It used to be that Public Relations was primarily practiced by guys who would spend their days pitching stories about their clients to reporters and spend their evenings having drinks with those same reporters.
Today’s media contacts are more transient, spread out all around the country and far too busy to spend their evenings being schmoozed by PR reps. What’s more, the Internet has made bloggers and enthusiast Web sites more influential than ever before. Moreover, Social Media enables companies to take their cases directly to the public with blogs and opinion pieces. Finally, the media’s thirst for a steady and voluminous stream of ready-made content means that PR pros are spending less time pitching clients and more time writing content their clients can use in all these various venues.
The truth is that PR is no longer a set of traditional tactics, but rather, a three-dimensional model that employs a wide variety of tactics to increase awareness and exposure across a multitude of platforms. If your PR program is stuck in the mud of using tactics and strategies that don’t seem to be in step with the way the media works today, call us. We understand how the pieces fit together, and we are as capable at servicing individual tactics as we are at creating interwoven programs that add exponential value as they work together.
Today’s media contacts are more transient, spread out all around the country and far too busy to spend their evenings being schmoozed by PR reps. What’s more, the Internet has made bloggers and enthusiast Web sites more influential than ever before. Moreover, Social Media enables companies to take their cases directly to the public with blogs and opinion pieces. Finally, the media’s thirst for a steady and voluminous stream of ready-made content means that PR pros are spending less time pitching clients and more time writing content their clients can use in all these various venues.
The truth is that PR is no longer a set of traditional tactics, but rather, a three-dimensional model that employs a wide variety of tactics to increase awareness and exposure across a multitude of platforms. If your PR program is stuck in the mud of using tactics and strategies that don’t seem to be in step with the way the media works today, call us. We understand how the pieces fit together, and we are as capable at servicing individual tactics as we are at creating interwoven programs that add exponential value as they work together.
Our PR Services Include:
Content Development
Ready-Made Profiles
Ghost Writing & Blogging
Authored Op-Eds
Custom Pitches
Self-Syndication
Media Relations
Media Relations has evolved over the years, but it is still as important as it always was.
Let’s face facts — the mass media has changed, and those who haven’t adjusted their strategy and tactics to account for the shift will continue to spend good money after bad. While it may seem that the media has exploded, being delivered on TV, radio, print, online, smartphones, tablets and even the plasma screen at the gas pump or over the coffee station at the corner 7-11, the truth is that the media has imploded.
Layoffs, cost-cutting and early retirement programs have left the modern media with almost half the staffers it had a decade ago. What’s more, this smaller, younger and lesser paid media corps is now responsible for generating more content than ever before to fulfill the needs of all the new delivery mechanisms available to consumers. If you realize that these people are overworked, underpaid and have to produce more and more each day, then you will forfeit the right to be surprised when they don’t respond to your press release.
So, how do you get their attention?
At Ignition, we have designed several programs to help companies thread that needle, combining some old school techniques with new school strategies. So, don’t wait until you are down to your last dollar to take advantage of what we have learned about what it takes to get the media’s attention.
Let’s face facts — the mass media has changed, and those who haven’t adjusted their strategy and tactics to account for the shift will continue to spend good money after bad. While it may seem that the media has exploded, being delivered on TV, radio, print, online, smartphones, tablets and even the plasma screen at the gas pump or over the coffee station at the corner 7-11, the truth is that the media has imploded.
Layoffs, cost-cutting and early retirement programs have left the modern media with almost half the staffers it had a decade ago. What’s more, this smaller, younger and lesser paid media corps is now responsible for generating more content than ever before to fulfill the needs of all the new delivery mechanisms available to consumers. If you realize that these people are overworked, underpaid and have to produce more and more each day, then you will forfeit the right to be surprised when they don’t respond to your press release.
So, how do you get their attention?
At Ignition, we have designed several programs to help companies thread that needle, combining some old school techniques with new school strategies. So, don’t wait until you are down to your last dollar to take advantage of what we have learned about what it takes to get the media’s attention.
Content-Based PR
If your goal is to get your name in the media, and you find yourself hitting your head against a brick wall with sending out press releases that never generate a response, perhaps it’s time to try something different. Logic dictates that if what you’re doing isn’t working, change what you’re doing.
At Ignition, we have a solution called Content-Based Guaranteed PR, and it delivers to the media what it really wants — content.
