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Who
Stepped Up
The PR Avalanche: When the PR avalanche starts, it's a thing of beauty. But like most avalanches, it takes a lot of building up before it can unleash its power.
That's how Rourk Public Relations in Virginia ended up on primetime CNN with Wolf Blitzer,
May 8. Many pieces were put in place that prompted the call and turned the three minute piece into a success.
Following is a quick study on how the public relations opportunity unfolded.
CNN political reporter Carol Costello called me about noon asking, “Why would a sense of humor be important for a politician?” John McCain had appeared on The Daily Show the evening before and that was her angle. The reporter was on deadline and needed to quickly find her source. I told her my staff political consultant and political campaign manager, Brian Kirwin, was one of the best in the business and he'd call her ASAP.
Fortunately, Kirwin knew McCain was the record-setter for appearances on The Daily Show, and was able to quickly stream the video of his appearance on May 7. He also took a few seconds to compose some communication points.
Within minutes Kirwin called the reporter back armed with three good talking points. 1) McCain was the champion of The Daily Show 2) Reagan, facing age questions like McCain is, had the famous debate one-liner that ended the questioning, and 3) People watching traditional news are usually decided voters, and humor reaches to people less identified with strict party voting.
As Kirwin conversed with the reporter he floated each of these comm points to see if any triggered her story-sense. She wasn’t so interested in how often McCain has appeared on The Daily Show, although several clips made it into the final CNN piece. But she was totally intrigued about the theme of "McCain ripping a page out of Reagan’s playbook."
She asked if Kirwin could be on camera in an hour. “Yes” was through his lips faster than you can imagine.
Kirwin arrived early enough to get as many details as possible about the shoot. When would it air? How long was the piece? What would it follow? All good intel that would determine how much specificity he needed.
The taped interview went well. When it aired nationwide several hours later, we scored!
The reporter used most of Kirwin's comm points as the story line, and not the one she had originally called for. In fact 90% of the reporter's dialogue was the information Kirwin gave her. He was a little shocked that it turned out that way and his only on-air appearance was for two sentences. The rest of the segment involved the reporter using the information Kirwin gave her along with video, which included the 1984 Reagan-Mondale debate.
At first, Kirwin was slightly mad. I quickly backed him away from those feelings and had him follow up with the reporter with a gracious "thank you for calling, the piece was outstanding, call anytime you need anything else." Better to get two sentences 50 times, than two sentences once. Our job is to help reporters do their job well and become a trusted resource for them. Accomplish that and the media coverage will follow.
Kirwin's appearance generated calls from many elected officials and McCain's Virginia political campaign manager. They were thrilled with the story and loved how we framed it.
Kirwin was on camera for about eight seconds, but the real value was the ability to help a reporter tell a story with real industry insight, the opportunity to be visual, the skill to link a current candidate with the most popular leader of our generation, and the avalanche that rained gold and further increased Rourk PR's brand and credibility.
Following is snapshot of how we landed some great publicity.
The Build Up
Web Site Optimization: Rourk PR's web site is optimized to the max several ways. When CNN's Carol Costello needed a political consultant to talk about McCain's use of humor in the campaign, she Googled "political consultant, image" and Rourk PR was on page one.
Accessibility: I doubt we were CNN's first call. But we were immediately available to them (whether we really were or not). Unless it's a life and death situation, anytime a reporter
calls -- JUMP! That's the bread and butter of a public relations professional.
Preparation: The Internet makes it possible to quickly research anything, and be prepared in less than 10 minutes. Learn to find and digest information quickly and pick the golden nuggets.
Comm Points: You should never go into an interview without comm points that help you stay on track, make it easy for the reporter to follow and understand, and get your message across. You can usually work these up in less than five minutes.
The Aftermath
Visibility: Calls from elected officials who we've worked for or are working for poured in.
Trusted Resource: Because we were immediately available, and did a prompt and courteous thank you follow-up with the reporter, she may call again. Kirwin established himself as a trusted resource and top-notch political consultant to this reporter.
Future Business: McCain's Virginia political campaign manager and Kirwin had a great conversation. I anticipate if McCain needs help in Virginia, we may be hearing from his campaign manager about this or future political campaigns he may be handling. Kirwin has one of the brightest political minds in Virginia -- that campaign manger now knows it. The CNN appearance made the connection possible.
Credibility: The CNN piece in some form will be added to the Rourk Public Relations web site because it adds credibility and will appeal to anyone in the market for a PR agency or political consultant.
Are you doing the right things to build a PR avalanche that pours gold?
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