Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Claim your tickets to Universal Orlando now
http://click.topica.com/caacNozb1dcnCbNO4tAa/PermissionData
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe information is located near the bottom of this and
all newsletters.
---------------------------------------------------------------
eReleases.com PR Fuel(TM)
The Leader in Affordable PR
http://www.ereleases.com
---------------------------------------------------------------
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ereleases.com
...............................................................
October 27, 2004
...............................................................
Holiday Gift Press Releases Past Due
Don't let October slip away without putting your holiday
gift press releases into circulation!
Magazines and newspapers such as Better Homes and Gardens,
Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, Essence, and People are
working furiously NOW to compile their holiday gift guides.
December will be too late to secure exposure for your
product! To ensure optimal lead time, send out your holiday
gift press releases in the next couple of weeks. Holiday
shopping - which can make or break a company - doesn't just
happen. Don't risk missing the most cost-effective way to
promote your product or service.
You can place your order today online at:
http://www.ereleases.com/order/index.html?GCID=C3480x015
Be sure to check out our Gifts & Collectibles target/trade
category featuring more than 500 sources:
http://www.ereleases.com/lists/index.html#media_contacts
...............................................................
Lessons From The Campaign Trail
By Ben Silverman
The only thing that will bring more excitement than the
election before Nov. 2 is if the Boston Red Sox miraculously
fall apart and lose the last four games of the World Series.
Stranger things have happened - just ask the New York
Yankees. Nonetheless, with the election on tap for next
Tuesday, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at
the PR winners and losers of what we Americans like to call
the democratic process.
As always, the point of this exercise is to glean some
lessons from what we see around us everyday. From President
George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry to Halliburton and
Howard Dean, this latest exercise in democracy has provided
a treasure trove of PR wins and losses.
Bush's Biggest PR Mistake: Failure is not something any
political leader should admit, but acknowledging mistakes is
a must in a democratic society. The President's
unwillingness to admit to mistakes, and more importantly, to
hold his lieutenants accountable, will potentially cost him
the votes of some of those all-important "undecideds." A
leader - be it a President of the United States, or the
President of Acme Widgets, Inc. - must project a strong and
comforting image. Acknowledging mistakes and taking
responsibility is an important part of projecting this
image.
Kerry's Biggest PR Mistake: Don't go there, oh brother,
don't mention the lesbian daughter. By bringing up Vice
President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter during the final
debate, Kerry missed out on any positive PR he would have
gotten by winning the debate (of course, it's debatable
whether he won or not). Instead of sticking with important
issues, and getting in solid, well-rehearsed sound bites,
Kerry basically got personal. While he was trying to make a
point, and praise the Cheney family at the same time, the
Republicans latched onto the comment, and the media ignored
most of the debate and concentrated on the one issue. Kerry
effectively destroyed ninety minutes of good PR with one
stupid comment, which serves as a reminder to us to keep
your message short and on target.
Bush's Best PR Maneuver: It took awhile, but the candidates
have finally figured out that giving the same speech at
appearance after appearance in the age of 24/7 media doesn't
make much sense. In recent days, Bush has hammered Kerry
using scare tactics by essentially telling voters that we're
in deep trouble on the national security front if Kerry is
elected. (Vice President Dick Cheney pretty much said we'd
be attacked if Kerry is elected.) Do scare tactics work? Yes
- that's why seatbelt campaigns and anti-drunk driving
campaigns have been successful. It's the best weapon in
politics, and one that can be used by businesses - just take
a look at ads and PR campaigns used by technology security
firms.
Kerry's Best PR Maneuver: Sometimes the best PR is the PR we
never really notice. By silently waiting in the wings for
his opponents to implode, Kerry stole the Democratic
nomination from a field of higher-profile names. He stayed
on message, kept his cool, and played his hand close to his
vest. Splashy PR campaigns and innovative marketing don't
always equal succeed because sometimes the competitor's
product is just better. Kerry just waited for everyone to
run out of ideas to attract supporters, and then he went in
and galvanized the Democratic base.
Worst PR Mistake by A Candidate's Family Member: For all
she's done for charities and the less fortunate, Teresa
Heinz Kerry may unfortunately be remembered for telling a
reporter to "shove it" and saying Laura Bush never held a
real job. Not only did Heinz Kerry alienate some in the
media, she didn't do much to help her husband win any votes
from teachers (Mrs. Bush, it's well known, was a teacher).
Laura Bush, on the other hand, has basically kept her mouth
shut, providing us with ample proof that PR people and the
CEO are usually the only people who should deal with the
media.
Biggest PR Loser of the Election: The media does a great job
of disseminating campaign junk, and they do an even better
job of creating junk of their own. From CBS's fake documents
to Sinclair Broadcasting's news program fiasco, the media has
built up enough bad will to last until the 2008 election,
and beyond. And publishers wonder why newspaper readership
continues to plummet? When your business is based on the
concept of impartiality, and you do everything in your power
to be otherwise, you've basically thrown all your
brand-building out the window.
Biggest PR Winner of the Election: Howard Dean may have
mobilized bloggers, but people from all across the political
spectrum got into the game and moved blogging from a hobby
to, well, a hobby that can have an impact on people's lives.
