Product Publicity: A Lesson from the Recession



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We all know someone who has suffered a heart attack and it prompted them to change their lifestyle. They started a healthy diet and began an exercise program to live better and prevent another potentially fatal heart problem. Lesson learned.
 
The recession was a heart attack for most companies; especially small manufacturers and distributors who need to market products. During the recession, we were all faced with the dilemma: it is a great time to advertise, but money is tight! That is where product publicity – with its 10 plus times better ROI than advertising gets the job done.  This assertion is based upon the Microsoft Corp. method for evaluating the return-on-investment of publicity. 
 
Why is product publicity especially valuable during a recession? There are several reasons, all of which are true during good economic times, but become amplified during the bad times; when companies are suffering. That is the real post-recession marketing lesson.
 
Steve Jobs of Apple knew the power of product publicity when he marketed the Macintosh at Macworld 1984. His presentation itself was as creative and newsworthy as the new computer he was introducing. I recall that he removed the Mac from a bag, placed it on a table, plugged it in, put in a floppy disk and then the Macintosh introduced him with a very entertaining narrative in a monotone computer voice. That was brilliant! It captured the attention of the audience and the media and led to several interviews that provided the “news coverage” which launched the Macintosh; without spending a dime for advertising.
 
In good economic times and bad, product publicity is the best way to get widespread exposure and enhance the credibility of your products and services. Why? The answer is magnificently simple: because product publicity is news.  Editors are telling their readers about you in the news and editorial sections of the media. That is why readers are reading the magazine or visiting the Web site in the first place; for the news and information.   According to Al Ries, co-author of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, “The PR message has credibility because it comes from a presumably unbiased source. Furthermore, you expect the media to tell you about things you’ve never heard of. That is what news is all about.”
 
Publicity is content which appears in media outlets; both in-print and online. In other words, product publicity is editorial content that is selected by an editor or web host to inform their readers and visitors. It always gets a lot of attention during a recession because news releases which result in product publicity are the most cost-effective way to get widespread exposure in-print and online. Publicity is free… if you know how to get it.
 
It astonishes me how many businesspeople don’t realize the difference between product publicity and advertising. With advertising, you buy space in-print and online to “show off your own products” and again, with publicity, the editor is “showing your products to their readers for you.”  Because of the credibility inherent in publicity, aside from a referral from a respected colleague, publicity is the most respected and, therefore, the most effective marketing tool. But you need to know how to communicate with editors and know what they are looking for.
 
During a recession, media outlets, like most other companies, are faced with budget cuts and staff reductions.   Historically though, the media has always been very cost conscious. This has been an opportunity for my company, Venmark International, because we have become recognized as a source of information for many media outlets. My first personal experience with this took place in March 1977, when Drake Lundell the editor of ComputerWorld, phoned me and asked, “Who are you?” I replied, “I’m Steve Stroum, a product publicist. Lundell said, “Why haven’t you called on me like every other flak?   “Because I’m not like every other flak, I wanted to become recognized for the quality of my work.” “You have,” said Lundell, “would you like to come over and meet my staff?”   “Of course,” I replied.
 
Having only been in business for four months at the time, I was blown away! Obviously, I took advantage of this invitation and when I arrived at ComputerWorld, Lundell introduced me to his staff reporters at as, “Steve Stroum, the president of Venmark, a high-quality source of news and information about companies and products we otherwise might not know about.”   Years later, Russell Kratowicz, P.E., Senior Editor of Plant Services Magazine wrote, “In short, when I see the characteristic “editor-friendly” Venmark press release, I know it is worthwhile for me to read it because I know it contains information that I cannot afford to ignore. These two examples illustrate how important quality product news releases are to editors and web hosts.
 
Today, with many publications shrinking and their corresponding web sites attracting more visitors, having reliable product news sources is more important than ever. “Content is King,” is more than a cliché.  So, unlike the advertising sales pitches of yesteryear when the salesman would suggest, “Place an ad with me and I’ll get you a ‘freebie,” meaning free product news, publicity stands alone more than ever in the marketing mix. Savvy marketers no longer look at it as “free advertising,” they understand how news is created and know the value of it.
 
In his book, “The New Rules of Marketing and PR,” published in 2010, the author David Meerman Scott, wrote, “Don’t just send news releases when big news is happening; find good reasons to send them all the time.” Today, in addition to getting coverage in publications and websites, you can use news releases to reach buyers directly and drive them into the sales process. Reaching buyers directly is his emphasis, however I believe it is equally important to arouse interest in products and services by creatively illustrating how they solve problems. 
 
