Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy!
Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy!
We received Ms VandeVrede’s self-published book and it piqued our curiosity. The title – Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy! – is certainly valid even though most executives (and far too many PR people) seem to believe that effective PR is all about cranking out a ton of releases. Then they measure that effectiveness by how many clippings they receive.
The book is undoubtedly the distillation of Ms. VandeVrede’s 25 years of experience in the field. Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy! is far more than just a marketing tool for her Phoenix-based agency (which you might believe when you read the acknowledgements and forward), this is really a compilation of good points and information for newcomers to the field as well as senior executives.
We both agree and disagree with the author’s basic premise for writing the book – the consumer/prospect isn’t the PR target audience but rather the editor, reporter and analyst who write about your product category, your products, your company. If you don’t listen to, understand and work with these gatekeepers reaching the ultimate product or service buyer is almost difficult and expensive.
Certainly you can by-pass the press (print, radio, TV and online) if you have the experience and expertise to leverage blogs and on-line 1:1 communications. But most PR people abuse this approach as much as they abuse the members of the press.
Ms VandeVrede has broken the book down into palatable, easy to read bites. Actually, 25 chapters peppered with a number of quotes from reporters, editors and analysts that certainly add to the credibility of her explanations and the points she makes.
The author gives her favorite list of PR misconceptions which we have certainly heard over our career but found to be more simplistic than we may have spelled out. The heart of her book’s message seems to be that management believes public relations is free, public relations is something that you can manage and public relations is based on news releases. Fortunately she takes you beyond those points and outlines the strategy rather than the tactics of a good PR program and the results it can achieve.
Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy! is the type of book you certainly want to give to your CEO and head of marketing, preferably chapter by chapter because they would only read the sections when the specific subject came up in a conversation or meeting. In addition, it makes an excellent gift for anyone who graduated with his or her PR degree and landed their first job since Ms. VandeVrede makes an excellent point of noting that few people with five or fewer years in the industry have any training or background in journalism. Without that expertise or understanding it is extremely difficult for a practitioner to understand what editors, reporters or analysts really want and need to do their jobs.
In a time when so much of public relations efforts and activities seem to bend the rules of legality and ethics, Ms. VandeVrede does a good job of discussing Sarbanes-Oxley and how it relates to public relations work (from the executive and practitioner perspective). The author does a very good job of distilling the essence of the S-O Act and how it should be interpreted and followed in your many communications activities. The chapter on ethics lacks some of the punch we would like to see discussed in light of recent events. The hiring of journalists as paid spokespersons and the work public relations had to do to further the management messages of Adelphi, Enron, MCI and other financial tragedies over the past few years most certainly crossed the line of the PRSA's (Public Relations Society of America) code of ethics. But to her credit she does give sound advice to practitioners and management that PR people shouldn’t be and can’t be simple vehicles of blindly disseminating management’s messages.
In addition to a very useful directory of resources to help organizations with their PR efforts, the author clearly and concisely discusses important aspects of a complete public relations program including management media training, white papers, websites, trade show activities, editorial tours, competitive positioning and speaker programs. She also helps readers understand what a news release should and should not be as well as how to use and abuse the lowly release. Finally she defines how the release can be disseminated to specific individuals and target groups rather than the entire world.
While the author uses quotes from respected members of the journalistic field to reinforce her premise that the press is the real boss of public relations -- not the company or the management – it is the one point we take issue with. We believe PR serves and negotiates with two bosses – management and the media. Knowing how to serve them both – as well as the consumer public – is the true test of the practitioner’s talent and expertise.
But Ms. VandeVrede makes an excellent point in her book… Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy! For that reason alone it is a book you’ll want to buy and circulate to your bosses (after reading it of course) chapter by chapter
Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
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For more than two years Howard Hudson, the esteemed publisher of PR Quarterly, would call every few months and ask when we were going to write our own book on public relations. Or perhaps we could jointly publish a book on all of the book reviews to give people an elevator view of the great books in the field. Our response was always the same – time and our feeling few would be interested in a complete book of our opinions, views.
