobel’s blog on the “death of pr.” while i have to stand up and defend my practice, scobel does have a few good points.
clients demand results. senior management demands results. junior staffers do whatever it takes to get results. the problem is we can’t all agree on what constitutes results.
are the results quantitative? are we counting clips and sending a binder to the client each quarter? some clients like these results. they can hold the clip book in their hands and show their boss the results. we can even make pie charts showing distribution of media hits: trade vs business vs top 100 DMA, etc. we can break in into tiers and show inflated web circulation. and my favorite measurement is showing the client a pr newswire report. clients can be amazed at how their news release landed in forbes and the wall street journal, not to mention every business journal in the country.
are the results qualitative? is the client mentioned at the top third of the story rather than the bottom third? is it a feature? are we hitting the right audience? is the client’s message resonating throughout the story? is the client mentioned in a better light than its competitors? these are the results we pr practitioners like. while more difficult and costly to measure, qualitative results show us we’re doing our jobs. they demonstrate we’re telling out client’s story.
that’s the challenge in pr. clients want publicity and pr folks want actual pr…and there’s a big difference.
for an example of pr vs publicity, take the 2008 presidential election. i will argue that both obama and mccain received equal publicity if you were to count the number of media hits. but did they receive equal pr? no. and the one who received pr was elected president of the united states.
obama ran on a message of “hope” and “change.” nearly all media repeated his campaign message. funny thing is that he never defined exactly what “hope” or “change” meant. he didn’t have to, and it’s not because the media is biased. his message was simple. he wanted to inspire hope and bring change, period.
mccain ran on a message of “country first.” do you recall any media repeating that message? no. because mccain never defined his message. while his message was as vague as obama’s, it required definition. and mccain couldn’t define what “country first” meant. he received equal media attention, but his messages were never driven home. and this is a major factor as to why failed in his election bid.
back to scobel…he’s upset at the number of poorly written pitches and unsettling telephone calls he receives daily. it’s understandable, as someone with his influence will be constantly bombarded with unsolicited emails and calls. it’s not fair to scobel. but it’s also not fair to simply blame the pr professional.
as pr professionals, we have to deliver quantitative results, and this is why journalists are hit with email and calls. are these clips delivering the client’s message? probably not.
i’ve been in the position of blasting pitches and news releases to media lists with more than 1,000 journalists. did i get results? sometimes. but i can’t tell you the number of “please remove me from your list” responses i’ve received. my clients got their clips, but my email has been address added to a lot of spam folders, ruining any chance for building a relationship.
pr professionals need to read what the journalists are writing before they send pitches. does it take time? yes. but i will argue that 20 well-placed pitches tailored to each individual journalist will yield more results than a pitch email blasted to 1,000 reporters. the journalist will appreciate that you’re pitching them a story they would actually cover. the journalist appreciates that you’re doing your job and acting professional.
so what comes from this? pr and publicity. while the number of clips will be down, the client’s message will resonate throughout a story written by an influential journalist, placed in targeted publication and read by its key audience.
we can all learn something from scobel’s rant. and we can all do better jobs at getting our clients real pr rather than only publicity. doing our jobs will shape opinions and make waves in whatever industry our clients exist. if we work a little smarter, we can achieve pr.
