What stops you from writing fake press releases?

You might have read this story about this fake Gucci advert. In short, a struggling model booked a double spread advertisement into a Swiss Newspaper. He told the paper to send the £50,000 invoice to Gucci.

It's a bold and tenacious move, but it did made me speculate over the safeguards to stop fake PR. How hard would it be to issue fake press releases on behalf of companies?

I've yet to come across a journalist who checks we actually are the PR agency for our client. So what is stopping any mischievous chap registering a domain name and sending out press releases without permission?

I recall a situation at one client of apt marketing & pr, where a group of disgruntled ex-employees had registered a very similar domain name and used it to slander our client. The website had very limited impact. But what if they had instead registered a PR agency sounding domain name, and drafted press releases purporting to be from the company?

The scary thought is that this could be done anonymously by the vaguely tech-savvy. They could set up a Skype line for journalists to call for further information, perhaps even interviews. Fear the possibilities:

- Company CEO resigns due to stress
- Company X closes customer service branch
- Company X issues profit warnings
- Company X apologises for sexual misconduct

Anyone that thinks this isn't feasible would do well to read this. It's a report by the Triforce about how they created a media hoax which gained coverage in major publications around the world.

Want press? Attack Religion!

One sure-fire way to attract publicity is to attack religion.

Dan Brown, the master of publicity, proved that nothing stirs debate like claiming the beliefs of millions are wrong. When questioned about how much of his book was factual, he claimed (and still claims) "all of it". Perhaps the best tactic of attracting a religious audience (and mass-publicity) to a film is to royally piss them off (See: Passion of the Christ, The Da Vinci Code, Dogma).

Still, i'm not impressed by this press release. What a dull way of announcing what you claim to be the most exciting archaeological find...ever.

Surely Titanic Discovery: James Cameron Finds Lost Tomb of Jesus would've been a better headline?

Never mind, the story still got picked up everywhere. It's currently the the most popular story on the BBC website.

I love this final quote:

Local residents said they were pleased with the attention the tomb has drawn.

"It will mean our house prices will go up because Christians will want to live here," one woman said.

Guerrilla marketing by the local tourist board anyone?

Get Lost, Virgin!

There is a PR war raging between two of Britain's biggest broadcast companies, Virgin Media and BSkyB. Beyond the technicalities, it's basically over the three big Sky TV shows Lost, 24 and The Simpsons.

On Friday Virgin Media claimed that BSkyB were demanding double the previous rate to show Sky channels to Virgin Media subscribers (Virgin viewers account for 30% of all Sky's viewers and subsequently around £45m in advertising).

The two companies both quickly launch PR campaigns. For BSkyB, they began running adverts telling viewers watching on Virgin Media that unless they switched to Sky Digital, they would lose their favourite shows.

Virgin took the highroads claiming Sky were asking an unacceptable price that they would have to pass onto their customers. Instead Virgin Media encouraged viewers to watch Virgin Central, their new 'on demand' channel (watch select shows when you want). They would then spend the millions saved from Sky on "quality content".

The big question here, was whether people would be willing to switch to Sky Digital just to watch these three shows.

I'm a student on Virgin Media, and a big fan of Lost, 24 and The Simpsons. So I'm probably the key target market for the Sky ads against Virgin Media. But like other students, I wont switch for three reasons.

1) We download our TV shows weeks, usually months, before they are shown in the UK. So I'm not too concerned either way. I'll watch them within a few hours of when they are shown in the USA.
2) Students really don't care much about television anymore. We're the alcoholic, MySpace, Instant Messenger generation. TV ranks about 5th in the entertainment pecking order. Most importantly we get these tie-in packages which include internet and the phone. We're not going to swap for three TV shows.
3) These TV shows just aren't important enough to swap whole networks. It's a lot of hassle for shows which would be available on DVD in a few months.

Regardless Virgin Media has pretty much won the PR war by securing a deal with ABC to show the latest episodes of Lost on Virgin Central. It's going to be interesting to see how Sky responds at the negotiating table now.

Still, let the PR war continue, it's fascinating stuff.

