Make front page news by NOT inviting the media
By David Leonhardt Not a single reporter showed up at our news event. And we were
THRILLED!
Not a single photographer showed up to capture the moment. And
we were pleased as punch!
Not a single newspaper knew about the event. And we received
front page coverage in every one!
You can make front page news by keeping the media away. But how
did we do it? Here is the media relations plan we used:
BACKGROUND: A few years ago, I was working for a politician. In
fact, he was a Canadian Member of Parliament (MP). That was
about the time that Canada Post decided not to deliver mail to
homes in new developments. Instead, new homeowners had to pick
up their mail at community "superboxes" near the end of their
streets. After laying down big bucks for fancy new homes, people
expected the same door-to-door service they were used to, and my
MP took the heat . . . even though Canada Post was an
arms-length organization of the government.
GOAL: Our goal was to demonstrate that my MP cared, that he was
on their side, that he was doing everything he could to help
them.
IDEA: One of the complaints the new residents had was that they
were not receiving their junk mail (Go figure!), including
weekly grocery specials and, by coincidence, my MP's mailing to
constituents. This gave me an idea. Why not send my MP door to
door to deliver his bulletin, explaining how he, too, was
frustrated that Canada Post would not deliver his bulletin to
them.
CHALLENGE NUMBER ONE: But what about the majority of people who
would not be home to see how my MP shared their gripes? We
needed media coverage, so that everyone would read about it in
their local newspaper.
CHALLENGE NUMBER TWO: This is a juicy story for reporters.
Imagine the headlines: "Resident sock it to MP". Imagine the
photos of angry residents waving their fists in rage against
Canada Post. My MP would not look good one bit. The media had to
stay away. But how would we get media coverage?
METHOD: We would have to report to the media "after the fact"
that my MP had just gone door-to-door. We would have to supply
everything the newspapers would need so that they have no need
to recreate the event, search for angry residents to interview
or ignore the story altogether.
First I wrote a news release. OK, so it did not read quite like
a typical news release. It read like a newspaper article.
Actually, it read like five different newspaper articles,
because I wrote a completely different story for each of the
five newspapers in the area. To some degree, I was able to
emulate each one's style.
Next, we decided to provide photographs. We dressed my MP in a
postal cap and had him carrying a postal bag. I snapped shots of
him at doorways chatting with residents. This was just too
"human interest" for any newspaper to ignore. Off to the
one-hour photo developer, then we chose the five best shots and
attached one to each of the news releases.
Zoom, zoom. We hand delivered an envelope to each newspaper. The
entire process took us just five hours from knocking on the
first door.
RESULT: Each newspaper had its own, unique, original story with
its own, unique, original photo. This made the journalists
happy. Four out of the five editors even used the headlines I
provided! It also made readers, many of who received two or
three of the newspapers, believe the media had been there in
person . . . making the story all the more credible.
Can you repeat this success? Yes. If you want to get great media
coverage, but you are afraid the media will pick up a negative
angle, this is the recipe to use:
- Position your business as you would like to be seen.
- Find a
way to demonstrate your position or characteristic.
- Write the
story for each newspaper as the newspaper would write it, but
place it in the format of a news release.
- Get some great
visuals, going for action or something with a twist, and ensure
each newspaper has a unique photo.
- Let the newspapers know
that no other media outlet has the same photograph.
Of course, it is always best to invite the media to your event
and serve donuts, but sometimes NOT inviting them is a better
way to get not just "a" story, but the "right" story.
About the author:
David Leonhardt offers dozens more creative ways in his
media relations plan to get free publicity. For basic media
interview training, pick up his media relations training video.
Use Your Knowledge to Write Your Own Ebook
Back to Articles Contents Page
|
