Here’s an example of how being married to a television reporter gives me insight to the other side of marketing and communicating. The president of a public relations firm sent him an email pitch with the subject “Fabulous Local Story.” Before long, my husband scheduled two shoots: one in town and one out of town. While finishing up the first shoot, one of the people he interviewed mentioned in passing another TV station visited the day before regarding the same subject. This was news to him. The PR president never used the words “exclusive,” but my husband and his manager believe there’s a general understanding they are not in the business of airing stories aired earlier by competitors. That understanding seemed even more obvious to him considering the second shoot required out-of-town travel.
Marketers and communicators can argue no one ever promised an exclusive, but here’s why that strategy might backfire. PR folks often will sell their clients’ expertise to my husband by tying it to a timely news issue. My husband can very easily use sound bites from their clients/experts without dropping their clients’ company names. The company name often is not relevant, but my husband has a general understanding of a PR person’s goal. He never promises anything, but again he understands how reporters and marketers can help each other.
My advice: Pick your media and don’t shop your client to every option on air, in print or online. If picking just one breaks your very concept of picking up publicity, then wrap your pitches in different elements. Offer different media different experts. Offer different visuals or story angles. In fact, “wrap” is a nice metaphor. No one wants a regift whether the card says “exclusive” or not. Otherwise, journalists like my husband may not even open your next email, even if it says “fabulous.”