How do you call a journalist and pitch an idea? It’s a notion that ties knots in the stomachs of the most seasoned PR professionals. You know you are dealing with people who are smart, savvy, always on deadline, and extremely jaded. They’ve heard it all before. Just what are you going to say before they hang up?
Five Rules of Media Pitching
Five rules of media engagement are strict and pity the PR pro who runs afoul of them. As a leading boutique NYC PR agency, we know that effective media pitching means:
· Know the media you are pitching. No two journalists want the same story. Study articles they have written, and understand the audience of their publication or blog. The Wall Street Journal is not the same as Fortune or Forbes.
· Be original. If you are pitching a trend, it better be new, or have a new angle.
· Be quick. Have your pitch down pat so you can articulate it in 25 words or less.
· Be ready to provide backup materials and a credible, high-level expert they can interview
· Stats help; original research usually generates interest
There are times PR firms are pitching products so commercial the hope of coverage is slim. That’s when real creativity comes into play. Products like spirits are among the hardest to pitch.
But I’ve been at NYC PR agencies that developed two of the most creative spirits pitching I’ve ever seen, and also among the most successful:
· I introduced flavored vodka for Stolichnaya.
· I was at the agency that made Korbel Champagne a household word.
Essence of media pitching:
Both of these innovative PR programs involved key components of creative pitching:
· Surveys
· Spokespeople
· Media tours
For Stolichnaya we established credibility by hiring a professor of Russian studies at a premier liberal arts college to be our spokesperson. She also had written a cookbook about Russian cuisine and that’s how we found her – in a bookstore! We created media events and a media tour around her, and our team worked closely with her to develop an informed narrative about Russian culture and cuisine. She cooked on the air, and demonstrated how Russians pair flavored vodkas with various appetizers.
Our NYC media event generated coverage in The New York Times, Esquire, and The New York Post, among others.
For Korbel, our wine and spirits team developed one of the most innovative PR programs I have ever witnessed. Faced with the daunting prospect of trying to advocate drinking champagne on a regular basis, the team engaged in focus groups and creative sessions to come up with what people thought of when they heard the word “champagne.” The most common response: ROMANCE!
From there the team went into action. They created the world’s first “Director of Romance.” The woman hired to “fill” this position became our spokesperson, and the plan was to book her on media tours throughout the U.S.
But what would she talk about? Certainly we knew she could not advocate drinking champagne – let alone a specific brand – on the air.
The team relied heavily on surveys. They conducted an intensive series of surveys with American consumers on the topic of romance. Armed with this information, they were able to book the “Korbel Champagne Director of Romance” on a wide variety of talk shows in major markets. She talked romance, and was introduced as Korbel Champagne’s Director of Romance. She was attractive, entertaining, was able to demonstrate ideas like planning a romantic weekday evening, pairing champagne with food, and much more. The idea was well developed and thus appealed to segment producers and guest bookers who are always seeking new and fun ways to entertain their audiences.
Though both of these programs focused on lighter fare like food, culture, and romance, we didn’t take these pitches lightly. We understood our spokespeople had to be credible, they had to be armed with new and noteworthy information, and they had to have superb presentation skills. We never took the media for granted. These pitches were professional, well developed, and were geared specifically to the media that mattered most: segment producers for talk shows, and food editors.
Creative PR pitches can go far “outside the box” but they need to stay within the bounds of credible, new and noteworthy ideas for media success.