Blog
06.07
Atomic PR anyone? They are 'blowing up' online.
"Best Practices"
This is a term of endearment to any organization ranging from major conglomerate to say, a boutique-style integrated marketing communications agency. Essentially, if anyone is in business, the one thing you want to tout is your best practices in hopes of saying to everyone in your industry, "And this is why we rock."
(Incidentally, here is a reason for us. Oh, and these too.)
One company wishing their best practices were up-to-snuff is Atomic PR, which unfortunately has committed the ultimate gaffe by having a member of the blogosphere or media pelt its brand with a relentless reach of pulling back the curtain.
Jason Mendelson, a respected blogger in the venture capitalist space was recently acquaintened with some fellow flacks from said nuclear combustible firm. According to his colorful post about the recent hullabaloo, Atomic's best practices were put to the test as they proceeded to blast Jason with pitch after pitch after unwelcomed pitch.
Not only do they carpet bomb me, but every time I politely ask them to take me off the list of the stupid stuff they send me, they either one: don’t reply, or two: reply that they will, but never do. And then I get an email from some new “bright and shining face” informing me of some “exciting news” that I couldn’t care less about.
Ouch.
Persistence is a quality PR practioners must possess within the bounds of respect. It's said that 247 billion e-mail messages are floating out there in cyberspace daily. Divide that by how reporters you know and... well, you get it. Your friendly, neighborhood journalist gets a box full of requests daily. Many of them in fact.
It's highly likely when you call a day or so later, your e-mail is still buried in his or her inbox - if it even made it past the firewall in the first place. To wit, throttling down on your persistence to enter the world of spamming, or "carpetbombing" as Jason puts it, would not qualify as 'best practices.'
Public relations is a symbiotic relationship. We need the media to heart us, just as we hope they heart our clients. The only way that kind of relationship is created is through mutual respect - understanding they are getting pitched by everyone and their mother, and hopefully they understand clients if not able to tell their stories are likely to call our mothers some salty names. (Well, not our clients personally but you get the idea.)
While this practice does not represent the many PR firms that do their job with excellence, this voracious minority makes it seem to some journalists that we are all colored with that same ruddy brush. That's just not the case.
So as you pitch and position, remember your best practices, who you represent and why you got into this gig in the first place. And of course, if that's not enough incentive, remember just about every journalist has access to a blog or a Twitter feed.
You think the aforementioned carpet bomber is now looking to become the next fry guy? How's that for honing in on our practices.
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