Index

When is comes to your business or product, the amount of "heat" you apply to your publicity campaign can be the difference between success and failure. Too much publicity heat and you'll "get burned", not enough publicity heat and your campaign won't be "well done". Believe it or not, parallels drawn between publicity and heat/fire can help you determine the right "temperature" for your PR campaign.

I like to think of publicity campaigns in three "publicity degree" categories:

Flash Fire Publicity; Controlled-Burn Publicity; Firefighting Publicity.

Each has its proper time and place - and can be used accordingly to benefit your business.

FLASH FIRE PUBLICITY:

This is the type of publicity that ignites a quick and sometimes short-lived media-interest blast for a venture. It is most often used for pitches that may have a relatively short shelf life. You've heard of the phrase "15 minutes of fame" - in keeping with the theme of this article we'll call it the "15 minutes of FLAME". This type of publicity campaign generates almost immediate media placements and can burn itself out after just a few weeks. But, given the right tending, it can also be the precursor to a more extensive, lengthy campaign - that, of course, all depends on your publicity goals and your PR staff's ability to reach those goals. Flash fire publicity is many times tied to a particular date, time period or current event. For example -- remember the recent stories about the increased number of injuries resulting from scooter accidents. A client of mine was in the final stages of developing a scooter safety product when the report came out. We quickly tied up our loose ends and launched our campaign right after the Consumer Product Safety Commission released their report to the media. Our pitch proved to be a great media interest vehicle and generated a number of immediate stories in newspapers and TV news affiliates in the U.S. & Canada. (This campaign has now progressed to the "controlled burn publicity" phase described below.) Perhaps it could be likened to cooking. Flash fire publicity can be seen as the quick, high-heat searing that is done to prepare the food for further cooking -- that of course can be followed by differing temperatures to get the /food job "well done".

CONTROLLED-BURN PUBLICITY:

More directed, even-tempered publicity heat is applied in the "controlled-burn" campaign. The controlled-burn is more methodical and lends itself well to product/website launches designed to generate a continual flow of sales or traffic over a long period of time. It's much like the common practice of burning prairies and pastureland done by conservation or wildlife workers. The fires are started deliberately, meticulously and burn slowly over a long time span. These controlled fires cover a large area of land and by the time they are complete, the field is more manageable, fertile and ultimately more prosperous. The same principle holds true in a publicity campaign. Creating controlled media exposure and placements (newspaper/magazine stories; broadcast stories/interviews) over a long period of time helps strengthen a business/product's roots in the marketplace. The controlled, long-term exposure leads to increased brand recognition, consumer awareness and acceptance - all without placing a single ad. Spreading the media placements out over a number of months helps prevent against the flash of multiple, simultaneous media stories and the subsequent "wall of fire" consumer response that may inundate your sales fulfillment capabilities for a short time. By being in control of your publicity temperature, you can effectively stoke the fire OR contain the flames to create as much publicity as your business can accommodate at any given time.

*** Some publicity campaigns are a series of flash fire pitches, while others incorporate a combination of flash fire and controlled burn tactics. The key is to create that initial spark of interest for the media, and keep the embers glowing over the next several months/years by fanning the fire with periodic newsworthy media releases and pitches.

FIREFIGHTING PR:

Hopefully your PR specialist will never have to use this element of publicity for your venture or business. Firefighting PR is a reactive publicity campaign that is implemented when something bad has happened or is about to happen in your business - product recall, employee layoffs, earnings shortfall, etc.. It is very difficult to give general advice on this type of publicity because each situation must be handled very carefully, taking present AND future implications into consideration. Regardless of the situation one thing is certain - truthful, forthright media relations is best to douse the flames. One thing that hurt a tire company recently is that they spent the first few weeks pointing fingers at others before finally taking at least partial responsibility. The quicker the problem is recognized, acknowledged and resolved, the quicker you can begin applying the previously mentioned publicity practices to generate more positive publicity for the next several months.

The success of your venture's publicity campaign depends on your PR department/specialist's "fire watch" expertise -- knowing when/how to ignite the fire, fan the flames, or extinguish the blaze. Here's hoping the perfect "publicity heat" leads to some "cold cash" for your business.

Todd F. Brabender
Spread The News Public Relations, Inc.
Generating publicity & media exposure for innovative products/businesses/websites.
Phone/Fax--(785) 842-8909
http://www.spreadthenewspr.com
todd@spreadthenewspr.com