LT Public Relations

LT Public Relations recently connected with Portland, OR’s SCORE (www.scorepdx.org) – the 44 year old, non-profit, all volunteer organization whose mission is to help small business entrepreneurs become successful.

We will be helping SCORE (pro bono) get the word out about their remarkable services.  They are quite possibly the best kept secret in Portland for businesses looking to better themselves. 

Did you know they offer free small business counseling?  FREE! As well as advice, email counseling and numerous beneficial workshops for businesses.

LT Public Relations recently attended one of their workshops, “The Art of Selling for the Small Business.”  For a mere $50 (for about 4+ hours), we received valuable insights for not only selling, but for positioning businesses.

So check ‘em out . . . this blog is our first effort to tout the amazing resource of SCORE.

There was dancing and singing in the streets after reading this month’s Entrepreneur magazine column–”Make It Known” by Guy Kawasaki–about how if you’ve got a great product, a great brand will follow.  In one page, Mr. Kawasaki accurately highlighted eight important steps to successfully brand a product. 

Will let you read the column to appreciate each step–but Step #6 (Focus on PR, Not Advertising) had us cheering . . .

• Focus on PR, not advertising.  Many companies waste millions of dollars trying to establish brands through advertising.  When it comes to branding, too much money is worse than too little, because when you have a lot of money, you spend a lot of money on stupid things, like Super Bowl commericials.  Brands are built on what people are saying about you, not what you’re saying about yourself. People say good things about when 1) you have a great product and 2) you get people to spread the word about it.

Bravo.  Well said.  Although he didn’t outline how to focus on PR (that’s our job at LT Public Relations), the point is that public relations is one of the most valuable, efficient and impactful ways to brand your company. 

The folks at Creative Brand Communications can certainly help with outlining a plan for the other branding steps mentioned in the article (e.g. cascade the message, create one message, etc.).  And when it comes down to guiding companies through the world of PR and generating positive buzz, look no further than LT Public Relations.

Barrack Obama today (8/21) conducted one of public relation’s oldest tactics . . . THE TEASE.

The Illinois Senator and Democratic nominee for President of the United States today said that “I’ve decided on my running mate.”  But he intentionally didn’t say who.  What a brilliant tease!

As John McCain has closed the gap on Obama in a recent Wall Street Journal poll, the Obama camp had to react quickly to silence that news with other potentially positive news–hence, the timing of today’s “running mate” news.

It could be days until Obama reveals the name of his running mate–but now the buzz is officially on this running mate development, and not the news of McCain’s momentum.  It’s almost guaranteed that the national press will have this news as tomorrow’s headline –and bury the McCain news. 

So the tease worked wonders on two fronts . . .1) Generated buzz 2) Depleted attention from negative news.

At LT Public Relations, we’re politically agnostic–but we do appreciate a well executed PR tactic.  Score one for the Obama camp today.

The only thing getting more attention in the 2008 Olympics than Michael Phelps is the Speedo LZR Suit.    Talk about a grand slam public relations campaign that has now taken on a life of its own . . . if there was an Olympic competition for PR, then Speedo would have more all-time golds than Mark Spitz, Michael Phelps and Carl Lewis combined.

We wanted to break down why this has been a perfect PR campaign for Speedo.  The following is a list (in no particular order) highlighting the PR brilliance (and a little luck) that Speedo is enjoying right now:

1. The most decorated Olympian of all-time, Michael Phelps, is wearing your product
2. Michael Phelps is the most watched, most talked about athlete of the most watched Olympics of all-time
3. Although the Speedo LZR Suit was launched prior to the Olympics, the timing of making a big splash (pun intended) during the Olympics was impeccable
4. There’s heeps of controversy around your product (sometimes controversy has all the makings of good PR)
5. Athletes, journalists and the international swimming federation are positively defending your product in the wake of all the controversy
6. Competing companies (e.g. Adidas and Nike) are playing catch-up
7. Your product rocks!

The Olympics have always been a beacon of ideas and innovation for companies–there’s really no better platform to raise awareness about a company on a worldly scale than the Olympics (sorry Super Bowl). This week’s (8/18/08) BusinessWeek cover story, “Olympics & Innovation” goes into more depth on how companies use the Games to develop new products and ideas.

Speedo probably put a lot of effort and resources into promoting itself during the Beijing Olympics, but it’s the PR attention they’re getting from the buzz created that will truly raise the awareness.