The New York Times family of news outlets, which has laid off hundreds of workers over the last 5 years, receives thousands of press releases each day. Do you think anyone is actually reading them? If they’ve given up the ghost, how well do you think your local daily newspaper is faring, with some major dailies scrapping their print version completely in favor of an online-only product? According to statistics on Cision, one of the largest media databases in the business, the number of media contacts in the U.S. has dwindled from more than 500,000 five years ago to only 292,000 in 2012. That means there are fewer people actually running the media today, and they are responsible for generating more content than ever before.
Think about it. There are fewer media contacts, despite a thirst for more coverage of, well, everything. So what do they need? Content. And if you can provide it for free, in a fashion that is compatible with their publications and Web sites, they may run it.
Here’s how it works. One of our former journalists interviews you as if he were a reporter for a news organization. In that interview, he extracts tips, advice or trend information based on your expertise in your field. He will then write a 500 to 700 word article in third-person Associated Press style that is not overtly commercial and is compatible with what news organizations would run. After obtaining client approval on the piece, we then circulate it to anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 media contacts, depending on subject matter and category.
As the placements come in, we’ll track them and circulate them to you, so you can maximize their reach by linking them through your social media and business networking profiles. Further, we will circulate it a second time at no charge if we do not receive the response we anticipated to the initial blast. We don’t stop working until the job is done. If you think this approach might work for you, give us a call to receive your free phone consultation to find out more about how content is changing the face of PR.
At Ignition, we have a solution called Content-Based Guaranteed PR, and it delivers to the media what it really wants — content.
The New York Times family of news outlets, which has laid off hundreds of workers over the last 5 years, receives thousands of press releases each day. Do you think anyone is actually reading them? If they’ve given up the ghost, how well do you think your local daily newspaper is faring, with some major dailies scrapping their print version completely in favor of an online-only product? According to statistics on Cision, one of the largest media databases in the business, the number of media contacts in the U.S. has dwindled from more than 500,000 five years ago to only 292,000 in 2012. That means there are fewer people actually running the media today, and they are responsible for generating more content than ever before.
Think about it. There are fewer media contacts, despite a thirst for more coverage of, well, everything. So what do they need? Content. And if you can provide it for free, in a fashion that is compatible with their publications and Web sites, they may run it.
Here’s how it works. One of our former journalists interviews you as if he were a reporter for a news organization. In that interview, he extracts tips, advice or trend information based on your expertise in your field. He will then write a 500 to 700 word article in third-person Associated Press style that is not overtly commercial and is compatible with what news organizations would run. After obtaining client approval on the piece, we then circulate it to anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 media contacts, depending on subject matter and category.
As the placements come in, we’ll track them and circulate them to you, so you can maximize their reach by linking them through your social media and business networking profiles. Further, we will circulate it a second time at no charge if we do not receive the response we anticipated to the initial blast. We don’t stop working until the job is done. If you think this approach might work for you, give us a call to receive your free phone consultation to find out more about how content is changing the face of PR.
Crisis Communication Management
One of the toughest blows for a business to manage is the PR crisis. More often than not, it’s the cannonball that has the power to sink the ship.
Unlike a real courtroom, the court of public opinion has no rules of evidence, few legal restrictions on what can be published or aired, and no time limit for the end of the ordeal. What’s more, “no comment” rarely does anything more than make the media more dogged in its pursuit of the story.
The main problem with most scandals is that they usually break without warning, forcing executives to scramble for help in the midst of a scandal, when the right assistance may not be available in time. The problem is, few companies plan for a crisis, but rather, they just react to it. The best solution is to have a plan in place just in case, and that’s just what Ignition Branding offers.
Unlike a real courtroom, the court of public opinion has no rules of evidence, few legal restrictions on what can be published or aired, and no time limit for the end of the ordeal. What’s more, “no comment” rarely does anything more than make the media more dogged in its pursuit of the story.
The main problem with most scandals is that they usually break without warning, forcing executives to scramble for help in the midst of a scandal, when the right assistance may not be available in time. The problem is, few companies plan for a crisis, but rather, they just react to it. The best solution is to have a plan in place just in case, and that’s just what Ignition Branding offers.
Our Crisis Management Protection Plan starts with a meeting with a company’s senior management to run a mock damage control exercise which enables us to identify a company’s key audiences and potential liabilities. We then design a custom communications plan that we deliver to our clients to sit in a drawer until such time when it is needed. That way, when the unexpected occurs, we can immediately address all the issues of the crisis and not lose a minute of time ramping up to meet the challenges.
If you believe your company could benefit from our Crisis Management Protection Plan, give us a call and find out more. In strategic marketing, a little peace of mind can go a long way.
If you believe your company could benefit from our Crisis Management Protection Plan, give us a call and find out more. In strategic marketing, a little peace of mind can go a long way.