Public Relations and You!

As the owner of a branding company, I often wear the hat of publicist. Every company needs a public relations person or firm. Not every company is aware of the value of a good PR person or what it is exactly they do. A common misconception is a PR person is capable of making another brand or person famous. While we all wish this was true, it isn’t. Consider how many PR firms and PR reps exist today. Think about the clients they have. Wouldn’t everyone BE famous if this was true?!

PR agents are only as good as the clients they represent. Clients who sit back and watch, not realizing they need to be doing something, will be frustrated with any PR person they hire. Clients who are willing to copilot a PR campaign will see the benefits in having a PR agency or person on their side. I recently read a great article via Media Bistro on the top PR myths for 2014. I strongly agree with every noted in the article, which you can find here: http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/top-5-pr-myths-to-debunk-in-2014_b80503

Let me discuss how PR efforts can benefit you.

1. You need to have a public image and a contact for the media. Not everyone in the media is going to run your story all of the time- or even half of the time. You have to hit when media value and relevancy are on your industry. Your PR person can help with this.

2. You need to have a PR person to help you during crisis communications. Yes, there are tactics to navigate these times. Tylenol bounced back and so did Robert Downey, Jr. thanks to their PR teams’ navigation of media affairs.

3. Clipping and reel collections and media value monitoring.

4. Pitching. Press releases are great, but they don’t mean sales. In fact, an increase in profits doesn’t always happen (for the first two years anyway) when a publicist is involved. It takes time and a lot of planning, pitching and phone calls.

5. You will not have overnight success the second, or even six months, after your hire a PR firm. Know your expectations, goals and what you’re willing to put into a campaign. You have to have a product to sell to the media outside of just having a publicist. And, most importantly, you need a manager or a marketing team to work with your publicity team.

I’m available for private business consultations, including covering areas of publicity and marketing.

Please use one of the links (right) to contact me.

Until next time,

Coco the CEO