It’s that time of the month again. MediaMap’s, sorry Bacon’s Expert PR newsletter has crossed the ether. This month’s issue has articles on using publicity as a creative marketing tool, why you shouldn’t pay for radio interviews, successful launch events, tips for live interviews, the importance of customer testimonials, tips for successful media interviews, tips on corporate naming and finally the difference between advertising and PR.
“So which is the most appropriate tool to use to reach your target audience, advertising or PR? The truth is, both. By combining their strengths, you minimize their weaknesses. Don’t make the mistake of trying to get one to do the work of the other.”
Footnote:
Mitch Wagner over at Internet Week, gives the journalist’s view on the tips offered in the Expert PR article on successful media interviews.
“This is great advice for getting me to completely ignore what you’re saying. Nothing gets me to tune out and shut down an interview faster than a source who is focused on delivering a message. I’m not interested in receiving messages–I’m interested in getting stories.”
Mike Manuel has an interesting quote from Giovanni Rodriguez of PR firm Eastwick Communications on the changing face of PR messaging:
“It’s not the end of messaging, but perhaps the end of messaging as we know it. We may never stop doing SWOT analyses and positioning statements, but we recognize the importance of constructing those messages in a way that motivates people to do something. While we can debate whether movies and sports involve people actively or passively, there should be no such debate in the world of marketing. We live in an action-oriented world; we all play a role � businesses and their audiences alike — and good communication pros, like the best dramatists, can provide the motivation.”
Still struggling with RSS? Still trying to understand what it is and how it could possibly help in PR? CNET has a very useful overview. And of course if you’re interested in trying RSS out read the tutorial on getting up and running.
Steve Rubel points at a list of weblog resources from Heather Leigh at Microsoft.
The New York Times magazine covers blogging and the election as its cover story.
Robb Hecht points to a report on branding guru Jack Trout’s recent talk at Interactive World on brand differentiation. While Jack shares some good thoughts on the marriage of branding, brand differentiation and marketing, he broke some of his own branding rules when he completely ignored the audience at his talk. Although he was speaking at Interactive World, he completely ignored the online-offline challenges…
“Ending his keynote, Trout pointed out that the interactive industry is an enormous factor in differentiation primarily because it is a new tool. It delivers information in a brand new way about the points of difference. Trout warned the audience: Just don�t overdo it. Each medium has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Did the audience know this already? Yes, but we can thank him for reminding us.
As Trout exited, some attendees whispered, “That�s it? Aren�t we at an interactive conference?”
Once again, proof that too many traditional marketing experts aren’t comfortable speaking interactive marketing’s language.”
The New Zealand Herald questions the rise in government spending on Public Relations.
Murphy's Law 