We received Ms VandeVrede’s self-published book and it piqued our curiosity. The title – Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy! – is certainly valid even though most executives (and far too many PR people) seem to believe that effective PR is all about cranking out a ton of releases. Then they measure that effectiveness by how many clippings they receive.
The book is undoubtedly the distillation of Ms. VandeVrede’s 25 years of experience in the field. Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy! is far more than just a marketing tool for her Phoenix-based agency (which you might believe when you read the acknowledgements and forward), this is really a compilation of good points and information for newcomers to the field as well as senior executives.
We both agree and disagree with the author’s basic premise for writing the book – the consumer/prospect isn’t the PR target audience but rather the editor, reporter and analyst who write about your product category, your products, your company. If you don’t listen to, understand and work with these gatekeepers reaching the ultimate product or service buyer is almost difficult and expensive.
Certainly you can by-pass the press (print, radio, TV and online) if you have the experience and expertise to leverage blogs and on-line 1:1 communications. But most PR people abuse this approach as much as they abuse the members of the press.
Ms VandeVrede has broken the book down into palatable, easy to read bites. Actually, 25 chapters peppered with a number of quotes from reporters, editors and analysts that certainly add to the credibility of her explanations and the points she makes.
The author gives her favorite list of PR misconceptions which we have certainly heard over our career but found to be more simplistic than we may have spelled out. The heart of her book’s message seems to be that management believes public relations is free, public relations is something that you can manage and public relations is based on news releases. Fortunately she takes you beyond those points and outlines the strategy rather than the tactics of a good PR program and the results it can achieve.
Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy! is the type of book you certainly want to give to your CEO and head of marketing, preferably chapter by chapter because they would only read the sections when the specific subject came up in a conversation or meeting. In addition, it makes an excellent gift for anyone who graduated with his or her PR degree and landed their first job since Ms. VandeVrede makes an excellent point of noting that few people with five or fewer years in the industry have any training or background in journalism. Without that expertise or understanding it is extremely difficult for a practitioner to understand what editors, reporters or analysts really want and need to do their jobs.
In a time when so much of public relations efforts and activities seem to bend the rules of legality and ethics, Ms. VandeVrede does a good job of discussing Sarbanes-Oxley and how it relates to public relations work (from the executive and practitioner perspective). The author does a very good job of distilling the essence of the S-O Act and how it should be interpreted and followed in your many communications activities. The chapter on ethics lacks some of the punch we would like to see discussed in light of recent events. The hiring of journalists as paid spokespersons and the work public relations had to do to further the management messages of Adelphi, Enron, MCI and other financial tragedies over the past few years most certainly crossed the line of the PRSA's (Public Relations Society of America) code of ethics. But to her credit she does give sound advice to practitioners and management that PR people shouldn’t be and can’t be simple vehicles of blindly disseminating management’s messages.
In addition to a very useful directory of resources to help organizations with their PR efforts, the author clearly and concisely discusses important aspects of a complete public relations program including management media training, white papers, websites, trade show activities, editorial tours, competitive positioning and speaker programs. She also helps readers understand what a news release should and should not be as well as how to use and abuse the lowly release. Finally she defines how the release can be disseminated to specific individuals and target groups rather than the entire world.
While the author uses quotes from respected members of the journalistic field to reinforce her premise that the press is the real boss of public relations -- not the company or the management – it is the one point we take issue with. We believe PR serves and negotiates with two bosses – management and the media. Knowing how to serve them both – as well as the consumer public – is the true test of the practitioner’s talent and expertise.
But Ms. VandeVrede makes an excellent point in her book… Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy! For that reason alone it is a book you’ll want to buy and circulate to your bosses (after reading it of course) chapter by chapter
Press Releases Are Not a PR Strategy - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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