The Lifecycle of a Media Relations Pitch

This morning I'll be leading a panel discussion on the lifecycle of a media relations pitch at the Cincinnati Chapter of the PRSA.

All too often, public relations practitioners focus solely on the middle of the pitch. This of course involves learning as much as possible about your target audience and sending it at just the right time in the exact manner the journalist likes to receive news. Yes, journalists do like to receive sound pitches that are newsworthy.

But what if your pitch sucks in the first place? If the pitch is garbage, it doesn't matter how you send it or to whom you send it. It will, and should, wind up in the circular file.

The panel will focus on all three stages of the pitch: preparation, the pitch and what to do once/if the journo responds. The third stage is when the work really begins and was the inspiration for this panel.

If anyone is interested in receiving the PowerPoint presentation for this 101 review, drop me an email/comment and I will send it along/post it here.

No worries navel gazers! The pesky b-word WILL be a part of the day's discussions as we focus on journalists mainstream and citizen. While in the thick of pitching her own news with AOL, Intelliseek's Sue MacDonald will stop by to discuss blogs, RSS and podcasting. Former PR Week journo John Frank will be leading the afternoon luncheon on mixed media where we get folks from all forms of media together to discuss the finer points of media relations.

UPDATE: Based on popular demand, you can download the 2MB PowerPoint file here. Having presented it, I will throw out two important caveats. 1) The notes are ROUGH background vs. a strict script. 2) The verbage is biased towards print media vs. electronic or online. However, as these are the basics, they still apply to all forms of media IMHO. Any and all feedback is appreciated.

tags: public relations, media relations, blog, PR

Comments

[Neil MacLean]

Kevin,
I just want to be clear about the phrase "make the clubhouse turn" in your presentation.
Using the golfing analogy, that's where my game usually falls to pieces...
I suspect you meant something more positive.
What did you discuss here?
Thanks
Neil

[Kevin Dugan]

Neil - You picked one of the slides and sports I know less about. Tim King, Director of Employee Communications for E.W. Scripps presented this slide (other panelists included ex-PR Week journo John Frank, Cincinnati Opera's Director of Public Relations Julie Maslov and HSR Business to Busines VP of PR, Pattie Kushner).

So I asked Tim for some details here and he provides us with this excellent, thorough response:

--
As someone who is going to a golf outing today, I can sympathize with the negative connotation conjured by the phrase "clubhouse turn."

But it's an old media trainer's term for addressing the adversarial aspects of a pointed question, but then turning 180 degrees and ending your response with the positive that should be the lasting impression you leave.

In other words, when a reporter keeps poking on a tough subject, you don't want to respond like a robot with a programmed upbeat answer (because you don't want to show the disrespect of ignoring the tough aspect of the question). And you don't want to only address the messy stuff.

Here's a hasty illustration that I hope helps:

WRONG WAY #1
Q: Your new product may be selling like hotcakes, but aren't you alarmed by the fact that it causes blindness in children?

A: Our focus group tests relied only on adults, so we were frankly caught off guard by the high volume of seared retinas from the younger demographics.

WRONG WAY #2
Q: Your new product may be selling like hotcakes, but aren't you alarmed by the fact that it causes blindness in children?

A: The new Acme Widget is a terrific product that is the solution to all your widgetless problems.

RIGHT WAY
Q: Your new product may be selling like hotcakes, but aren't you alarmed by the fact that it causes blindness in children?

A: Our rigorous and exhaustive testing indicated the Widget would be an extremely safe product, and no company has ever responded to reports of this sort with a stronger or swifter desire to make sure consumer habits are in line with the safety record we experienced in our labs. (Now, here comes the clubhouse turn..) But it's important to remember that despite these isolated incidents, the Acme Widget has demonstrated the ability to transform our customers' lives in a profound and dramatic way -- and it is the documentable benefits that come with recommended use of the Widget that lead us to stand firmly behind the life-changing impact of this revolutionary product.

--

Neil - Thanks for asking for clarification. I suspect this does the trick?

[Neil MacLean]

Thanks Kevin
And thanks very much Tim.
I hope your golf goes well today. Don't forget to repair your pitch marks!

It would be nice to think the media only remembers your magnificent play after the turn and will forget any tricky stuff (those poor blind children!) earlier in the round.

My hint: buy the journalist enough drink at the 19th and you'll probably get away with it :-)

(I hope you covered the creative use of alcohol in your session)

[TimKingScripps]

You are more than welcome, Neil. And you're right -- I'm not naive enough to think the media will overlook blind children because of a clever headfake, but we're sometimes lucky enough to have the positive commentary counteract the ugliness.

And my play on the course yesterday was enough to drive only one of us (me) to drink heavily.

[Jeff]

Kevin, the advice in slide 13 about what to do once the story comes out is so important, but so often overlooked. Many companies secure the coverage and hope that everyone they're trying to reach sees it. Indeed, you got to merchandise that story. On your site, in newsletters, via e-mail, whatever. There's too much noise out there not to.

[Kevin Dugan]

Jeff - Thanks for the feedback. The other point worth mentioning is that it's a continuous cycle...lather, rinse, repeat. In this regard, the results gets easier to merchandise.

One way to look at it is to realize that your client (internal/external) will ask you "what's next" once the placement runs/airs/goes live and it's our job to answer that question by working on what's next before a placement sees the light of day.

[jeff]

Good point. And I think your presentation touches on how to more easily create a "what's next." Merchandise your coverage to sectors of the media that aren't competing. Trades with nationals, locals with trades, blogs with everybody, whatever. Top-down, bottom-up.