Here's a great example of what I discussed in yesterday's newsletter about how Publicity Hounds can piggyback off the Democratic and … [Read more...]
Piggyback onto ‘Hug Your Kids Day’ July 21
Publicity Hounds hate it when they create their own day, week or month of the year, and then see other people piggyback onto it for publicity.
Not Michelle Nichols, a former writer for BusinessWeek.com, who created National Hug Your Kids Day on July 21.
Michelle is inviting … [Read more...]
Explain how to find a lost dog or a lost (fill in the blank)
I lost my dog, Bogie, on Sunday night while taking her for a walk in a residential neighborhood about a mile from our home---shortly after sunset, with temperatures in the 20s and falling fast.
It was trash day the next day on the street where we were walking. When she brushed up against a trash bag filled with empty glass bottles, it … [Read more...]
Why social media PR? Kids advise parents on purchases
Hewlett-Packard is expanding into the social media sphere and targeting college-age consumers, who offer advice to their parents and grandparents on which notebooks, desktops, work stations and other entertainment equipment to buy. That's part of a new PR campaign it's launching, with help from [Read more...]
Astrologers, fortune-tellers: Piggyback onto the celebs
Few people have a harder job getting publicity than astrologers, fortune tellers and others of their ilk. The media are naturally suspicious---except when their predictions or comments tie into a hot, timely topic. Thanks to radio publicity expert Wayne Kelly for tipping us off to this … [Read more...]
Unusual product packaging is worth publicizing
"How do I open this damn thing?" I ask myself in frustration at least once a week. I'm trying to tear the wrapper off a piece of candy, open one of those big padded envelopes, rip the stubborn cellophane off a new CD, or get inside a molded piece of plastic glued to a cardboard backing so I can retrieve the CD headphones I just bought. If my … [Read more...]
Warm winter offers story ideas galore
USA Today says that globally, 2006 was likely the sixth-warmest on record, although final worldwide data won't be available until March. If you've experienced the winter heat wave, think of interesting story ideas you can pitch to the media. My local newspapers and TV stations are reporting on all kinds of local angles, from an absence of snowmen … [Read more...]
‘Top 10 Tips’ lists: Great year-end publicity
Here's a great end-of-the-year idea for your publicity campaign. They're short, punchy lists of "the best" or "the worst." The number doesn't even have to be 10. Your list can include 5 items. Or 7. Or 9. Just now, I googled and found these lists: The Top 10 Best Blogs, as chosen by [Read more...]
Terrorist plot story had some great tie-ins
I saw two clever tie-ins to last week's big story about Scotland Yard breaking up the terrorist plot to blow up as many as 10 U.S.-bound passenger jets. Michelle Tennant of Wasabi Publicity Inc. and her team of 10 publicists immediately started pitching story ideas about their client, … [Read more...]
Heat wave offers great opportunities for publicity
This time of year, the media are looking for every interesting angle they can find that ties into heat waves. Al Tompkins, whose blog gives newspaper reporters great story ideas, has a bunch of heat-related examples in [Read more...]