Well Speedo, LT Public Relations give you the PR Gold.  Well done.

A good portion of public relations activitiy is supporting client’s sponsorships at events, conferences, etc.  Although “sponsorships” typically fall under the marketing department’s umbrella, we see a tremendous amount of opportunities to push sponsorships further . . . if you’re willing to be creative and know how/what to present to the event’s coordinators.

Sponsoring an event can be a very impactful and cost-effective way to communicate an organization’s message and brand.  What’s not cost-effective is half-assing the sponsorship by simply cutting a check so that the organization’s name is plastered on a sign or in the program with many other companies. 

True sponsorship means going the extra mile and being creative in how you communicate, and strategically working with the event’s coordinators to ensure your sponsorship money is being maximized. 

For example, in Hot Springs, AR, the sponsors of the Miss Arkansas Pagent (a huge event every year) receive four tickets to the event and two full-page ads in the program–but the kicker is that sponsors also have the right to have one appearance by the winner at their office or company event.  The cost . . . a mere $2000. Where most companies would have been fine with cutting a check for $2K for a little recognition, the true value is in the winner’s appearance at the office. Now that’s good PR.

Inc. Magazine’s April 2008 issue highlighted the importance of stretching the sponsorship dollar further in the article, “Blessed Events: How to make a sponsorship pay off.” The article provides additional examples of how sponsorships can be more impactful.

At LT Public Relations, we often ask our clients’ marketing executives what sponsorships they’re conducting.  We feel that each time our clients’ names are out in public is an ideal opportunity to further make an impact with the audience they’re trying to attract. Knowing that our clients hold some pretty powerful cards with their sponsorship dollars, it’s worth maximizing the sponsorship with some extra bonus activity to raise our clients’ awareness.

If you have about 30 minutes to spare, enjoy today’s (8/10/08) Podcast brought to you by Market Accelerators.  LT Public Relations was interviewed to provide its perspective on the public relations industry and some of the best (and worst) PR campaigns ever.

http://accel.podbean.com.

For those of you who found LT Public Relation’s blog through the Podcast . . . WELCOME.  Please take some time and read past blog posts and visit us periodically for fresh content from the world of public relations.

LT Public Relations was asked during a recent podcast to name some of the best and worst public relations campaigns in recent memory. 

Immediately, the conversation turned to the enormously successful Microsoft Windows 95 launch.  The buzz it created was unmatched at the time–reporters were giving it the thumbs up, industry analysts approved it, consumers devoured it, and everyone was humming along to the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” -the tune in Microsoft’s ubiquitous ad campaign.  Bottom line . . . PR supported a great product.

Fast forward to 2006 and the launch of Windows Vista.  Considered by most involved a PR nightmare.  The product was ridiculously delayed, initial tech reporters were questioning Vista’s viable-ness, and IT supporters across the world immediately uncovered Vista’s biggest flaw . . . it just wasn’t a good product. At Microsoft, it was All-Hands-On-Deck and PR was the biggest driver to spread the word that Vista had arrived.  The PR campaign was well executed, and the timing was fine–but again, it was the product that wasn’t strong.

Today’s blog is about how sometimes PR is designed to be the savior of less-than-perfect products.  Using aggressive public relations campaigns to try and “spin” the perception that the product is good is often disastrous and can have the reverse effect–i.e. bad PR.

You see this tactic all the time.  For example, movie studios developing marketing and public relations ploys to attract people into the theatre to witness sub-par films.  They might be able to convince the first batch of movie-goers to pay $10+, but the buzz will end once the “critics” tell the public, “don’t bother seeing it.”

The last example to share of an over-hyped product that simply didn’t deliver is the recent launch of Cuil–The Internet’s newest search engine.  Before its launch, Cuil touted that it would be the best search engine (even better than the juggernaut Google). But then came the launch . . . and Cuil horrifically under-delivered.  However, the PR and marketing campaign evidently worked wonders–Cuil drove countless people to its site on the day of the launch.  Only problem–Cuil wasn’t ready and failed miserably. Even a week later, Cuil is having issues, as documented in yesterday’s (8/4/08) Silicon Alley Insider article.

The power of a well crafted public relations campaign can be remarkable.  But if the product is a lemon, don’t look to PR to make lemonade.