Unless you’ve been living in a cave, chances are that you’ve heard the sports news that has also made its way into the gossip rags and morning talk shows – Tiger Woods is returning to the PGA tour at the Masters.
While the return of the world’s top golfer will help the Tour’s ratings, it also marks an interesting event for the media. In his public apology spoken press release, Woods did not field any questions and has not answered any questions about his marital infidelity. So while we’d like to say that the media will stick to the tournament at hand, drama sells and the opportunities for juicy questions and an irate golfer are some must-see TV in the making.
But hey, you don’t come to this blog to read about sports or infidelity so let’s get to the root of Tiger’s return to the PGA at Augusta National as a PR move – one that is safe, nostalgic and was strategically planned. Much like a CEO, Woods is advised by some top notch PR folks who carefully chose when he would return to golf. Given the course’s history, importance and pageantry, the Masters is an intriguing choice for Tiger. Our two in-house Sports PR experts don’t agree with each other on this topic:
Stacked Deck – Every flack likes controlling an interview situation as much as they can. The course is private and the only folks to get in will be credentialed or have tickets. According to the PGA’s site: the Masters is more restrictive of media credentials than any other major, and it is the one tournament where the media is not allowed inside the ropes, so chances are that the TMZ’s and Talk Soups of the world will not be granted access to the course. In a sense, the PGA can pull out a wild card and only offer press passes to the regular golf writers making the event pretty sterile. Continue reading →
As my esteemed colleague outlined above, some people believe that Tiger Woods returning to competitive golf at the Masters is a good PR move. I whole heartedly disagree.
Let me count the ways:
Walk Before You Crawl – Would you want your first game of the season to be Game 7 of the World Series or even the Super Bowl? From a sheer golf mechanics perspective, Tiger will not be at the top of his game. He will not have played a round of competitive golf in nearly six months when he tees off at Augusta. Why not work your way into peak condition before the biggest tournament of the year? Continue reading →
I don’t usually write about the more tactical, day-to-day issues of PR and marketing, choosing instead to focus on the delicate work-life balance, thinking like an entrepreneur and why I think it’s OK to not have a traditional PR background. But today, bear with me for a bit, as I’m going to get pretty tactical on something every PR and marketing professional uses probably every single day of their jobs: the e-mail pitch.
Ahh, yes, the infamous “pitch.” Loathed by many, MANY, but in today’s smart phone-obsessed world, about as important as ever in terms of driving successful media outreach for brands and organizations. I won’t get into the whole debate about whether e-mail pitches should or should not be used, but there were a couple of interesting points I wanted to hit from Cone’s main points in the article on about how we can all make our e-mail pitches a bit more refined and increase the rate that our e-mails to bloggers and reporters will A) get opened; and B) actually get us some type of response. Continue reading →
E-mail has become a big part of our lives, when e-mail goes down, our lives shut down. There are so many things you can do with e-mail from e-mailing 300 people in a matter of seconds to just talking it up with friends in China. There is one thing e-mail related that should not be abused. The BCC function. Oh the BCC, the Blind Carbon Copy, also known as the Blind Courtesy Copy and the Big Chicken Coworker.
To all of you who are unfamiliar, the BCC function basically lets people see an e-mail that is sent, but people who are addressed in the TO: or CC: line of an e-mail don’t know this person has received the e-mail. There are many times I’ve used the BCC function whether it be to keep my supervisors in the loop as to what is going on while interacting with a client, or to joke around with one of my friends who doesnt know, and even playing Mr. Matchmaker and clueing my friend into knowing what is being said about them to a potential love interest. The BCC function can be great to be secretive, but when used in deceptive ways, not cool. Continue reading →
Internships are a vital part to any student’s college experience, especially a communications student. What we can learn in college classes is limited. Don’t get me wrong my professors had successful careers in the PR world ranging from an FBI Public Information Officer to a senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard. They blended their classes with information from the books and anecdotes from real life experiences. But in my opinion, to really learn the most about PR, students need to really experience it through internships. Continue reading →
Lately a lot of folks have asked me questions that come down to a matter of Britishocity. Is it “gray” or “grey?” Is it “theatre” or “theater?” It’s okay if you’re confused about these things because, to be honest, you probably had little to do with dumping a bunch of Twinnings into Boston Harbor. Or is that Harbour?
From AOL’s prominence in You’ve Got Mail to T-Mobile’s stronghold on MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge franchise, product placements are hard to miss. They’ve run the gamut from subtly integrated to awkwardly implanted, generated buzz, and, prompted viewers to reevaluate their perceptions of endorsement. But what’s next?
Could SM come to occupy a similar role in movies and television programs? Is it reasonable to think we could see a day where reality show contestants are live tweeting? Could Facebook updates replace some of the face-to-face interaction? Not to mention how the speed at which messages move in the SM sphere seems ideal for helping the contestants on reality dating shows to spread their trash talk and drama effectively. Continue reading →
We all like to go after the “Social Media Experts” claiming there’s no way anyone can a) be an expert in such a new field or b) such a quickly changing field. Beyond the semantics (“expert” vs. “experience” (as much as one can get), “guru,” “knowledgeable in,” “has an instinctive grasp of,” or my favorite undefinable (but likely true in some cases) “just gets”) there’s certainly something to be said for being able to use labels professionally which make us appear to have some higher level of comprehension in our field (and in many cases this is true).
Here’s the kick in the pants — PR pros, and other professionals in the related communications fields, don’t really “know” anything either when it comes to this stuff that a first or second year wouldn’t. Continue reading →
In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, the writer took on the current state of the R.S.V.P. He talked about the lack of response that R.S.V.P.s illicit, and that perhaps evites are on the way out the door. This is especially frustrating as a publicist when you are putting on event and are forced to utilize the cost-effective method of evites. You depend on responses.
The decline of evite popularity is becoming more and more of a trend.
I, myself, have been on both sides of the fence in relation to the R.S.V.P. Nothing is more frustrating then sending out an evite, only to realize no one has responded. Not only does it make you sad, but how do you even know who is coming to the event or not? Continue reading →