• Virgin fuels row with Lost coup
  
• A big battle for small screen supremacy
  
• Virgin cable viewers face blackout of Sky hit shows
  
• Virgin viewers may miss hit shows

If you can't spot at least 20 errors, don't work in PR

Fairtrade issued embargoed this press release until today. If you can't find at least 20 errors, consider a career change.

I'll detail some of the biggest faults below, anyone that fancies combing through it for all the SPAG (spelling, puncture and grammar) errors, feel free.

• It's huge, over 2000 words long. Press releases should be around 250 - 300 words.
  
• Dull and vague headline. Where's the hook? What's going to make the journalist open that e-mail? Actually any of the opening sentences would've made better headlines than the one they used.
  
• Then the structure of the press release is awful. Where's the opening paragraph? That single paragraph which explains the 5w's in a fascinating way? Don't give journalists raw facts, explain what the facts mean for the people that matter.
  
• The copy is awful. It's not just bad, it's really, really, really, bad. Sentences run on forever. Commas are (poorly) overused.
  
• The content of the release is fantastically awful. Where's the focus? What are they trying to say? I especially love this paragraph:
  
  

  As Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, will say at the national launch of Fairtrade Fortnight which opens with an evening reception today (26 February) at Lloyd’s of London: “The road signs for tomorrow’s Fairtrade world are...."

  
  
• Is this release seriously telling us what Harriet is going to say tomorrow? What fantastic foresight!
  
• Much of the press release is then used (possibly word for word) to tell us what Harriet is going to tell us tomorrow. Do they not expect anyone to turn up? Couldn't they have issued releases before, after and during? Far too much of this release is written in either the passive or future tense.
  
• There are too many quotes, all are used poorly. "bla bla bla" says Joe Bloggs "bla bla bla".

In short, there is a clear overload of information and a clear lack of writing ability. A great example of how not to write a press release.

At least they managed to avoid the Greenpeace trap of (quite literally) including alarmist and armageddonist factoids.

Effective media relations

Via Uninstalled.

How advertising has changed over 35 years

Shelly Lazarus, the chief executive and Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, is featured in this week's Economist discussing how advertising has changed in recent decades.

The explained changes themselves aren't anything new, it's how Ogilivy & Mather is reacting to the changes which is of interest. Rather than breaking down their campaigns into separate and diverse portions of media, they're pulling their arsenal together to fire out single key ideas.

The idea was to offer clients what she grandly calls “360 Degree Brand Stewardship”. Internet types sit together with television, print, outdoor-advertising, direct-marketing and public-relations specialists. This helps them dream up ideas that work across all types of media, rather than devising separate campaigns for each one.

I would love to see single great ideas distributed through diverse media channels. Especially, I think, telling stories might be the future. Does anyone remember the success of the Matrix when it took advantage of various interactive platforms to tell the story? Take this idea to the next step then. I want to see every weapon within the growing marketing arsenal being used to tell parts of a story.

Dove's campaign for real beauty (an Ogilvy & Mathers' campaign) has been extremely successful. Yet there is still a long way to go.

Another point worth noting towards the end:

Another constant throughout her career has been her reluctance to pitch for business. It costs five or six times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain an existing one, so she aims to attract new clients through the quality of her work for others.

It's a quick, worthwhile, read.

Tackling the most boring press release

The most snoozeworthy press releases are those that announce staff changes at a company. Too often clients demand a press release for staff which are of limited importance to the company, let alone the media. For PR agencies, these ego-justifying releases are frustrating for three reasons.

1) They are boring.
2) They consume valuable client hours.
3) It erodes at the respectability of the PR agency when they do send these releases out to their contacts.

However, if the client still ignores your plea of sanity, then the Content Done Better blog has recently given a good example of how to tackle the release:

“Donnie Fixion Promoted to Regional Assistant Sales Manager for Unknown, Inc.” isn’t even interesting to the guy who’ll be taking Donnie’s place or the one fired to make the promotion happen.

“Underwear King Takes Wild Man from Mail Room to Board Room” might get a few more looks.

Better headline. It’s also indicative of a better release. It’s a story with a hook.

Underwear manufacturer Unknown Inc. could run a release that starts:

“Unknown Inc., the midwest’s second-largest manufacturer of cotton undergarments, has announced the promotion of Donnie Fixion to Regional Assistant Sales Manager. Mr. Fixion, age 28 and a graduate of Local University will succeed Leslie Goner in the position…”

I’m SO not interested.

