We frequently get asked ‘How do you get media attention’ when the average journalist receives over 300 emails a day, a large percentage from PR people pitching in the latest news from their clients. There is no simple answer to this, the quality of our writing, the relationship we have with that journalist, a creative email title that speaks to their audience? As PR professionals, our job is to come up with creative methods to achieve cut-through in a cluttered space where we often find ourselves scrambling for attention and shouting over the top of other well intentioned communications professionals, who are also fighting for a piece of the editorial pie.
However, all of that aside, what if you have no relationships with the media and you don’t have a PR agency representing you? A little secret tactic that if you do well could be the start of something wonderful, is the art of the creative press kit.
The cleverly designed press kit can be the golden ray of light, in what can sometimes be a dark and monotonous drone of press releases and fact sheets and might just be the difference between getting your piece published or not. What could you send a journalist to make them sit up and listen to your story, that represents your brand, that would entice them to what to know more and will sit on their desk for the next month reminding them of your brand?
We have sent everything – Getaway hampers with hammocks and reef oil, miniature gardening tools, plastic handcuffs, cosmetics laden with plastic grapes, miniature bamboo plants, American chocolates, vibrators and even hand delivered lunches – you name it, we’ve sent it! And it works. It works so well we have even had PR ourselves on the quality of our press kits. An interesting, but relative concept also works well for inviting media to events – Lets face it, they get invited to everything and the DL flyer invite just doesn’t cut it.
The creative press kit is a great tactic that allows journalists to touch and feel the personality of the brand in a new and creative way, creating a break in the endless stream of conventional communication. Like it or not, PR agencies often provide the source of talent and information that we read in our favourite magazines and papers, or hear and see on radio or TV every day. Journalists are increasingly open to the PR pitch, so why not think outside the usual A4 box and take steps to make it more interesting for them and you and in the process you will ensure your release doesn’t just end up in the deleted folder.
