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The how-to-do-it e-newsletter for PR and marketing
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More creative PR gets my vote
As a working journalist, I’m on the receiving end of a lot of PR. Some of it is creative, thoughtful and inventive. A lot of it isn’t. And as I talk to PR people, I sense that quite a few are frustrated that their efforts often don’t generate the amount of PR coverage they’d hoped for.
Of course, there are many reasons why a campaign might flop. Perhaps the budget wasn’t big enough. Or the clients/managers trampled over the good ideas with their bureaucratic boots. Or the product/service simply isn’t that media friendly.
But a lot of the time, I sense the reason campaigns have all the impact of a wet firework on November the fifth, is that not enough thought has gone into making them really interesting. Sparkling creativity is the gunpowder of great PR campaigns – it’s what makes them go with a bang.
So we kick off this issue with a contribution from Andy Green, Britain’s premier guru of PR creativity – he wrote the CIPR book on the subject, Creativity in Public Relations. Andy, who presents the Perfect Brainstorming Masterclass, suggests 10 ways to find more good PR ideas – and he has a final creative surprise.
These days, no self-respecting law firm is without its PR consultants – in-house or agency. So a welcome to Richard Lloyd, the editor of Legal Business magazine, who tells us in the Five Minutes With… slot what he’s looking for from PR.
Back on the subject of PR creativity, Lois McCloud from PR agency Cirkle, has a great story to tell. They recruited 1966 World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst to front a campaign on disabled sport run by their client Typhoo Tea. The campaign was packed with the kind of excellent creative thinking that spells success. Check it out below.
And, incidentally, you can read about other successful PR campaigns in back issues of PR Success Monthly on our website. Perhaps they will persuade you that creative PR should get your vote, too.
Peter Bartram
Editor
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10 ways to find more good PR ideas
Brainstorming guru Andy Green shows how PR pros can get serious about generating more creative campaign ideas
Being creative, coming up with new ways of doing things, getting attention, and making your story interesting are crucial for success in PR. But how do you go about generating great ideas? Here are 10 top tips on what you can do to get your creative juices flowing so that you generate those great ideas.
1. Read the “creative catalogues” every day. By that I mean newspapers. Every day these contain great examples of creativity in action. Spot them, and keep a scrapbook of your favourite ideas. This is a wonderful source for sparking your own creativity, and you can often use variations of an idea in your work.
2. Have creative heroes. It might be someone famous, or someone you know, or a fictional character. One person I knew used his cat as a source of inspiration. When faced with a challenge he would ask: “What ideas would the cat come up with?” You are never alone with a creative challenge if you have the equivalent of a wardrobe of creative heroes ready to help you.
3. Introduce variety in your life. It might be coming to work by a different route or different time. Introducing regular change in your life helps stimulate new ways of seeing the world around you, and gets you out of a rut in your thinking and in your doing.
4. Make someone own the problem, challenge or task. Whatever it is you need new ideas for, someone has to take charge. I have yet to read a great poem or see a brilliant picture painted by a committee.
5. Give the task meaning. Look back on your life for anything you went that extra yard for. Why did you? I expect the reason was that the task had some special meaning for you. If you find it hard to be motivated by your current challenge, then think of reasons why you should care, be bothered. If you are not bothered, how do you expect other people to go the extra yard?
6. Take responsibility. The call to have a brainstorm is far too often used as a cop-out, a way to avoid responsibility by the person who owns the problem. What is the point of getting colleagues to give up their valuable time to come up with the obvious or ideas you could easily come up with yourself? A brainstorm should be used to stretch, challenge, re-define the brief. It is a “time tax” on your colleagues’ precious working hours. Make sure it is used effectively by working on the brief by yourself and spotting the immediate and obvious ideas.
7. Do your homework. There is always something new to find out about a subject, no matter how familiar you are with it. The Internet is a brilliant research tool. Just as important is to get to “the coal face” of your situation. How do people use the product or service you are promoting? Ask people close to the target market. Taxi drivers, bar staff, hairdressers are great people to bounce ideas off.
8. Spend time on the follow-through. Time spent by the participants following up in the brainstorm is as important as generating ideas. So, if you had six colleagues who spend 20 minutes in a brainstorm, that equates to 6 x 20 minutes = 120 minutes. So you should spend at least 120 minutes in the follow-through, sifting, evaluating and nurturing ideas.
9. Manage the preparation and the follow-through. Treat the brainstorm event as the halfway stage in cooking ideas. You need to prepare for the session by identifying the real brief and doing your homework, and also see the content generated by the brainstorm.
10. Contact any participant of your brainstorm the next day. You will find your brainstorm session is a great warmer-up for people’s thinking. They will often have great ideas after the session. If you don’t bother to contact them, it’s more than likely the ideas will go unrecorded and be lost for ever.
