Why does the cat always catch the mouse? When you think of how agile and quick a mouse can be, it should easily outmaneuver the cat. Yet, most of the time, the cat will catch the mouse.
That’s not just a fun question. It’s actually a way of thinking that applies to PR and business.
First off, I’m not an expert on mice or cats. I’m allergic to cats and I hate mice. But as a person who lives in Brooklyn, and every New Yorker will tell you – “if you have mice, get a cat and the problem will go away.”
I got to thinking about that concept when watching of all things – Tom and Jerry – with my son. It got me thinking of the relationship between cat and mice, and the reporter and publicist. Here’s a closer look at what the classic cat and mouse game can teach us about media strategy.
It’s the perennial crisis communications question: how do you control negative news once it’s out? And when you know more bad news is coming, how do you release it?
The end-game strategy of crisis communications is to get your business out of the news as quickly as possible. You don’t want a story to linger, or new developments to unfold because it keeps your story in the news cycle.
News is always about advancing a story. During my time as Executive Producer with NBC, we would frequently see a story in the morning’s New York Post or Daily News – and try to figure out how to advance it. No one wants to read old news. It’s why the phrase is a cliche.
Every day new information unfolds about your scandal, the more heavily favored your story is to remain in the news.
How do you Release Bad News?
If your business is in the headlines with negative news – and more bad news is still buried away – make sure you get it out as quickly as possible. All of it.
You don’t want a drip, drip, drip because it gives reporters new elements to advance their story. Every new release of more negative information gives your story another element to gain traction.
The challenge with managing negative news is you must provide a solution that demonstrates why the problem won’t happen again. Without that element, the story is still unresolved. The public also wants to know why this bad incident won’t happen again.
And it’s more than just issuing an apology. Many politicians wrongly believe an apology will lead to forgiveness with voters. Yes – Americans are very forgiving, but they don’t won’t support a hypocrite. Yet, another reason to reinforce why this pattern for negative behavior won’t return.
MACIAS PR has run crisis campaigns for politicians, nonprofits and financial organizations. If you’re facing a difficult situation and need private consultation, feel free to email us and we’ll coordinate a time to speak.
Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017 and 2018 Strategic PR Firm of the Year. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year. The founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. He’s also a frequent contributor with CNBC and author of the books, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media and the Tao of PR.
Surrounding yourself with smart advisors will make any entrepreneur better. But when it comes to the corporate boardroom, unfortunately, politics can push out the best.
Over the years, I’ve worked with entrepreneurs, CEOs, politicians and experienced marketers who wanted to elevate their brand with the media. Without any question, the leaders who shared the most information with their publicists got the best media coverage.
For more than three years, my PR agency led the publicity strategy for the highly popular weight loss program, Noom. Back in 2016, few people had heard of this brand, but today, it’s one of the largest weight loss programs.
Growth Driven by Intention
When I first started working with Noom, the health tech company didn’t have a CMO to keep me away from their cofounders. As a result, I had full reign to gather information and learn about new updates. This open-door policy with the founders gave me unfiltered access to conversations that kept me in the loop and inspired new ideas.
This access led to publicity with all of the major publications, including Entrepreneur, CNBC, NBC Today Show, TechCrunch and Washington Post. In 2018, Google named Noom one of the top search terms in the health and fitness section.
I don’t share this to brag. I share this as an example of what can happen when you let your PR team or publicist run with unfiltered information.
Believe it or not, there are many leaders who don’t like their outside publicist speaking directly with their CEO. I’m sure there are logical reasons for this: They don’t want to waste their CEO’s time, maybe the CEO wants a buffer with the publicist, or they want to keep internal information, well, internal.
That’s understandable. But internal check-ins provide your publicist with unfiltered information that could inspire new media campaigns. News must be new and timely. The hardest media campaigns involve stagnant brands that don’t introduce new elements.
And if an internal crisis begins brewing, make sure your communications person has a seat at the table. And not just any seat, but the most pronounced seat.
I always tell my team we sell the big picture but communicate the details. These details are the nuances that typically pique the interest of reporters. If your gatekeeper doesn’t communicate these nuances, you are less likely to succeed in the strategy of publicity.
About Mark Macias
Mark Macias is a former Executive Producer with NBC, Senior Producer with CBS, and frequent contributor to Forbes, CNBC and Entrepreneur. City & State Magazine named him to their PR Power 50 list in New York. MACIAS PR has led B2B and B2C media campaigns for brands across healthcare, tech, politics and nonprofits.
Building a brand from scratch is never easy, but there are tactics and approaches you can take that will help scale your brand faster.
On the surface, most entrepreneurs naturally gravitate to large media outlets. They rightfully assume that getting coverage in a national publication will get their mission, services and products out there faster.
