the buzz

How do you maximize radio placements?

"There are many ways to maximize audience reach and impressions on radio,” says Joan Carrese of zcomm. 

When pitching Radio News Releases and PSAs, customize your story to each market.  “zcomm researches and includes statistics in pitches to localize stories and, whenever possible, uses a local spokesperson to add a credible, community angle,” adds Carrese.  Stations across the country prefer stories with a local newshook. 

If you are targeting multi-cultural demographics, such as the Hispanic audience, produce both and English and Spanish language release for stations in markets with large Hispanic populations.  And Spanish language outlets are pitched less than general market outlets, so they are more receptive to news releases, interviews, PSAs, podcasts and radio contests.

For Radio Tours, send an audio clip of a dynamic spokesperson with a written pitch and when appropriate make sure the stations are streaming your interview on their website for value added.  Take advantage of a great spokesperson and produce a series of audio Podcasts about your message to download on aggregators on the web, in addition to a client’s website. 

Finally, remember to personally pitch often and pitch well.  “A short, informative and newsworthy personal call and email increase the odds that a media contact will like your message and say yes,” says Carrese. 

How can I optimize my Satellite Media Tour?

"You’ve heard all the noise about the FCC crackdown on SMTs – and it’s true,” acknowledges JoAnn Mangione, vice president of zcomm, Bethesda-based broadcast PR firm.  “However, a little tweaking of our approach to SMT planning can still reap the big audience numbers.”

First, put your money where your mouth is – invest in a well-known spokesperson and stick with health, entertainment, topical issues and non-profits.  Topics related to special observances such as American Diabetes Month, are helpful as are charity tie-ins.  Full disclosure is very important; so build trust with producers by telling them up front who is sponsoring the SMT.

Use your studio time wisely, don’t forget to incorporate radio bookings between TV interviews to pump up audience numbers and think about extending the length of the tour to increase station participation.  Finally, repurpose the interviews by creating a series of videopodcasts and/or audio podcasts.  Consider streaming part or all of the interviews on your website, and on related or partner websites and make use of viral marketing.

“An SMT is still a smart media tactic,” say Mangione.  “Let stations know your awareness of the FCC’s regulations and give them what they need to be comfortable airing your client’s message.”

How to use the news?

It’s not always easy to develop a news angle that resonates with editors and producers, but there are simple ways to increase the odds.

Risë Birnbaum, Founder of zcomm in Bethesda, MD and former ABC Network Correspondent, says be a news hound.  “Have the TV on and check online news sites whenever possible for stories that relate to your clients,” suggests Birnbaum.  “If you can leverage breaking news with a client story, you’ve got a better chance of placing your story.”

One example Birnbaum gave was the recent breaking news of Kanye West’s mother dying after plastic surgery.  “We have plastic surgeons as clients and immediately pitched them to health producers.  Because they were so good, the TV producers asked if we could provide them as regular guests.”

Another way to “work” the news is to customize it for your clients.  “If there’s a study on heart disease and you’ve got a heart drug client, try to pitch the story with local statistics on heart disease because radio and TV outlets love local news,” says Birnbaum.

“If it’s a slow news time, then suggest some client-sponsored surveys, developing offbeat questions and answers which tend appeal to the media.”

And keep sending clients relevant news stories.  You’re doing them a favor by keeping them updated at all times.

Why are spanish language radio stations more receptive to broadcast PR?

Hispanic households will soar to over 13 million by 2010, controlling almost $700 billion in personal income by that time.

As the Hispanic market continues to rapidly expand, more clients are looking for effective ways to tap into this affluent community.

zcomm founder and CEO Risë Birnbaum says radio stations are more receptive to broadcast PR tactics than general market stations.

“The reason,” says Birnbaum, “is that Spanish language stations are still not getting the volume of pitches that general market stations receive, and if you pitch a topic or issue that’s important to Hispanics, they’re definitely willing to listen.”

For example, finance, housing, immigration, pharmaceuticals, cars and food and beverage and consumer products are all of interest to Hispanics.

“But to reach them effectively to book an interview, radio news release or PSA, you have to be on the same wavelength,” adds zcomm’s Birnbaum, “and that means using a PR professional who not only knows Spanish but also understands different dialects.”

Another way to reach the exploding Hispanic market is to use bi-lingual spokespeople and book them on both popular Spanish language and general market stations in markets with large Hispanic populations such as Miami, Los Angeles and Dallas.

