INK PUBLIC RELATIONS

Oh, the lowly Press Release. So many blog posts have been dedicated to your existence – are you dead, are you passe, are you just too worthless to be relied upon? We often tell our clients a press release is a necessary evil in terms of getting all spokespeople and reporters on the same page when it comes to the basics of the news (yep, those 5 W’s and that one H). We don’t rely on it as a coverage driver, but as a messaging guide – we do this because often the press releases our clients finally do approve are chock full of industry jargon and not of much use to reporters in their final state. 

BUT, consider this – what if the press release actually did contain all of the information needed, as was the case with this GE/Nuventix release we had the pleasure of pitching around last week. We pitched this news under embargo, and the response was staggering – not only did reporters from NY Times, USA Today and WSJ (among others) agree to the embargo (I mean yes, it was GE), but they only had one obvious question, which was the one answer left out of the press release – how much does it cost. 

The press release contained the majority of the key information, PLUS it had pictures! (Novel idea, I know.) It was well written and picked up all over the place, proving that no the press release isn’t dead, or passe, or even worthless – it just needs to be done right. Kudos to GE’s internal PR guy Dave for getting the most out of a tried-and-true PR tactic.

Speaking of visually telling a story, check out this SlashGear video of our client Tech21′s CEO Jason Roberts explaining the technology behind impactology and the line of Tech21 cases:

He uses real language (and I’m sure there is plenty of tech jargon he could have thrown in there). He uses analogies we can all understand. He shares examples of how the tech’s been used before (in a rocket, how cool is that) AND he visually shows examples of how the tech does what it says it will do – protects, his finger in this case. Pretty impressive stuff all the way around.

Oh and the other thing that’s impressive? The team making the magic happen, and with less than the time it takes to properly form a habit (they say that takes two weeks, btw) – Kari, Allison, Jennifer and Jessica. Nice job ladies!

We have had a lot of news to get out there lately. In fact, if I never hear the word “pitch” again it will be too soon. Alas, that’s a big part of our job and I’ll be pitching away again just as soon as I hit post. One thing has stood out to me in this latest cycle of media frenzy: it’s not about the relationships you have, it’s about telling a good story.

Most people reading this will say “well duh, Starr.” But think about it. When a prospective client comes to us they always want to know what media relationships we have, and the more names we drop – Walt Mossberg, Ed Baig, David Pogue, Eric Zeman, Sascha Segan (I could go on and on, trust me) – the higher we go on the consideration list. But I promise you, we wouldn’t have those relationships if we didn’t feed them with good stories, and if we didn’t know when a story wasn’t good enough. In that sense, to me, it’s not as important what relationships we currently have as it is if we know how to build relationships with the right people. If I send a crappy story to Walt I can tell you it doesn’t matter how often we’ve talked in the past, he’s not going to respond. It’s that simple.

So the better question for prospective clients to ask would be “Do you know how to build relationships?” Yep, we do. It’s all about telling good stories.

What you need to get your story written:

- Something big, different, new, unique, timely; bonus points for integrating contention (Note: this is the part clients usually feel they have nailed – “new product!” “new way of doing this old thing!” “new company launch!” I would agree they have the beginning, but it’s usually not fully baked. Still, they tend to fall down on the below points much faster than in this area.)

- That something needs to be relevant to the person AND THE PUBLICATION being pitched (it’s all about the audience of the pub, truly). For instance, there are very few coverage possibilities for enterprise IT products (databases, storage) in business publications right now, unless you’re going public, are backed by industry heavyweights and/or have changed the face of IT as we know it. If that shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it. Your customers probably aren’t in that audience anyway. It’s our job to find the right places to pitch your story – it’s your job to trust us that we know what we’re talking about.

- Clear, real language needs to be used all over the place – jargon is a story killer, 100%. (Heed the LOLcat.)

- Analogies, examples, and people that will be references for you or your product are a MUST.

- Clients need to be on the same page with what the story is, and they need to deliver in the interview (we can help with our prep and media training, but at the end of the day you have to be able to tell your story)

- Visuals are a requirement. Every company needs to understand how to tell their story visually.

Any elements you would add? Let me know in the comments. And don’t just take my word for it – tons of reporters will give you this very same advice, including Ben Parr at Mashable who wrote this blog post on the subject last fall. (Ben, had to steal the pic you used for the post too – nothing wrong with spreading around a little LOLcat. )

It’s April. The 27th to be exact. We haven’t posted since the end of March. That’s embarrassing. I can make plenty of excuses – every single client has had a big news push this month! we have one staffer on maternity and another on vacation! the sky is falling! – but at the end of the day, we all find time for the things that are important to us. This blog needs to move up the list.

