Budweiser’s flat. Not their beer. Their PR. It’s an example of what not to do when seeking PR. Last night, Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, sent me Bud Light’s new {{awful}} tagline crash and burn so we can include it this afternoon as a possible breaking news tie-in in our news hooks webinar, “5 Steps to Use Breaking News to Score Publicity (and Sell More Books and Products),” today, Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 {{live}} from 4 to 5 pm eastern. Sign up now.
If you’re an expert in righting rape culture, now’s your time. Pitch media with Bud Light’s “the perfect beer to remove no from your vocabulary” news tie-in if you’re in a nonprofit, have a book on the topic or perhaps you work with colleges, communities and churches to educate when no means no.
Do you know about human trafficking? You can talk to the media about how beer labels affect underlying belief systems in a culture and ultimately lead to an environment that makes human trafficking possible. In 2010, Nancy Deville, a former Wasabi Publicity client, wrote, “Karma,” a novel about human trafficking based on her world travels. Even though it was fictional, her book still affects me and the reality facing women worldwide. (Aside: It’s a must read. It was really gripping.) To score Deville media coverage, our team led with breaking news about human trafficking. Sadly to say, there is still breaking news about human trafficking some five years later.
The Nigerian army says it has rescued 200 girls and 93 women that were kidnapped. Sadly, not the girls kidnapped from Chibok last year.
In this morning’s headlines, the rescue news followed the Budweiser buzz. Leaves a bad taste in our mouth for all of us, for sure.
Cue the marketing professionals. Discuss among yourselves (as we normally do) or branch out to the general consumer and discuss how popular culture influences how we market. News hooks included. Also, if you’re an expert in generations, include that. Baby boomers, Gen X and Millennials all see things differently. Don’t believe me? Just watch this recent episode of “Louie“ featuring a Manhattan Millennial store owner who reminds Louis CK his view is not the only one true view.
{{God, I’m a geek with my masters degree in human development and all. I love this type of discussion!}}
That’s what we will be discussing today: the worst and best way to do PR using news hooks. I’ve seen PR transition from typewriters to Twitter. The one thing I know for sure (thanks Oprah) is the method of pitching changes, but building relationships will always be old school. Join us this afternoon or sign up to receive a recording later as I’ll be sharing the secrets I’ve used these past few months to score loads of top tier media including: The Today Show, The New Yorker, the Oscars, FOX TV, Inc., San Francisco Chronicle, and more.