The power of instantaneous, global communication was evident
this election year, and it was pretty much due to
word-of-mouth marketing. It's not surprising that blogging's
rise has coincided with the rebirth of successful dot-com
companies. Though it's not been mentioned, the Internet and
everyone who does business on it may be the biggest
beneficiaries of this year's election.
The Election's Teflon Award Goes To: For all the conspiracy
theories we hear about Halliburton, no one outside of the
Democratic Party seems to care. Halliburton's stock has
risen almost 50% over the past year, and the company has
shaken off one allegation after the other. Investors and
Wall Street actually do pay attention to non-economic
forces, but they've apparently seen no reason to be
concerned with all the bad media Halliburton has gotten.
Sometimes just shutting up and executing on your business
plan is enough to make people forget the rumors and innuendo
(and in some cases, the facts).
Worst PR For a Technology: If blogs made out like bandits as
a result of this election, electronic voting is on the
flipside of the coin. After the Florida debacle in 2000, a
lot of people said electronic voting was not only the wave
of the future, but absolutely necessary. Unfortunately,
there have been electronic voting problems, and one company
in the sector, Diebold, finds itself accused of defrauding
the State of California. Like the fervor that drove dot-com
stocks high, and the resulting disappointment that saw those
stocks crash, the untested technology and unfulfilled
promise of electronic voting has dealt the concept a serious
blow. Simply put, you don't bring a product to market unless
it's ready for primetime.
Worst PR Move: Howard Dean's "scream" in Iowa. Dean went
from the covers of "Time" and "Newsweek" to the electoral
bench quicker than a pop singer shuffling off the stage
after her band "played the wrong song." Dean's exuberance
during his consolation speech after the Iowa Caucus forever
doomed him and left many with an image of beaten, crazed
man. His lesson to all of us is to remember that when we're
in public, on television no less, we're representing our
company and our product. In this case, Dean being the
product, his scream signaled a serious price cut.
Worst Flip-Flop: For someone who had his scenes deleted from
"The First Wives Club," Jon Stewart has certainly made a
name for himself. For the better part of the past two or
three years, Stewart has been riding high on the PR hog,
racking up features and profiles in the media like he's
going out of style. But Stewart's recent appearance on CNN's
"Crossfire" hasn't made him many friends in the media, which
has shown a fawning willingness to kowtow to the "fake" news
show host. The ratings for Stewart's show were once being
used to showcase his rising popularity, but now they're
being used to showcase his relative obscurity. (Case in
point: while I'm well aware of the show, I have no clue what
time it's on, or where Comedy Central is on my cable; but
the Cartoon Network is Channel 22, in case you wanted to
know.) Stewart's lambasting of "Crossfire" was
unintentionally funny, well-meaning, and a stupid PR move.
I'm just surprised that no one has bothered to point out
that Stewart essentially called people who watch the show,
and others like it, stupid - not exactly the best way to
build a broader audience. He would have been better-served
by coming off less creepy and bitter and more intelligent,
not as someone who is superior. Preaching doesn't normally
equate to good PR outside of a house of worship.
Biggest Loser of the Election: Hi, does anyone remember me?
You know, the American citizen and voter? Swift boats,
National Guard service, first ladies, meaningless debates,
etc., the list goes on and on. Raise your hand if you
actually know what anyone's real plan for health care,
social security, Iraq, North Korea and taxes is. The media
didn't work in the people's best interest, and the
candidates pandered to the media.
---
Visit the PR Fuel website at http://www.prfuel.com for daily
PR industry news and commentary.
---
Ben Silverman is a former business news columnist for The
New York Post and a Contributing Editor for FindProfit.com
(http://www.findprofit.com), an independent investment
newsletter. He can be reached via email at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
---------------------------------------------------------------
(c) Copyright 2004 by MEK Enterprises d/b/a eReleases.com
9403 Good Spring Dr., Suite P-3, Perry Hall, MD 21128
All rights reserved.
The opinions expressed by the writer are his own and not
necessarily endorsed by MEK Enterprises d/b/a eReleases.com
---------------------------------------------------------------
...............................................................
The eReleases Advantage:
- Reach traditional newswire service (through PR Newswire)
- Reach subscribing journalists on deadline (more than
38,000 professionals receive our daily press releases)
- Receive proof of distribution with our exclusive WireWatch
report (see your release on Yahoo! and several websites).
- No membership fees or commitment
- A national distribution including posting to wires
http://www.ereleases.com/index.html?GCID=C3480x015
<a href="http://www.ereleases.com/index.html?GCID=C3480x015";>
AOL Users Click Here</a>
...............................................................
Visit us online at: http://www.ereleases.com
<a href="http://www.eReleases.com";>AOL Users Click Here</a>
To subscribe, send a message to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To leave, follow directions near bottom:
Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Free recipes to get you in shape
http://click.topica.com/caacNoTb1dcnCbNO4tAf/PermissionData
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--^----------------------------------------------------------------
This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1dcnC.bNO4tA.bmVsYXlh
Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit:
http://www.topica.com/?p=TEXFOOTER
--^----------------------------------------------------------------