It’s not like we haven’t had big news ourselves in April. A things come to mind:

- Jennifer Sisk joined our team as senior account executive. We could not be more happy (seriously, could not) to have her on board. She’s jumped right in like she never wasn’t here. Go follow her on Twitter. She’s got the best Klout (or is it Klouchebag) score on our team (blog post for another day).

- We won two new accounts: welcome Tech21 and Flash Valet, both launching (one in North America, one for the first time to the world) in May. Flash Valet is part of our new offering for early stage start-ups (again, blog post for another day).

- We have been blowing the doors off on the media relations front for all of our clients and are excited to see the fruits of that labor in the coming weeks.

And while no longer really INK news, but certainly always part of the INK family, former INKer Beth welcomed Olive Monroe to the world (she is her mini-me, adorable).

Get ready – we’ve got a website redo coming, we’ve got big news for early stage start-ups, we’ve got opinions galore on crap going on in the world. And, it’s the last Friday in April. Watch out May, we’re coming for you.

Just saw this quote in an article on Mashable about start-up OneID:

“OneID is like what PayPal should have been when it comes to security,” Kirsch said. “We are going to leapfrog PayPal. We are PayPal 4.0.”

That, my friends, is a quote. It’s got an analogy to help people understand the start-up’s business model and key differentiators, putting it in perspective with a company the audience knows. It’s got conflict in terms of calling out a company on what it’s not doing right. It’s got visual words – when’s the last time you used “leapfrog” in a quote? Quite frankly, it’s got balls.

Clients: if you want to be quoted (which I know you do), you have to speak in real English (NO ONE actually says the word “robust”). You have to paint a picture with your words. You have to go out on a limb and provide the conflict the media and audience are looking for. And sometimes, you need to have balls.

Seen a good quote lately? Share in the comments. Corporate spokespeople need all the inspiration they can get!

He's got balls.

Saturday morning, day 2 (or the first full day 1) of SXSWi. Daughter 1 off to dance class, daughter 2 snuggled in with Dad, I headed downtown for a panel from four leaders of the PR agency world (one being my former boss, Gary Stockman, CEO of Porter Novelli). I was thinking I would hear something about “the changing world of PR” or some other battle lessons learned by the “big guys.” I did not think I would be third in a line of about 50 people waiting to get into an already packed room at 15 minutes till go-time. It became a one-in-one-out situation, but I made it in 5 minutes after start (apparently the guy at the door took pity on me – I *might* have looked ready to cry at the prep I had done to get there and the thought of missing my target). 

Instead of your basic “lessons learned” the panelists critiqued the handling of PR by companies American Airlines, Lowes and Netflix. An interesting approach that kept the audience engaged due to a common experience with each brand, this allowed the panelists to share some broadbased insight. I do believe there was a frustration among the crowd though who thought these brand critiques had nothing at all to do with their business, their start-up. After all, small companies looking to use PR to advance their own brands WAY out number the big brands of the world doing their thing with PR as one tool in their toolbox. 

For those tech start-ups, entreprenuers, and small company owners in the crowd, this is what I heard that can also apply to you: 

- Incorporate communications FROM THE BEGINNING. We are communicating in real time these days – we don’t have the opportunity to react in days or weeks, but rather must do so in minutes or hours. If you know your communication plan, messages, objectives from the start, you’ll be able to move as fast as any news cycle, any crisis, any opportunity that comes your way.

- Talk like humans. This cannot be overstated. Get out of your own head, out of your own bubble, and speak English. This will serve you will no matter your company size, no matter your business. “Tech talk” is REALLY old and overdone. 

- Don’t rely just on mainstream media to tell your story. Find those online influencers (and those real-life influencers in the communities you serve) that will be brand advocates for you. These are people that are passionate about the problem you’re solving, and even if you’re figuring out a bigger badder SQL database, there is a DBA somewhere that is going to be PSYCHED about that. Find him. 

- Integrate your communications. Even for a one-product start-up, this is a necessity. When you launch, you’ll have the press release and the mainstream media coverage, but don’t forget to update your website, email your customers (or potential customers) – hit all of your audiences where they live, all at the same time. 

- Listen, listen, listen. This goes back to getting out of your own bubble a bit, but if you aren’t listening you are not only going to hurt yourself on the communication front, but you might even miss that you’re creating a solution for a problem people don’t think is that big of a deal. Listening will serve you well in all aspects of your business, and communications professionals can help you figure out the best tools. 

