Wake Up Call For the PR industry
I swore never to post another anti-PR blog but in four months since I have rejoined full-time journalism, I have to say I am amazed at how bad the level of PR has dropped in Singapore.
I am sorry but I am breaking my rule from sheer frustration.
Today, I received a press release from a local game company saying it was appointing a well known US game distributor for its upcoming game. So I called the PR exec from the agency listed in the release. I asked him why this particular US distributor was selected when I thought it was supposed to be another. Then I asked him - what about the game cards - who will be distributing them? His response - "Oh for that it's best you call my client directly."
Right, "then why should I even bother calling you?" came my swift response. In my seven years of journalism, I have never heard such a response. The correct answer, is "I will check with my clients and get back to you OR I will check with my clients and ask them to respond"
Just yesterday, another PR from another international firm did an even more amazing thing - he called my home phone. I didn't exactly answer the call because I missed it but my mobile rang immediately and I asked him if he had just called my fixed line. He said yes. I went "Why in the world are you calling my home number? How did you even get it in the first place" His answer - "Oh it's in the database."
This guy has been causing me extreme pain recently. He called about two weeks ago to ask me to see if there was any opportunity to feature his client's products in our upcoming Tech Buyer's Guide. His client, incidentally is one of the top three computer giants in the world. I told him I did not have any documentation so asked him to send me more information. He asked me if I had seen the Christmas catalogue which I did but I told him I could not use it as it was written for consumers and lacked the tech specs. So I asked if he could send me the actual spec sheets and press releases. He did, all 10 documents. So yesterday I asked him if there was a one-page summary which I could read of all the products without opening 10 blinking documents. He suggested, again, that I could read the Christmas catalogue. Back to where we started.
I told him the catalogue wont do and asked him if there was a one page summary. He said no. At this point I lost it. I told him: "Go create one. I'm not trying to be nasty but I know you are new. My advice to you is that you should look at PR as not being mailboxes but as salespersons. You have to sell your stories to the journalists." I could have easily told him I was not interested and that was the end of the matter but because he is new and he has been trying hard, I gave him a earful with the hope he can improve. For the record, I have received his summary today although he still has a lot to learn about selling.
If you think this is bad, there's more. One PR exec I met wore a black party dress and a bola hat to an interview. The same person asked if DL would be keen to do contests with giveaways from her client. I said: " You need to speak to Grace for that." She went: "Who is Grace?"
There are a lot more examples over the last four months but these are just some I can remember from the top of my head. I do not know if the problem is vendors are expecting too much from their agencies or if the standard of the agencies have generally dropped to horrendous proportions. But here are my suggestions for anyone who wants to take me seriously:
(1) Please put your mobile phone in your name card and your press releases - This is PR 101. Why? Because Journalists dont like and sometimes cannot wait. They need instant connections. If my mobile number is on my card I dont see why PR execs cant do the same. I know some reporters dont answer calls and dont leave mobiles. But PR execs are the sellers, from a professional perspective, you have to leave your mobile number.
Just last week I tried calling a PR exec who works for a company who has a nice poshy office with lots of open space. Her client is one of the leading printing and imaging companies. I found her card and called her DID. She was not there. There was no mobile phone number on the card. I called the main line but they refused to give me her mobile number. So I called her client directly. The next thing I knew, the PR exec tried to call me frantically.
(2) Build a relationship with the media
It's not that we love to be sucked up to but if you see PR as a sales job then you will understand that journalists get tons of calls emails and pitches everyday. If we know who you are, it helps you better in your pitch. In any event, when PR agencies pitch for a new account they always boasts about how well they know the journalists. That's one of the reasons they are hired, yet I can count with one hand the number of invites I have received to go for a drink or a meal with a PR agency when the lunch is not with their client.
Barr & Chan is exemplary in building relationships. When I left ST back in 2002, only two PR agencies bought me lunch, the other was Liana Teo who was from MDK. To me, to buy a journalist lunch when you least needed him is the sign of a truly good PR. Years on, I introduced Barr & Chan to McAfee and Liana to HP. Jasmine Ee from Orion PR and Hui Peng from McGallen are PRs who will buy me a drink or lunch for no bloody reason at all. They have become like friends instead of just PR agencies and they always get recommendations whenever a disgrunteld client ask for a recommendation.
Having a relationship with the journalist is not enough you still need to have a good pitch - but at least half your battle is won.
(3) Know the journalist
Every journalist is differnt just as every consumer is different. Dell's Francis Huan is a good example. He recently called me to pitch a review for thie new Dell XPS 420. A typical PR pitch is - Hey Gin Lee my client has launched a new gaming desktop with solid new curves and looks and lah di da. Francis went: "Hey Gin Lee would you be interested in our new XPS 420, which I am giving you as an exclusive review after CNet but since the article is embargoed till end of month you wont lose out. This thing is our hot gaming machine with Blu Ray Nvidia 8800 GTX graphics dual displays Quad Core processors and more." I immediately said yes. He didnt have to explain why dual displays Quad Core and 8800 GTX is cool, becoz he knows I am techie, he knew I would be dying to try this machine out. The same pitch may not work for someone who is less techie. Similarly trying to pitch me a story using a Christmas catalogue written for consumers is a sure recipe for disaster
Every journo also has different preferences, some are haughty some are friendly some like beautiful girls some like intelligent minds - its important to know each journalist well to pitch effectively. Also each journalist has a preferred mode of communication. For me, please call my office line first. if i am not there call my mobile pls do not leave a voice mail if u still cant get me, drop an SMS and an email. Under no circumstance, unless you are in a car accident outside my house and you need an ambulance, should you call or even have my home number.
