Media relations is the most recognized/understood aspect of public relations. It’s often what gets clients in the door — coming to us in search of publicity, sometimes after seeing competitors in the newspaper. As a result, many PR agencies have adopted a “clips, clips, clips” mentality (which I hate, for the record). PR account execs spend all day, every day pitching reporters … researching story opportunities … looking for additional opportunities to secure media coverage. Like it or not, many PR people are judged by size of their clip book — not their ability to “move the needle.”
Sounds all too familiar, right?
When it comes to media relations, how do we account for the behind-the-scenes work? For example, sometimes it’s far more beneficial for a client to be excluded from a story. I got to thinking about this frequently overlooked part of a PR person’s job after reading this New York Times article: Why So Stodgy, Prada.com? Bet Prada’s PR people are cringing over that headline! In the article, Burberry is credited for its recent social media initiatives, but Coach — who recently hiring a senior manager of new media — gets no mentions. Could that mean Coach isn’t doing anything exceptional (yet), and the PR team did a good job keeping the company out of this story? Or, maybe there just wasn’t room in the article to include Coach? Whatever the details behind this specific situation, it’s a good reminder that not all PR/media relations ends up in print. In fact, sometimes the best PR occurs off the public radar.
In this rush to accumulate stacks of media hits, do you think we’re devaluing public relations? How do you explain to “clip-centric” management that there’s more to PR than front-page news stories?