- Lastly, be consistent with what you say AND what you do, over time. Perhaps you’ll have an awesome launch with excellent media coverage, but you’ve got to keep up the communication and the engagement on a daily basis to be successful and build a brand that anyone cares about.

We’ve talked quite a bit about storytelling lately. It’s always been something we pride ourselves on doing well, it’s the essence of what our business is about (“we are professional storytellers in search of the right words and the right audience for your tale of success”), and it’s hard to do well. At SXSW yesterday, it was the topic of a panel attended by INK’s Jessica Warren. One of her tweets from the mouth’s of one of the panelists stuck in my head – “if it doesn’t offend anyone, it’s not going to excite anyone.”

Let that sink in for a second. It’s not saying “if it doesn’t offend anyone, it’s not a good story.” (That was actually what I thought for quite awhile till I read it again.) Stories aren’t stories without confict. The protagonist needs the atagonist, reporters need the good and the bad, no one writes a 100% glowing story on a company. But is conflict offensive? Does the negative always offend someone? And if a creation story (like how Tabbedout was born from the idea that people like founder Rick Orr shoudn’t have to wait an hour for his tab) doensn’t offend someone is it not exciting? I’m sure Tabbedout’s investors would beg to differ.

So perhaps we don’t need to get offensive to tell a good story, but we do need to start doing a better job of telling engaging stories – those that are interesting for both company and customer, that acknowledge the bad just as they herald the good, those that are INTERESTING. From Jessica’s notes of the panel she attended: “I learned that anyone can tell a great and interesting story – even the ‘most boring’ company or topic. It’s just a matter of finding the right audience, the right message, and the right means to tell it.” That’s what we love to do, and are good at doing – lucky for us, and our clients. More on storytelling as it relates to PR – and as it relates to transparency (storytelling ≠ not telling the truth) – tomorrow.

Other stuff we loved (or not) from SXSWi Day One:

- Um, didn’t love the rain. And the cold. And the rain. WTF, it was 80 last week!?! Did love that everyone seemed to bond over how crappy the weather is.

- Loved David Eagleman’s panel The Secret Lives of the Brain. Learned tha almost everything we attribute to cognition is running under the hood, incognito.

- Happy that the green room looks awesome and is so much fun (see Micaela, Allison and Adrienne hamming it up below), and the Gemalto lounge is rocking.

- Who doesn’t love the people watching? And the running into people you never see in Austin? (Hello Walt Mossberg, middle of the hall, and thanks for the big ol’ hug. )

More to come…

Micaela, Allison and Adrienne ham it up in INK green room at SXSWi

It’s SXSW eve. For some, that means prep for parties, travel, anticipation of who they’ll see and what they’ll do. For INK, it means prep for clients, travel (of the 15-30 minute variety – gotta love it when the best thing happening is in your own backyard), and anticipation of what we’ll learn and how our clients will do. We’ve got a lot going on this year, for our clients and the SXSWi speaker pool at large. For the second year running we’re hosting a fun and stress-free getaway in the speaker ready room (more on that tomorrow from @karihernandez). And as if calming down thousands of stressed out speakers wasn’t enough, we’re also excited for the many ways three of our clients are making their own bold statements throughout the show:

@CSID: this team owns SXSW panels on Monday. If you want to know about voice verification, cloud security and breach preparedness, these are your panels.

@Gemalto_NA: stop by the lounge for coffee, happy hour, and a few podcasts in between; panels on Sat will tune you in to mobile payment and digital security.

@Tabbedout: party much? Pay with Tabbedout at the Interactive Opening Party at the Belmont Friday night. Then go check out more on mobile payment at founder Rick Orr’s panel on Tuesday.

The INK team will be taking this opportunity to soak up as much of the SXSWi experience as possible. Beyond supporting our clients’ events, you can find us listening and learning at sessions throughout the show, and mingling at parties and events throughout the week. If you see one of us, be bold and say hi – let’s have a beer, and share a story or two.

We could not be happier to welcome our 7th second-gen INKer, Frida Parker Poloskey, to the world (yes, we’ve been busy over the last 4 years!). Well, the only thing that could make us happier is if her arrival didn’t mean we wouldn’t be graced with her mother’s presence for the next 10 weeks. Blair, you will be missed more than you know. Btw, way to be a trooper at your shower on Friday – no one would have known you had the flu and were about to have a baby (two weeks early) less than 48 hours later!

Frida Parker - beautiful baby, with mama's neutral face