That's it for now. Will update again when I can find the time.
I am sorry but I am breaking my rule from sheer frustration.
Today, I received a press release from a local game company saying it was appointing a well known US game distributor for its upcoming game. So I called the PR exec from the agency listed in the release. I asked him why this particular US distributor was selected when I thought it was supposed to be another. Then I asked him - what about the game cards - who will be distributing them? His response - "Oh for that it's best you call my client directly."
Right, "then why should I even bother calling you?" came my swift response. In my seven years of journalism, I have never heard such a response. The correct answer, is "I will check with my clients and get back to you OR I will check with my clients and ask them to respond"
Just yesterday, another PR from another international firm did an even more amazing thing - he called my home phone. I didn't exactly answer the call because I missed it but my mobile rang immediately and I asked him if he had just called my fixed line. He said yes. I went "Why in the world are you calling my home number? How did you even get it in the first place" His answer - "Oh it's in the database."
This guy has been causing me extreme pain recently. He called about two weeks ago to ask me to see if there was any opportunity to feature his client's products in our upcoming Tech Buyer's Guide. His client, incidentally is one of the top three computer giants in the world. I told him I did not have any documentation so asked him to send me more information. He asked me if I had seen the Christmas catalogue which I did but I told him I could not use it as it was written for consumers and lacked the tech specs. So I asked if he could send me the actual spec sheets and press releases. He did, all 10 documents. So yesterday I asked him if there was a one-page summary which I could read of all the products without opening 10 blinking documents. He suggested, again, that I could read the Christmas catalogue. Back to where we started.
I told him the catalogue wont do and asked him if there was a one page summary. He said no. At this point I lost it. I told him: "Go create one. I'm not trying to be nasty but I know you are new. My advice to you is that you should look at PR as not being mailboxes but as salespersons. You have to sell your stories to the journalists." I could have easily told him I was not interested and that was the end of the matter but because he is new and he has been trying hard, I gave him a earful with the hope he can improve. For the record, I have received his summary today although he still has a lot to learn about selling.
If you think this is bad, there's more. One PR exec I met wore a black party dress and a bola hat to an interview. The same person asked if DL would be keen to do contests with giveaways from her client. I said: " You need to speak to Grace for that." She went: "Who is Grace?"
There are a lot more examples over the last four months but these are just some I can remember from the top of my head. I do not know if the problem is vendors are expecting too much from their agencies or if the standard of the agencies have generally dropped to horrendous proportions. But here are my suggestions for anyone who wants to take me seriously:
(1) Please put your mobile phone in your name card and your press releases - This is PR 101. Why? Because Journalists dont like and sometimes cannot wait. They need instant connections. If my mobile number is on my card I dont see why PR execs cant do the same. I know some reporters dont answer calls and dont leave mobiles. But PR execs are the sellers, from a professional perspective, you have to leave your mobile number.
Just last week I tried calling a PR exec who works for a company who has a nice poshy office with lots of open space. Her client is one of the leading printing and imaging companies. I found her card and called her DID. She was not there. There was no mobile phone number on the card. I called the main line but they refused to give me her mobile number. So I called her client directly. The next thing I knew, the PR exec tried to call me frantically.
(2) Build a relationship with the media
It's not that we love to be sucked up to but if you see PR as a sales job then you will understand that journalists get tons of calls emails and pitches everyday. If we know who you are, it helps you better in your pitch. In any event, when PR agencies pitch for a new account they always boasts about how well they know the journalists. That's one of the reasons they are hired, yet I can count with one hand the number of invites I have received to go for a drink or a meal with a PR agency when the lunch is not with their client.
Barr & Chan is exemplary in building relationships. When I left ST back in 2002, only two PR agencies bought me lunch, the other was Liana Teo who was from MDK. To me, to buy a journalist lunch when you least needed him is the sign of a truly good PR. Years on, I introduced Barr & Chan to McAfee and Liana to HP. Jasmine Ee from Orion PR and Hui Peng from McGallen are PRs who will buy me a drink or lunch for no bloody reason at all. They have become like friends instead of just PR agencies and they always get recommendations whenever a disgrunteld client ask for a recommendation.
Having a relationship with the journalist is not enough you still need to have a good pitch - but at least half your battle is won.
(3) Know the journalist
Every journalist is differnt just as every consumer is different. Dell's Francis Huan is a good example. He recently called me to pitch a review for thie new Dell XPS 420. A typical PR pitch is - Hey Gin Lee my client has launched a new gaming desktop with solid new curves and looks and lah di da. Francis went: "Hey Gin Lee would you be interested in our new XPS 420, which I am giving you as an exclusive review after CNet but since the article is embargoed till end of month you wont lose out. This thing is our hot gaming machine with Blu Ray Nvidia 8800 GTX graphics dual displays Quad Core processors and more." I immediately said yes. He didnt have to explain why dual displays Quad Core and 8800 GTX is cool, becoz he knows I am techie, he knew I would be dying to try this machine out. The same pitch may not work for someone who is less techie. Similarly trying to pitch me a story using a Christmas catalogue written for consumers is a sure recipe for disaster
Every journo also has different preferences, some are haughty some are friendly some like beautiful girls some like intelligent minds - its important to know each journalist well to pitch effectively. Also each journalist has a preferred mode of communication. For me, please call my office line first. if i am not there call my mobile pls do not leave a voice mail if u still cant get me, drop an SMS and an email. Under no circumstance, unless you are in a car accident outside my house and you need an ambulance, should you call or even have my home number.
That's it for now. Will update again when I can find the time.
posted by Gin at 5:56 PM
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