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Product Publicity or Business Publicity? Is there a
difference and which one is right for you?
By
Todd F. Brabender of Spread
The News PR, Inc.
info@spreadthenewspr.com
For some entrepreneurs, the answer to this question might
be, “it doesn’t matter -- publicity is publicity and I’ll
take all I can get.” True
to a degree, but the smart entrepreneur knows that there is a
strong difference between product and business publicity and
their respective effects on your bottom line.
Sure, the bottom line is to create consumer/industry
awareness of the product or business and increase sales. But how
you go about increasing that awareness, that brand recognition,
can mean the difference between publicity and obscurity.
Determining which type of publicity campaign you need is
really all about timing.
What I recommend to my clients is what I call “Diversified
Publicity”. Just as stockbrokers tell their clients to
diversify their portfolios, the same holds true for publicity. A
diversified publicity portfolio is a vibrant and active
portfolio. What I mean by Diversified Publicity is creating
different publicity angles based on your business’ life cycle
and timing those pitches to the media for optimum exposure.
In a typical business plan, I
would recommend PR campaigns/pitches in the following order:
1) Product Publicity -
described below in A)
2) Business Publicity -
described below in B)
3) Advertising - described below in C)
(I strongly suggest exhausting all
“free” publicity angles before jumping into a more expensive ad
campaign.)
* This cycle can be repeated over and over based on product
improvements, additional product launches, business development
and expansion, etc..
A) Diversified Publicity typically begins with a nationwide
“new product publicity” campaign designed to create multiple
media placements and subsequent consumer/industry interest. Many
media outlets are seeking the latest in new products and will
give you solid product profiles/reviews in their publications or
on their shows.
B) A few months after the product campaign, we would launch
a “business publicity” campaign or what I would consider a
“corporate campaign”. This is a people-behind-the-product
campaign, which of course indirectly plays up the product again,
further generating sales. In this instance, I like to highlight
new developments that have occurred since the product was first
launched -- product acceptance, sales milestones, the
product’s impact on the industry or an individual customer,
strategic alliances with other businesses, etc. This is also a
great opportunity to play up newsworthy stories that may have
occurred during the development of the product or business.
C) Now that the new product and business/corporate campaigns
have generated some brand recognition and increased sales, your
budget may allow for advertising. The publicity campaigns you
just launched have gone a long way in helping your
customers/industry to understand the product/business. Now you
won’t have to waste valuable advertising space describing
who/what you are.
It should be noted that many times, especially in startup
businesses, new product publicity IS business publicity -- the
business for all intensive purposes IS the product. You’ve all
read the stories in the media describing an innovative new
product. Even though the product is the main focus of the story,
invariably the company behind the product is mentioned as well.
If a well-known company, say Panasonic, Schwinn, or Kellogg’s
launches the product, the reporter won’t go into a whole lot
of detail about the company – at least in this story. But if
the company or business is new, the reporter or producer will
most likely include more information to introduce the company
behind this innovative new product. However, a brief mention
about the company in any new product stories does not qualify as
a corporate campaign. You should still follow up a few months
down the road with a quality corporate campaign that will detail
the success of the recent product launch.
Many businesses that have launched product campaigns over
the past few months or even years have never followed up with
the corporate campaigns. They only rolled one of their publicity
bowling balls and there are still pins standing in this frame.
Perhaps the business simply tried to ride out the product
publicity as long as the media would allow and now are just
hoping for continued sales. As good as the product may be, it
must be understood that product publicity has a shelf life –
meaning you can only take advantage of new product publicity
angles for a limited amount of time. Once that shelf life is
over, it is time for the next step in you Diversified Publicity
campaign. As a former TV reporter and producer, I can tell you
from a media standpoint -- I always wanted fresh meat, different
stories, and new angles. Whether a reporter/editor/producer used
your new product pitch or passed on it, hit them again with how
the product is now impacting the industry – a newsworthy angle
that has developed since the product was launched a few months
back. Ideally, you’ll get coverage from both pitches.
The media targets for these campaigns differ greatly as
well. The new product campaign is going to have a strong
consumer and general interest editorial base. The corporate
campaign will have a much stronger business/industry slant and
will therefore be focused toward completely different editors or
producers. Researching the expansive media markets and outlets
to find the most applicable media targets is the key to your
publicity success.
Whether you are at the new product publicity stage or the
business publicity stage, use these tips of diversified
publicity to take advantage of the ever-increasing media market
--keeping you, your product and your business in the equally
diversified public eye.
Best of luck!
Todd F. Brabender
Spread The News Public Relations, Inc.
Generating publicity & media exposure for innovative
products/businesses/websites.
(785) 842-8909
http://www.spreadthenewspr.com
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