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Without promotion something
terrible happens… Nothing.
P.T. Barnum
enews is a quarterly update of
tips, tools and resources to help
you increase your profits through
consistent marketing and promotion.
We represent clients on
special and ongoing projects,
and also consult.
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• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • •
PR HAS NEVER BEEN MORE CHALLENGING
It's June. We're at our desks, setting the groundwork for fall campaigns. Summer is a busy PR season. Now is when we start the important advance work for autumn campaigns.
Fall is the best season for book sales, and for the publishing industry. It is a pivotal time of year for the art world…and it is the cultural arena's busiest season for debuts of new music, dance and design. Being the biggest gift-buying period of the year, it is also ripe for companies seeking to create buzz about their new products.
From mid-November to mid-December, the media and the public focus on the holidays and end-of-year preoccupations. We consider it a media black-out period - ideal for updating buzz-worthy databases, catching up on the newest trends and taking some R&R.
With the New Year, a fresh new window of media possibilities open. Winter is rich with opportunities for public speaking engagements, panel discussions, seminars and artist or author dinners held in lofts or the private rooms of bistros and cafes.
A More Competitive Landscape
Whatever the season, PR has never been more challenging. Traditional media—printed magazines and newspapers—are still losing readership and revenue, though some new titles are launching. TV programs are cutting back and reducing staffs. Editors of prominent publications disappear from mastheads seemingly overnight. Many remaining publications have far fewer pages due to diminished advertising. What is left is a far more competitive landscape that demands taking the lead in initiating media coverage about genuinely newsworthy projects.
Not all the news is grim. Online opportunities for gaining visibility and reaching large and dedicated audiences abound: social media has taken much of the influence that traditional media once wielded. Cyber buzz often helps attract the attention of mainstream media (and is redefining the idea of “mainstream media”). We work in both traditional and new media platforms, and consider them equally important.
We don’t rely on any single media or public platform for our projects. Instead, we utilize several channels: traditional, online and social media; public forums including discussions, seminars and other events; and digital and printed publications.
That’s why we ask prospective clients these questions before beginning a project:
- Is the subject of the media campaign tied to a larger issue, such as a cultural news item or political or social trends? If so it might be possible to promote it via moderated discussions, seminars or op-ed pieces.
- How can it be promoted online and through social media? Options include blog campaigns, Facebook pages, podcasts, book trailers and YouTube videos.
- What is the client's "backstory”? Elements of the client’s history or circumstances that are riveting or newsworthy can often attract media coverage—which, if managed well, translates into effective publicity.
- Is a celebrity involved? Celebrities drive media coverage.
- Would TV programs be interested? Why, and which ones? TV utilizes experts or spokespeople to tell a story or comment on one. Producers want to be assured that a subject will come across well before they book him or her for a segment. That’s why, when we pitch clients to TV, we often show them a video of our client discussing a relevant topic.
- Is there a budget for a launch party, symposium or other event? If not, will a patron, friend, corporate client or other sponsor underwrite one? If the event takes place in a wired setting with multimedia capacity, it can be streamed live online, or videotaped and utilized in a subsequent promotion.
- Is there enough time to plan and launch a successful campaign?
Time is oxygen to PR agencies. If we don't have at least four months of advance time for a campaign, it is less likely to work. We don't like to decline interesting projects, but in that case, we often must.
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PROMOTING CULTURE, EVENTS & LIFESTYLE |
Cultural Communications
455 Park Avenue, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10022 |
212.505.1253 tel | 917.591.7633 fax |
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© 2009 Cultural Communications
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