11. Give more than is asked of you. Always. Did I tell you to expect 10 ideas? Surprise people by adding something extra.
Brainstorm with Andy. Andy Green is leading the Perfect Brainstorming Masterclass, a half-day tailored session for PR professionals on Thursday 10th June. To learn more or book online visit www.perfectbrainstorming.co.uk.
Five minutes with… Richard Lloyd
Richard Lloyd is the editor of Legal Business, a monthly magazine covering the major commercial law firms across the UK and around the world
1. What I want from PR people is…
…a quick response to calls and requests for information and a relationship that is based on co-operation. I also want a realistic understanding of their client’s position in the market.
2. The best way to get my attention is…
… to demonstrate an appreciation of the kind stories that our readers are interested in and an understanding of how our editorial schedule works.
3. But please don’t…
… approach me with story ideas or press releases that have nothing to do with the magazine. Or send out a generic release and then follow-up a couple of days later asking if the release was of interest. Or ring me just to say you have sent/will send a press release.
4. When pitching a story to me…
… keep your ideas short and clearly tailored to the magazine and the interests of our readership. Also bear in mind that some issues of the magazine have clear and obvious themes, so pitches should preferably be focused accordingly. Don’t waste my time with exactly the same pitch that you’ve used for rival publications.
5. If you’re sending a press release, I want…
… lots of detail (including naming competitors if they are part of the story) and just a couple of quotes that actually say something meaningful. I don’t expect loads of vacuous commentary on just what this announcement means.
6. The most successful PR people…
… have an in-depth understanding of, and obvious buy-in from, their employer or client. They can also demonstrate a broad understanding of the market we write about and are proactive when they need to be.
Write press releases that editors want. The Perfect Press Release Masterclass, in London on Wednesday 2nd June, is based on what 89 editors and senior journalists say they want from press releases. To see the Masterclass programme and book online, go to www.prmasterclass.co.uk.
World Cup hero kicks off a PR campaign
Lois McCloud, account manager at PR agency Cirkle, describes how they recruited Sir Geoff Hurst to promote a campaign for disabled sport
When Typhoo Tea tasked us to amplify its partnership with the English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS), which aims to make sport accessible for people with disabilities, we really had to get our thinking caps on. Key objectives were to promote the charity link and highlight that every pack of Typhoo tea purchased would contribute to the cause.
Typhoo also wanted to appeal to those working in the fitness industry. It wanted to recruit onto a special course 500 coaches who could help to make sport more accessible for the disabled.
We quickly established that a high profile, relevant celebrity would help to deliver the campaign’s key messages credibly and generate interest among the British public. But in a market where branded charity initiatives are becoming commonplace, we needed to create a campaign that stood out as well as delivering the charity’s objectives. Thus, the “Typhoo Sports for All” campaign was born.
To create nationwide awareness around the Sports for All project, we needed to choose a celebrity who commanded sufficient gravitas as well as being topical. That was because generating widespread coverage in national and consumer media was of paramount importance. We conducted extensive research and media audits to find the best campaign ambassador and finally selected 1966 World Cup football hero Sir Geoff Hurst.
Sir Geoff was already a football legend even before his famous hat trick in the 1966 World Cup final when England beat Germany 4-2. We wanted to capitalise on Sir Geoff’s iconic status as a great sportsman. With the World Cup fast approaching, he was the perfect candidate. A footballer with an untarnished personal record can prove difficult to find nowadays - so we leapt at the chance to get him on board.
We secured primetime positions for Sir Geoff on the breakfast sofas of GMTV and Sky News. Then we whisked him off to West Ham’s famous Upton Park, where he played for 13 years, for a photocall with the GB Disabled team, GB Amputee team and a number of children from Everton’s disabled football team. Most national newspapers attended the photocall. Sir Geoff was interviewed by journalists from national sports desks including The Daily Telegraph, The Sun, Daily Sport, thelondonpaper and Daily Mirror.
To maintain awareness and raise additional funds for the charity, we enlisted further support from more than 30 leading celebrities including Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr, The Saturdays, Chris Moyles and James Corden. They each decorated teapots for free. These were auctioned to raise money for the EFDS.
To promote this, we liased with the media to generate widespread coverage and awareness. We worked with celebrity agents to generate coverage on fan pages, celebrity blogs, Facebook and Twitter. We even hand-delivered teapots to leading London radio stations. As a result, a number were decorated by the breakfast teams at Heart 106.2, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 and Magic 105.4 - and there were on-air mentions from Terry Wogan and Toby Anstis.
In the launch week, we generated more than 70 pieces of targeted editorial coverage, filling every one of the 500 course spaces and creating enough demand to secure a further 400 spaces.