What if they went with:

“Area underwear giant, Unknown, Inc., found it’s newest Regional Assistant Sales Manager languishing in the mailroom, cracking jokes. Donnie Fixion, a fast-talking local product with a wild history has climbed out of the basement and into the boardroom, taking the seat previously occupied by thermal underwear innovator Leslie Goner.”

It could be said the weaker the news release, the bigger the challenge for the PR agency. Which is true. In which case you can see this as an exciting task to relish. But unless the new staff member has a particuarly exciting background, it's best convincing the client that the hours they are paying for could be better spent on more important work.

Quoted by the Daily Mail

This might be the most perfect example of hypocrisy imaginable.

I haven't been monitoring what people are saying about me online recently. I thus missed my quote in this Daily Mail piece (a piece about the importance of monitoring what's said about you online no-less).

Anyway, it's in the Femail section of Monday's Daily Mail. If anybody can scan a copy, I would greatly appreciate it. Here is what I said (I also provided a fair bit more information used in the article which isn't credited. But i'm not petty enough to point that out):

Worried? You should be. In the US there are already companies like Reputation Defender that promise to help individuals scour the net and remove inaccurate, inappropriate or slanderous information and while no such service currently exists in the UK, Richard Millington of APT Marketing and PR believes that it’s only a matter of time.

His company is so concerned about the amount of ‘digital dirt’ flying around the internet that they’re developing a new service to help their clients manage this information.

“It’s not just about looking at the information that they voluntarily put out there, but also about monitoring what’s said about them online,” he explains “We hope to correct any information that’s wrong, or ask for it to be removed.”

That's now local, regional and national press in the last six months. I'm quite proud of myself. I'm moving ever closer to being able to quote myself in my dissertation.

Final post on the Kenya Cycling Challenge

"We get the PCs AND the bikes right?"
I didn't take my digital camera to Kenya for three reasons:

1) I don't own a digital camera
2) Everybody else does own a digital camera
3) Photo sharing websites are fantastic


Right of way my ass!!!
(sorry, had to be done)

So please find below the links to photos from my fellow participants on the Kenya Cycling Challenge.

Overall i'm quite pleased. I've avoided most of the snaps, but Where's Wally enthusiasts might spot me lurking in a few pictures. Finding my pet dog is more challenging.

• Allan's photos
  
• Andrew's photos
  
• Dave's photos
  
• Peter's photos
  
• More of Peter's photos
  
• Ralph's fab photos
  
• Robin's photos

"Hitchhiking would be a lot easier Rich"
Note: I'm in two of the above photos...guess which ones!

'English' English in Lithuania

“Your English is very English”. Noted the girl sitting opposite me in the Lithuanian coffee house. Her Lithuanian friends agreed. It was an apt statement, my English is irrepressibly English. But I wasn’t sure the comment was this direct.

“What do you mean?”

“In college we’re taught to speak English in an English way. Not in American.”

“You mean accents?”

*confused stares*

One girl translated the word ‘accents’ into Lithuanian for the group.

“Yes, we’re taught to speak English as the English would. Not like the films. We have to speak English properly.”

“What about different accents in the UK?”

*blank stares again*

One girl replied “yes, we are taught to speak English with English accents”

I suspected they might not be aware that English accents varied greatly from county to county.

“Our teacher is English”

“Where is he from?”

“Scotland”

A week to go before regular blogging resumes

It's 2.30am. I've nearly finished my 4000 word report on my placement year. I've completed this report in two days without skipping any of my lectures, whilst suffering from jetlag, a bad cold and some post-cycling exhaustion.

I'm now frantically chucking my Kenya shorts and t-shirts out of my main luggage and replacing them with the thickest cloths ever to grace my wardrobe. Lithuania is supposed to be -10'.

My coach to Heathrow (then on to Gatwick) leaves at 10.10am. Before that I need to finish packing (waiting for clothes to dry), print out a hefty report, proofread this report, lose my passport, find my passport and convince a housemate to hand this report in on my behalf.

It's intense.

Fortunately my housemates have noticed i'm a bit stressed and decided to have an impromptu house party with a lovely bunch they met out clubbing tonight.

