Strategic Public Relations

Bombastic ≠ Strategic

We all know the challenge of standing out at big events like BlogHer, ComicCon and (back in the day) leviathans like Comdex.

Electronic Arts is learning about that challenge right now as their "Sin to Win" promotion is doing more than standing out at ComicCon. It's pissing people off.

I've gotten notes from PRSA and a colleague attending BlogHer wondering "wtf?!"

Evidently the promotion revolved around their new Dante's Inferno game. People were being encouraged to have their pictures taken while committing acts of lust with booth babes. Electronic Arts has since apologized and some are wondering if this was a planned strategy.

Evidently Electronics Arts even faked a protest over the same game earlier this summer. Whenever something stupid like this happens, the media wonder if it was planned to generate more ink.

Bombastic ≠ Strategic
Standing out at trade shows in particular can be tough. More than a decade ago, at a client's trade show, I was impressed when one exhibitor was allowing attendees to make their own tie dye t-shirts with the company's logo on it. There booth had a lot of traffic with long lines as a result of the giveaway. When I told my client about this he asked me what the company sold. It wasn't more than 10 minutes later and I couldn't remember.

Anyone can piss someone off if they try hard enough. I'm even reminded of a quote from Spinal Tap when someone objected to their album cover for Smell the Glove. "That's nothing. You should have seen the cover they wanted to publish."

A fine blend of sizzle and steak is required to stand out for the right reasons. And whether or not the Electronic Arts stunts were planned or spontaneous, fake or real, NONE of this is strategic. It's desperate.

Cross-posted to the Bad Pitch Blog.

Walter Cronkite | Sharing Video on Twitter | Costs of Meetings | Mommy Bloggers | Four Links | 07.19.09

1)

Cronkite's Greatest Hits | Mediaite:  These highlights from Walter Cronkite's career remind us why we want need journalism to survive. Cronkite was so Super Bad he had chunks of guys like Michael Arrington in his stool.

2) 5 Ways to Share Video on Twitter | Mashable:  This post raises my iPhone 3G-S envy. But more importantly it shows one way how videos are being made more shareable.

3) Calculate the True Cost of Meetings | AdLab:  A meeting cost calculator? This tool should be a mandatory Outlook Calendar plugin.

4) Mommy Bloggers Fight Back | PR Newser:  The title of the post sounds like a B-Movie. But PR Newser details the latest dust up in the blogosphere to ignore PR for a week straight. As Susan Getgood notes, the boycott misses the point.

Walter Cronkite, 1916 - 2009uploaded by John McNab

Meanwhile at The Bad Pitch Blog…

While Summer Hours are in effect, Richard Laermer and I are getting ready to do a Bad Pitch blog teleseminar to help folks with their media relations skills.

The pitches seem to be getting worse vs. getting better as they become the story. Personally I’m blaming the misuse of tools vs. the tools themselves.

Learn more about Bad Pitch Night School (during the day) at Crappy PR.

We have 10 free scholarships we’re giving out to some folks between jobs as well as some students (who I guess are before jobs). And every single registrant gets a free copy of the “Full Frontal PR” e-book. So it’s a pretty good deal.

If you’re interested, make sure you register in time for the Wednesday, June 29^th event. It’s from 1-2pm edt. And I should probably note you can follow the Bad Pitch blog on Twitter. Cause all the cool kids are doing it. Well, the older kids anyway.

Summer Hours?

If my Typepad CMS were a typewriter, there'd be an inch of dust on it.

But this is a classic case of going quiet because of a busy schedule.

New Gig: My new role at Empower MediaMarketing is going very well. In addition to marketing the firm, I’m consulting some of our clients in the CPG, food and retail industries. Eventually some of this work will make great blog content.

Bad Pitch Blog: Richard Laermer and I are gearing up for a teleseminar on Wednesday, July 29^th. We're giving out scholarships to some students and to some folks that are between jobs. Each registration gets a free "Full Frontal PR" e-book too. More info is available here if you’re interested in honing your media relations skills.

Live United: I’m helping United Way of Greater Cincinnati gear up for their annual campaign. This will be a very different year for United Way as they reach out to much smaller businesses and individuals for the first time.

Cincinnati Social Media: Our local Social Media Breakfast group has grown to more than 500 members so our name reflects that it’s not just for breakfast anymore. For now we’re using LinkedIn as our central point of communication for events like our upcoming Open Mic night on Monday, July 27^th.

The Open Mic event takes a page from the Ignite tour popular in other cities nationwide. We’re also one of several groups sponsoring this year’s Digital Hub Initiative which builds on last year’s successful event.

So the good news is I have plenty to talk about. The bad news is that it might be a while. But there is a lot more to come.

Old electric typewriter uploaded by tiredofkim