Trapped in the "dead zone"?
How to land news coverage when you have nothing to pitch
It's a common problem in the weeks around Labor Day, the weeks leading up to Christmas-and again in January. It's the dead zone-when your organization probably isn't releasing much in the way of real news. And if your company or client isn't launching new products or new initiatives, then you're in a dead zone, no matter what time of year it is.
"It's like squeezing blood from a turnip," says Deborah Radman, managing director of Stanton Communications in New York, about planning a pitch campaign around nonexistent news.
So how do you get news coverage when you don't have anything to pitch? PR professionals offer up their strategies for generating news when there doesn't seem to be any.
Build no-news blocks into the calendar: You'll manage the dead zones better if you plan for them, says Peter Baron, principal of Carabiner Communications in Atlanta. "We build that into the plan to cover the times when there won't be hard news." This way, you know the slow period is coming, and you can do some advance planning to keep the buzz going.
Pitch workplace trends: Maybe the organization doesn't have any news, but it has employees. Angela Hult, assistant director of strategic communications at The Regence Group, a major national healthcare insurer based in Portland, Ore., has received coverage in both the AP and USA Today in recent months by pitching trends in her own company.
"I look for stories that involve our employment practices, our employees and other areas of our company," Hult says. "For example, my company recently expanded its commute reimbursement program in response to rising gas prices. We yield tax benefits and so do our employees. It's a timely story and can be pitched as a 'how to' piece for other employers or simply as a workplace issues story."
That piece ran in the AP and was picked up by newspapers around the country, including The Washington Post. Hult also successfully pitched a story to USA Today about employee cafeterias that try to encourage people to eat healthier (Regence Group charges less for healthier entrees).
Create tip sheets: "When you're working with the service industry, you have to come up with information that consumers will find useful," says Jennifer Thomas, president of FSR Ventures in Cape Coral, Fla., especially since service businesses may not have frequent hard news announcements. For MacNair Travel Management in Washington, D.C., Thomas created a list of tips on "Traveling During Hurricane Season," and landed coverage for the client in June on WUSATV in Washington.
"It was perfect timing because tropical storm Albert had just started moving up the coast," Massaro explains. Tip sheets don't just keep the buzz going, but also build awareness of your organization's thought leadership skills. "They can help clients become advocates for the consumer, and [this] helps them get into media Rolodexes so they're called next time there's a story," Thomas explains.
Sell surveys: When hard news is in short supply, surveys can fill the gap, says Jennifer Massaro, senior manager of public relations for SupportSoft in Redwood City, Calif. Since the company creates software that helps customers respond to customers' technical problems, Massaro has commissioned surveys that touch on support issues.
"With large enterprises, it's difficult to get them to be public references for the media," Massaro explains. "So in the case of our surveys, it was the only way to get into the IT trade publications. Moreover, it's given us a platform for discussing how our products solve the problems or trends we're calling attention to in the surveys." Plan low-cost events: They needn't be costly splash-outs. Renee Miller, president of The Miller Group in Los Angeles, says her firm recently launched an L.A. retail store specializing in competitive sports apparel for women. To build some buzz, the PR team offered a "sports bra fitting night" at the store. "Our clients often have limited budgets, so you have to come up with clever events that don't break the bank," says Miller.
Dig for stats: "Oftentimes, companies have data and they don't realize they have it," says Julia Tanen, principal of JTPR/Clarity Communications Group in Franklin, Mass. "Ask the client if they've collected data that you can turn into news stories with statistics."
Deborah Radman of Stanton Communications takes a similar approach. She says, "If a client has any research at all on their market segment, take a look at it. See if there's a nugget or two that can be transformed into a media alert. It's often possible to sell that to a journalist."
Connect with community: "There are incredible opportunities to build goodwill with the community," says Chris Thomas, owner of The Intrepid Group in Salt Lake City. "It tends to have that feel-good effect," generating not only news when it's hard to come by, but better relations with key audiences.
For Shade Clothing, an apparel company, Intrepid Group came up with a program offering a free tank top to shoppers who donated a new or gentlyused shirt to a battered women's shelter. The campaign landed coverage in the Phoenix and Las Vegas markets. And for Heber Valley Historic Railroad in Heber City, Utah, the firm created a "Dog Days of Summer" campaign, allowing dogs to ride the railroad with their owners and donating the proceeds of the "dog tickets" to a local animal shelter.
Make the case: When news is thin, Julia Tanen writes case studies from client references or testimonials. "Tell the story through the mouth of the client, then pitch it to trade media," she says.
Find features at home: "When we have no hard news to tout, I go for the human interest story to help keep our name in front of the public," says Suzie Thomas, director of college communications at Malone College in Canton, Ohio. "Since we're a college, I have all of the professors and students to tap into, and they're usually involved in all kinds of things they don't think to tell PR about. The stories are there- it just takes a few phone calls to dig them up."
Thomas' strategy: She calls up contacts within different departments and student groups, asking who's heard about anyone doing something new and cool. In recent months, she's won media coverage for a biology professor who founded his own barbeque sauce company and a softball coach who donated half of her liver to the school's basketball coach.
Tried-and-true trend stories: It's the most trotted out piece of advice in PR, but it works during the dead zone. And that is to tie your organization to a news trend that doesn't require you to have news to announce yourself. Renee Miller uses this tactic with her client, RE/MAX of California and Hawaii, by constantly pitching them as spokespeople on any trend in the housing market.
Look for newsroom pinch-hitters: Kathy Cabrera, media strategist at Carabiner Communications, says the best target for your trend or feature stories is the newsroom staff that fills in for vacationing regulars, particularly during the summer or around the holidays. "They don't have contacts in place, and they need help getting story ideas lined up," says Cabrera.
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