By doing so, you not only appeal to buyers directly, but more importantly, you can appeal to editors and [if they choose to] they will “tell your story to buyers for you” which has far more credibility. Think of the phrase, “Motor Trend Car of the Year.” Doesn’t that carry a lot of weight when you are in the market for an automobile?
 
If we understand the role of product publicity, then it should be obvious that product publicity generates sales leads. But it also generates tremendous website traffic, in addition to many other huge benefits. For companies who do not dominate their markets, the recession was a fabulous time to promote products and services because, like you, prospective customers were willing to look at another vendor or make a change. In fact, many companies were mandated to seek multiple price quotations.
 
During good times though, companies are busy and will resist change unless there is a reason. Like our friend who had the heart attack, the recession provided a reason to change. Today, as the economy continues to recover, the growth and influence of the internet has amplified the importance of having a consistent product publicity program for your company.  
 
An effective product publicity program will drive traffic to your website and help uncover the keywords and marketing concepts that yield the best sales leads. During the recession, for example, with our industrial B2B clients, we were illustrating how effective their products were at solving maintenance problems or how they were used in maintenance applications, because most capital equipment purchasing was on hold then. Today, our approach has changed. We are publicizing the impact of tour clients’ products on production, growth, and expansion; consistent with the times. If your company is busy again that is a great time to get publicity.
 
To quote Al Ries again, “It’s not enough to have a better product or service. It’s not enough to have a better price. To be successful today you need to create a better brand. And what is a brand? A brand is a perception in the prospect’s mind. Whatever you call the function (publicity, PR, or public relations), the objective is the same. Tell your story indirectly through third-party outlets, primarily the media.” By showing how your products solve problems in the media, your company gets perceived as a problem-solver. Buying a full-page advertisement that screams in full-color: we solve problems won’t do it. Why? Which would you believe?
 
Through web analytics, you can also determine what products and accessories generate the most sales.   We have experienced situations where publicizing one item can lead to sales of another item; even more sales than publicizing the other item itself! Retailers aren’t the only businesses who employ “loss leaders” to attract customers and generate sales.
 
Search engine optimization is another important benefit from an effective product news release campaign. The more exposure your company’s products receive on quality websites, such as those of media outlets, the better your “link popularity” and the likelihood your products will show up organically on page one of a Google search. As Dave Lydon, President of Meller Optics, Inc., said, “I searched for Meller Optics on the Web and couldn’t believe the listings!   The consistent publicity program we’ve had for over 25 years now has the additional payoff of increasing our visibility on the Web and improving our search engine ranking.”   This is because Google’s PageRank technology harnesses the collective judgments of web surfers and is based on the idea that the best way to find relevant information is to prioritize search results not by the characteristics of a document, but by the number of sites that are linking to it.
 
In a Playboy Magazine interview back in 1985, Steve Jobs said, “The most compelling reason for most people to buy a computer for the home will be to link it into a nationwide communica-tions network. We’re just in the beginning stages of what will be a truly remarkable breakthrough for most people—as remarkable as the telephone.”   Mr. Jobs was absolutely correct all those years ago. His vision has become reality.  Companies need to realize that “Content is King” and if they understand what media outlets are looking for, then they can take full advantage of their product publicity opportunities. It doesn’t matter whether your prospective customer is an OEM, distributor, or the end-user, they are all looking for ways to improve and solve problems.
 
The media has changed dramatically over the past few years. In some respects it is easier today to get product news published on the web, but at the same time, the competition for getting quality product news coverage is greater than ever. Getting your product news in quality publications and websites that matter to your customers is what is most important. You need to arouse interest in the products and services you provide. As Peter Nielsen of Sail Magazine wrote about a product he chose to publicize for one of our clients, “This is one of those handy little gizmos you never knew you needed before you saw it.” That says it all! He recognized the value and chose to present it to his readers.  Many sales leads followed.
  
On a final note, a camera doesn’t make you a photographer, a word processor doesn’t make you a writer, and a calculator doesn’t make you an accountant. Hire a professional product publicist who understands the media, industrial and technical products, distribution channels, and how to get news published in high-quality media outlets. It is equally as important to the success of your business as having a good accountant and attorney…
 
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Steven M. Stroum is the founder and president of Venmark International, a product publicity firm located in Wellesley, Massachusetts.  He was appointed one of 18 Small Business Advisors to the Governor of Massachusetts, toured South Korea as an Ambassador for the International Rotary Foundation, was a member of the Norbert Weiner Forum at Tufts University to study the impact of technology on society, and was listed in "Who's Who in the East."  www.venmarkinternational.com 
 
For more information contact:
Steven M. Stroum, President     Phone: 781-237-5860


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