The Research Wire-Trap

By: Chris Michaels, Sr. Account Manager, Fusion PR

Recently I received an e-mail blast of a study conducted by a company that was obviously hired by a newswire service. It claimed that service XXX was so much better than the rest because it garnered more “coverage” than any other service.

I laughed. Then I got angry. Because as I read the study, methodology, claims and results, I found that there were some very big flaws in this survey; the largest one is it's a giant hasty generalization.

Here’s what I found, and find offensive:

This first thing wrong with the survey, is that it does not take into account the newswire distribution ordered by the client (according to their parent company's earnings releases, “XXX Newswire’s clients use their YYY distribution”). It only looks at how many times someone mentioned the content of the release, regardless if it was to a desired outlet. Meanwhile other wire services allow for more customized local circuits and industries.

This survey also failed to take into account whether the client desired pick up or not. Some companies use newswires to meet disclosure requirements and as such, are not written to engage the average reporter but rather to provide key corporate information to the financial community/disclosure outlets.

The survey also didn’t take into consideration the media relations done by the client or their PR agency - who is to say that the newswire is responsible for the pick up? Because the study defines pick-up, “as any reference to the release subject matter in media published after the date and time of the release," it could claim that the wire service garnered any and all coverage. Therefore, if I did my usual proactive efforts, had an embargoed article that didn’t post until the story crossed the wire, and did my own distribution blast of the release to my client’s media “fans,” I don’t get credit for the hours of work that were put-in.

The last part is that the number of pickups is irrelevant to the number of eyeballs. Without the qualifications, I could get picked-up by 500 blogs with 3 readers, or I could get picked up by 4 blogs with 500,000 readers. According to the study, I would only have been successful had I attained coverage on the 500 blogs.

I think you get the point.

So, what would provide the better ROI?

Obviously it's something this study assumes is total coverage, regardless of outlet and article quality, and not the complete campaign effort from a PR team, in-house outreach. Instead it should have looked at combined campaigns, agency/in-house team outreach, and qualified the number of eyeballs.

Sticky-ness doesn’t rely just on the just distributing a release over a wire, but by the complete campaign efforts of a team to proactively pitch, follow-up and ensure that the news got to the right people.

Therefore the study begs the question, has this study, and the hiring agency, now alienated the entire community of PR professionals by claiming to do their work? 

Playing With Giants - Without Getting Stepped On…

By: Chris Michaels, Senior Account Manager, Fusion PR

Recently, my client and I had an opportunity to participate in a rather large public event . We were asked by a large corporation to contribute to the event, by supplying the technology that enabled a public demonstration. Children and their parents could all get to see the “science behind the magic.”

Sounds good, right?

Especially when you hear that you’re getting a joint press release, a spokesperson to endorse your client, a press reception with over 40 attendees and the ability to use footage for your own press efforts.

But then the “fit hits the shan,” so to speak. The event happens, and you’ve received bupkis. It’s been one headache after another trying to deal with their press liaisons; and after the dust clears your client is looking to you to clean up the mess.

Take it from me, it’s a lousy predicament. While you would love to take your slingshot and hit the Goliath between the eyes, you have to take into consideration a few things. Your client means little to them, even if they mean the world to your client. The third party validation alone is enough to raise eyebrows and get attention from the press, yet without having anything to show and only being allowed to press old news makes it difficult for you to do your job. Also, unless you have a contract that lays-out the explicit details the responsibilities and permissions; you may not be able to say a thing.

Larger corporations often play with a different set of rules when it comes to vendors, or service providers. They’re the story, not your client, and they might not want you to steal their limelight. So what can you do to make sure you can get something out of the whole situation?

Here are a few steps that should help:

1. Get it in writing – Even if your client has verbal agreements, depending on State, they don’t mean a thing unless it’s on paper and signed. Advise your clients to have a PR Section in vendor/service contracts that detail what you will need to put together an appropriate release/alert or case-study. Spokespersons, releases, brand guidelines, outreach and client liaison should all be detailed.
2. Get your contacts early – While your client may want to control the relationship with the big dog, push to get the conversations started ASAP with your counterpart at the other company. Explain the items in the contract and set up a deliverable schedule of when you will send things back and forth for review.
3. Don’t worry about doubling efforts – Unless contract clauses prevent you from doing your own outreach, press the heck out of the partnership. Even if the large company will continue outreach on its behalf, it may not be in your best interest to let them run the show. They have their own set of goals for coverage, and may not consider your messaging, positioning or even name when they reach out to the same person.
4. Eat your fiber – Well, at least call the counterpart regularly until the event. Either schedule a weekly check-in or become a pesky fly that keeps buzzing the ear, make sure you have the status updates well in advance. This way you’re more prepared and can have a better idea of success for both parties.

It can be easy to run with the big dogs, and don’t be afraid to hold your ground. They may have big feet, but don’t surrender unless you have to. Your client’s name is always bigger than theirs.