And while that is true, I’ve found there is often another overlooked group that many entrepreneurs purposely avoid.
I recently wrote an article for Entrepreneur, elaborating on why smaller media shouldn’t be overlooked. You can read that article by clicking here, but if you’re short on time, here’s an abridged version of the key points from my thought leadership.
Empathy is a powerful word that leads to change. When you’ve experienced a setback first-hand, you will be more caring, kind and compassionate to others going through the same situation. This approach also works with PR.
If your PR team genuinely believes you care about them, they will work harder when you are not in the room. Your publicist might be getting a paycheck for his or her work, but money doesn’t motivate everyone when the doors are closed.
Click here to read an article that details how empathy helps your PR campaign. Or if you’re on the go, you can listen to the story as a podcast.
Our agency has more insightful episodes on PR, strategy and advice on your favorite podcast channel. Click here to subscribe to us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or Stitcher.
ABOUT MACIAS PR
Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017-2021 Strategic PR Firm of the Year. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year. The founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. City & State Magazine named him a PR Political Power Player in 2021.
Back when I was a Senior Producer with CBS, a global PR agency asked me to write an article on the biggest mistakes I see publicists make. I was going through an old email a few months ago and came across the article. It’s solid advice that I published with our podcast.
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick summary of the podcast.
Don’t cram everything into the press release. Identify the relevant information and focus on that.
Try to find the timely angle.
Don’t make it longer than 2 pages.
You can also read an article I wrote on our blog with more on why these publicist mistakes are so glaring. Click here to read that.
Our podcast #Alwaysfreshpr gives a lot of media insider advice to help you grow your brand. Please follow us on your favorite channel and if you like what you hear, give us a review. Here’s the link to find your favorite channel.
There are advantages to working with a media insider. Or in the case with MACIAS PR, it’s like having an Executive Producer in your corner.
During my time with NBC and CBS, I approved ideas from publicists, reporters and producers – where I believe we had a special formula for approving stories. I always pushed our reporters and producers to sell creative, timely, enterprise angles. We didn’t want to just communicate information to viewers but produced stories that would inspire viewers and readers to interact.
Today, MACIAS PR takes the same approach with our campaigns. We don’t push information, but look for strong, enterprise story angles. I’m always pushing our team to identify elements that will get consumers talking about our story at the dinner table or cocktail party. It’s rooted in our DNA.
But there’s another little-known tactic that MACIAS PR takes with our campaigns. It’s an approach that only those inside the TV medium would know. We leverage affiliate feeds.
One of our nonprofit clients went to a Google marketing conference and shared with me some of the best takeaways he heard. One of the boldest statements came from a Google executive who told the crowd that in the future, there will be no brands.
It seems hard to believe that brands won’t matter in the future, but it makes sense. Yes, household names, like McDonalds, Starbucks and Netflix will continue to be in our subconscious. However, among smaller brands – especially in the B2B sector – will become more susceptible to branding from Google. Let me break it down further. Continue reading “Future of PR – Revolves around Reputations and Search Engines”→
Before I launched this PR firm in 2009, I lived inside morning news meetings at both the local and national level. It’s the place where stories are killed or made – in a matter of minutes.
At the Arizona Republic and the local TV station, Channel 3, we had to pitch story ideas in front of editors, producers and other reporters. In New York, I pitched stories for a nationally syndicated TV program, American Journal. I also approved story ideas as the Executive Producer for Special Projects with NBC.
I don’t want to bore you with my journalism background. (You can read more of my background on LinkedIn).
Here’s why that experience inside the newsroom matters: you only have seconds to pitch a story and that background is the center-point of MACIAS PR.
As the above video demonstrates, if you can’t identify the narrative, communicate the story and angle within 30 seconds, your PR firms in tech and healthcare won’t succeed.
Before anyone on our team pitches a reporter, we practice and perfect our pitch. To outsiders, that might seem a bit childish or even less productive. It’s not.
What is public relations? It’s one of the most popular questions we continually hear from business owners when we talk shop.
Public relations is one of the most efficient and strategic ways to get your story in front of customers. It introduces your story, product and service directly to potential clients via the media. It’s also more affordable than advertising.
How is PR different from Advertising?
Public relations is not advertising. You can’t buy a news story with the media. Yes, you can buy “sponsored” posts with the media, but that’s really just a commercial put in words. More important, when your advertising budget is over, say goodbye to your “sponsored” post. However, with PR, your story stays on the media website long after your PR budget is over.
PR can also help improve your brand in the media. PR specialists are frequently the front line of defense against crises linked to legal problems, technical difficulties and perhaps even natural disasters. Public relations involves a wide selection of tactics and strategies. So how is MACIAS PR better than other PR firms?