The campaign achieved a total of 163 pieces of editorial coverage, all of which included the Typhoo brand name. Most included a link to the English Federation of Disability Sport website to drive support. Key pieces of coverage appeared in The Sun, Heat magazine, Daily Mail Weekend, The Daily Telegraph and on Sky News.
Coverage reached a circulation of 179,559,340 with a perceived editorial value (PEV) of £2,094,234. Other highlights included a six-minute feature interview on GMTV with Sir Geoff Hurst and coverage on Talk Sport and Sky News. The campaign delivered a return-on-investment (ROI) of 20:1. And if that’s not a result, I don’t know what is.
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Contents
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Diary dates:
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It’s easy to book: just click on the title of the course you want to attend.
Perfect Online PR Masterclass , London, Tuesday 18th May.
How to use new media to get your organisation’s PR message in front of the people who matter. £395+VAT.
“I just wanted to say I thought the course was extremely useful and it's made things a lot clearer in terms of how to apply online disciplines to PR. Both Jo and Keren were very good at explaining things through." - Sananur Meric, Adams Creative
Perfect Press Release Masterclass , London. Wednesday 2nd June.
A journalist’s eye view on how to write releases that make it into print.
£195+VAT
"Thank you so much! I walked away feeling much more confident and I look forward to putting my training to the test." - Jenny Hogan, press officer, Kinleigh Folkard and Hayward.
Perfect Brainstorming Masterclass , London, Thursday 10th June.
Expert help to brainstorm great new campaigns, pitch winning ideas or inject new life into familiar work. £195+VAT.
Perfect Pitch Masterclass , London. Thursday 15th July.
How to devise article and interview pitches that journalists really want to hear. £195+VAT.
"This is the first course I've been on that has answered my need for a clear, concise 'rule book'. I think the checklists are great." - Rebecca Hirst, PR & communications executive, First Direct.
Perfect Proposals & Presentations Masterclass . London. Wednesday 22nd September.
How PR and marketing consultancies can improve pitches to win more business. £245+VAT.
"What a great session - packed full of useful information and tips for success. Comprehensive content, including strategy and delivery, plus the chance to discuss specific issues and challenges in detail with a superb and highly experienced PR professional. We can't recommend this course highly enough. Thank you!" - Clare Elsley, director, Campus PR
Writing for Publication Masterclass , London. Thursday 14th October.
How to write news stories and feature articles that editors want to publish. £195+VAT
“I write for a wide variety of reasons as part of my work as a campaigner in the voluntary sector. This includes articles for internal and external publications, web content, promotional materials and information sheets. I found Peter’s straightforward and practical approach to writing very useful, the background materials have helped me greatly since the training day, and Peter’s offer of feedback on a piece of writing was invaluable. Thank you for a great course!” - Lee Webster, senior campaigns officer, Leonard Cheshire Disability
Perfect Online PR Masterclass , London, Thursday 25th November.
How to use new media to get your organisation’s PR message in front of the people who matter. £395+VAT.
Perfect Press Release Masterclass , London. Thursday 9th December.
A journalist’s eye view on how to write releases that make it into print.
£195+VAT
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Worth knowing:
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PR on a Shoestring
PR on a Shoestring is a new-concept, half-day training event designed for managers in smaller and medium-sized organisations who have to handle PR as part of a range of other duties. It takes place in London on Monday 24th May.
Course presenter Jo Lynn worked for agencies such as Burson Marsteller, Good Relations, and Lynne Franks. After several years at board director level she set up her own agency and now spends much of her time helping SMEs develop their brands.
Jo Lynn says that typically many smaller companies fail to do any PR because they don’t appreciate what they can achieve. “Yet as little as one to two hours a week can achieve astonishing results if you follow the rules,” she says.
The course covers how to set achievable PR objectives, getting to know journalists, building a media list, writing press releases, handling media interviews and measuring the business value of PR coverage.
A special feature of the course is an A-Z checklist of 152 ideas designed to help people find suitable media-worthy stories in their own organisations. The event concludes with an inspiring case study of how one person generated £5 million-worth of press and television coverage in little more than a day’s work.
Booking for PR on a Shoestring is open at www.pronashoestring.co.uk.
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Contact details
We hope you find this newsletter of interest. If you have any queries or would like to make a suggestion about future content, please contact New Venture Publishing using the contact details below.
New Venture Publishing Ltd, 29 Tivoli Road, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 5BG, UK.
Tel: +44 1273 565505. E-mail: info@newventurepublishing.co.uk
© New Venture Publishing Ltd 2010. All rights reserved.
New Venture Publishing Ltd is registered in England & Wales, number 5606789
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