An interesting insurance claim

Dear Insurance Company,

I am writing to claim for the theft of my iPod whilst participating in the Kenya Cycling Challenge.

After successfully completing the 400km in five days, we decided to spend our final day on safari at the national park just outside Nairobi. After a tiring morning spent chasing giraffes, rhinos, zebras and yes, a lion, we decided to have lunch at the designated picnic area. The picnic area was situated in a great location overlooking the park and no more than 200 metres away from where we spotted the lion stalking impalas.

We pulled in at the picnic area to find two baboons sitting expectantly on the tables. Unfortunately when we stepped out of the minibus to take photos, one baboon appeared behind us and leapt into the minibus through the open roof. My bag was open next to my seat, and the said baboon removed half a bag of chocolate éclairs, a box of panadol and my iPod before the driver finally managed to force him out. Despite our best efforts (and concerns about the local carnivore population) we were unable to recover any of these items.

I am aware that all insurance claims need to be corroborated by a police report. Unfortunately this was our final day and we were not able to get one before flying back to London. Please contact Nairobi police for any further material you need to process this claim. The accused can best be described as quick, furry, no more than 4 ft tall with a suspected interest in the work of Stereophonics, Led Zepplin, U2, Moby and Massive Attack.

My gratitude in advance for helping resolve this claim. Please contact me to discuss any further information you require.

Yours Faithfully,
Richard Millington

Rich is going away

I really hope I don't die.

Not my usual lede into a blog post is it? But then i'm not usually flying out to Kenya without the Yellow Fever vaccination.

So this afternoon i'm flying from London Heathrow to Nairobi, Kenya. This is part of the Kenya Cycling Challenge, a charity event where 15 of us will be cycling from Nairobi through the Rift Valley down to Lake Victoria. It's a 400km journey, spread across five days.

I arrive back on the 11th, where I have three days back in Cheltenham (to write up the 3000 word placement year report) before flying out to Lithuania on the 14th (coming back on the 20th).

In short, it's adios for a while. Hopefully not too long.

The PR impacts of the Telegraph’s integrated news hub.

The Daily Telegraph, the UK’s leading broadsheet, is soon to be moving offices from Canary Wharf to a full integrated news hub at Victoria. This basically means that Telegraph journalists are expected to podcast and even vodcast their stories. This is widely heralded as the future for newsrooms.

This has some significant implications for PR types then doesn’t it? If journalists want more than just text, then PR journalists must learn how to give journalists more than just text. PR companies must therefore encourage their client to release stories in an audio format which can be copied into the news report.

For example, if a news story breaks in the morning, the PR should be able to call the client over Skype, record a few brief comments, edit those comments for a brief podcast clip, and publish it on the internet. The same goes for Vodcasts. PRs would benefit greatly from being able to interview a client over a decent webcam, and release the vodcast onto the internet.

Are these the skills being taught on PR degrees at the moment? Paul? Richard? And have PR companies cottoned onto the benefits of recruiting PRs with these abilities?

News is changing . If you want to be ahead of the game, then think ahead.

There is plenty of further reading available. I would recommend Mindy's post below:

• Mindy McAdams - Getting (and keeping) a job in journalism
  Mindy has some great suggestions at the bottom of her post which would be important for PRs to read.
  
  
• Martin Stabe - The Conservatism of journalism students
  A riff based upon Mindy's original argument above.
  
  
• Philip Young - Teaching online journalism
  
  
• The Guardian - Hub or Hubris
  A review of the Telegraph's plans for the future by the Telegraph's biggest rival.

There aren't enough sports marketing blogs

There's a new blog in the ol' sphere which deserves your attention. Please visit Sports Marketing 101. It's a sports marketing blog by Ian Probert.

Ian is a ferocious learner. He's probably Gloucestershire's best sports marketing student. Ian undertook a week's work experience with apt marketing & pr back in the summer, we liked him so much we kept inviting him back. Now he works part time for the company 1 - 2 days a week.

It's a new blog, and could use your encouragement and suggestions.

On an extra note he's also looking for a year's work experience at a sports marketing company. So on the off-chance you are from sch a company, be sure to give him a job, otherwise you're losing out.