If you’re like most publicity seekers, you probably
think one project at a time. You’ve got a new product
coming out in April, so you send out a release in March. You’ve
hired a new executive, you’ll put out a release when
she’s on board, etc.
For hard-core publicity insiders, though, there’s a
rhythm to generating coverage, based upon the natural ebb
and flow of the seasons. Such an approach can help you score
publicity throughout the year, and will help keep your eye
on the ball from January through December.
Essentially,
a yearlong approach consists of two strategies:
==> Timing
your existing stories
(new product introductions, oddball promotions, business page
features, etc.) to fit the needs of the media during particular
times of the year.
==> Crafting
new stories to take advantage of events, holidays
and seasonal activities.
Before we run through the four seasons of publicity, a few
words about lead time. In this age of immediacy (only a few
seconds separate a Matt Drudge or a CNN from writing a story
and putting it before millions), it’s easy to forget
that, for many print publications and TV shows, it can be
weeks — and sometimes months — before a completed
story sees the light of day.
The phrase lead time simply refers to the amount of time needed
for a journalist to complete a story for a particular issue
of a magazine or episode of a TV news program. For example,
a freelancer for an entertainment magazine may need to turn
in a story on Christmas movies by September 15. That’s
a lead time of three months, time needed for the editor to
review and change the piece, the issue to be typeset and printed
and distributors to place the issues on newsstands before
December. Lead time can range from a day (for hard news pieces
in newspapers) to a few days (newspaper features) to a few
weeks (weekly magazines) to many months.
The longest leads are the domain of "women’s books"
like Good Housekeeping and Better Homes &
Gardens. These publications often have a lead time of
up to six months, which means they need information for their
Christmas issues as early as May!
Here’s a tip to help you discover the lead time of a
particular publication you’re targeting: call the advertising
department of the publication and request a media kit. Since
advertisers need to know when their ads must be submitted,
each issue’s lead time is clearly stated in the media
kit.
Factor the lead time into your planning as you look over the
following sections. If you have a great story idea for Rolling
Stone’s summer issues, you need to be on the ball well
before Memorial Day.
The
Four Seasons of Publicity are:
First Quarter:
January - March
What the Media’s Covering: Early in the year,
the media is looking ahead. It’s a great time to pitch
trend stories, marketplace predictions, previews of things
to expect in the year ahead, etc. If a new President is being
inaugurated, you’ll see lots of "Will the new administration
be good for the (textile/film/cattle ranching/Internet/...or
any other) industry?" types of pieces. This is a good
time to have something provocative, or even controversial,
to say about your industry.
The media also likes this time of year to run "get your
personal house in order" sorts of pieces. Tax planning,
home organizing, weight loss, etc. Anything that’s geared
toward helping people keep their New Year’s resolutions
can work here.
Key Dates and Events: Can you come up with a story
angle to tie your business into an event that typically generates
lots of coverage? Put on your thinking cap -- I bet you can!
Here are some key events during the First Quarter: Super Bowl,
NCAA Tournament, Easter, The Academy Awards.
Second Quarter:
April - June
What the Media’s Covering: An "anything
goes" time of year. With no major holidays or huge events,
April is a good time to try some of your general stories (business
features, new product stuff, etc.) Light, fun stories work
here, as a sense of "spring fever" takes hold of
newsrooms (journalists are human, you know. They’re
just as happy winter is over as you are and it’s often
reflected in the kind of stories they choose to run.). As
May rolls around, thoughts turn to summer. Now they’re
looking for summer vacation pieces, outdoor toys and gadgets,
stories about safety (whether automotive or recreational),
leisure activities, things to do for kids and so on.
Key Dates and Events: Baseball opening day, tax day
(April 15), spring gardening season, Memorial Day, end of
school, summer vacation.
Third Quarter: July - September
What the Media’s Covering: The dog days of summer
are when smart publicity seekers really make hay. Folks at
PR firms are on vacation, marketing budgets are being conserved
for the holidays and reporters are suddenly accessible and
open to all sorts of things. Get to work here, with creative,
fun angles. Entertainment-themed pieces do well in the summer,
anything with celebrities works, lighter business stories,
new products, trend pieces, technology news, back to school
education-themed articles, you name it. Reporters are about
to get deluged once again come September, so use this window
of opportunity wisely.
Key Dates and Events: July 4th, summer movies, summer
travel, back to school.
Fourth Quarter:
October - December
What the Media’s Covering: The busiest time of
the media calendar, the Fourth Quarter is when the business
media turns serious and the lifestyle media thinks Holidays,
Holidays, Holidays. Business angles need to be hard news.
Fluffy trend pieces won’t cut it, as business editors
begin to take stock of the state of the economy and the market.
It’s a tough time to put out a new product release.
For the non-business media, think Christmas. Christmas travel,
Christmas gifts, Christmas cooking, whatever. If you have
a product or service that can be given as a holiday gift,
get on the stick early.
Nail down lead times for the publications you’re targeting,
call to find out who’s handling the holiday gift review
article and get your product in the right person’s hands
in plenty of time -- along with a pitch letter or release
that makes a strong case about how what a novel, unusual or
essential gift your product makes. After Christmas, you have
a brief window for "Best of the Year", "Worst
of the Year" and "Year in Review" pieces. Be
creative -- the media loves these things.
Key Dates and Events: Labor Day, World Series, Thanksgiving,
Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s Eve.
Bill Stoller, the "Publicity Insider", has spent
two decades as one of America's top publicists. Now, through
his website, ezine and subscription newsletter, Free Publicity:
The Newsletter for PR-Hungry Businesses --
http://www.PublicityInsider.com/freepub.asp -- for the
very first time he's sharing his secrets of scoring big publicity.
For free articles, killer publicity tips and much, much more,
visit Bill's site.
Need
Great Publicity Ideas?
If
you're looking for more great story ideas for your media plan,
check out Joan Stewart's teleseminars with TV reporter Shawne
Duperon.
Shawne
was Joan's guest on two teleseminars in 2003, where they suggested
more than 300 stealable story ideas you can use in your 2004
media plan. The recorded teleseminars, "116 WOW! Story
Ideas from January through June" and "103
Sizzling Story Ideas from July through December,"
are available as CDs or cassette tapes. Read about what you'll
learn or order them, complete with handouts listing all 219
ideas, here:
January
to June Ideas
July
to December Ideas