2008 PR Trends

It’s always good to stay on top of the PR trends so here are a few standouts to help you better spotlight your clients in 2008.

Hope they help and Best in 2008!
Risë

BLOGGERS
Blog is the name of the game these days – you can monitor stories about your clients and their competitors and/or pitch and place valuable content.  Consider distributing your client messages to independent bloggers as well as corporate blogs through a credible third party.  In terms of market penetration, blogging is definitely creating “word of mouth” buzz in the marketplace.  A few of the top blogs are gizmodo.com for tech/gadgets, tmz.com for Hollywood gossip, huffingtonpost.com for politics and treehugger.com for eco/lifestyles.

ONLINE VIDEO
You’ve probably heard that online surfing is the thing to do while doing lunch at your desk and more folks are surfing than eating these days!  So, take whatever video you’ve already produced for your client, or produce new video, and think about placing it online on websites that already attract your target demos.  For example, for moms there’s iVillage or Ladies Home Journal, or smaller sites that, when added together, will still generate a solid audience.

Speaking of video, think funny and think offbeat to really get the YouTubers and other onliners to click on and then forward to their friends.  If it’s viral and video, it’s healthy.

GO MOBILE 
Mobile gizmos and gadgets can generate a whole new audience for your client messages.  Breakthrough technology in mobile websites can target the growing audiences that are attached to cell phones and mobile e-mail daily.  Your client will need a version of their website that is tailored for displays on mobile screens and we anticipate a spike in the number of companies/clients who will have their sites mobile-ready in 2008.

The top ten mobile sites include Google.com, WashingtonPost.com, Ask.com, Yahoo.com Flickr.com, Live.com, Facebook.com, Overstock.com, Weather.com and USA Today.com.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING 
We’ll soon be in full-tilt presidential election mode and that will tighten up traditional media programming and inventory for 2008, especially in battle ground states.  So, strategic story placements for your clients are key.  Look for election-related hooks for radio and TV such as the economy, housing, healthcare, the environment, etc., but also think outside the box to include online audio and video and e-mail marketing where there’s literally “more room” to deliver your message to target demos to pump up those audience numbers.

SOCIAL NETWORKING
It’s just good business to create a name for your clients online as well as offline especially on the off the hook social networking sites.  Think about placing promotional banners, client content or actually joining online communities (YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, iSaveSmart, Bebo) to promote your client message.

THE GREENING OF AMERICA

CNN MONEY TODAY recently said that Europeans are more “GREEN” than Americans. That might be true, but it's sure hard to believe given the media frenzy around going green this past year on this side of the pond. From Al Gore's Emmy-winning documentary and Nobel Prize to The Today Show’s Green is Universal programming from the ends of the earth, green is the new black and it's not even St. Patty's Day.

zcomm recently worked on an eco-friendly national contest for our friends at Weber Shandwick for ‘all’® small & mighty® Detergent where elementary school kids were asked to write an eco-related essay and nominate their school for a "green grant." Getting kids involved now is a great way to ensure the future of our planet.

From socially responsible mutual funds to redoubled recycling efforts, going green rocks. Mutant frogs, hungry polar bears, melting glaciers – if what we do in our own laundry rooms and freeways has some positive impact on the environment then let's all ride bikes and switch from gas to electric.

And if Europe is one step ahead of us, trust me we'll catch up soon, because green is spreading all across the country…and the world.

And that’s a very good thing.

zcomm ad in PR Week

Our recent “cheeky” ad in PRWeek saying “for a small agency, we’ve got a wide stance” was meant to capture readers’ attention, but to also do more than that.

Too many agencies toot their own horn saying they have the best creative or are the gurus of strategic planning or the boss of branding.  We decided to put our money where our mouth is and show folks we’re creative vs. just telling them.

We used the recent “wide stance” angle because we knew it “had legs” and that everyone would immediately know what we were referring to.  We also wanted to give readers a good chuckle, which everyone could use these days.

Humor is good when it comes to ads (and just about everything else) and if done well can really cut through the clutter and deliver the message directly to the funny bone to score major points.

We plan to develop more ads that demonstrate who we are and what we do rather than simply tell you how good we are.

Hope you all enjoy the ad as much as we enjoyed creating it.

More to come!

Risë