The Value of Publicity

“A great brand raises the bar. It adds a greater sense of purpose to the experience, whether it’s a brand challenge to do your best in sports or fitness [like Nike], or the affirmation that the cup of coffee you’re drinking really matters,” said Howard Schultz, Starbucks Chairman.

Small manufacturers are frequently intimidated by the idea of international business.  They’ve heard horror stories about letters of credit, payment delays, lost shipments, the cost of advertising support, and other issues. 

Sean Callahan, Media Editor at BtoB Magazine, in an article entitled “Content marketing becoming vital,” wrote, “In the days before the internet, advertising was the driving force in most marketing departments.  Today, however, with the advent of company websites and the rise of social media marketers have been able to move their content to the…

What follows is actual feedback I’ve received from clients which describes the impact that properly executed product publicity campaigns have had on their businesses beyond getting exposure in magazines and on the web. 

In order to get the most publicity for our small business clients, I had to assure that Venmark International would be a “source of information” for media outlets around the world.  Getting that validation would not be an easy task.

What follows is actual feedback that I received from a client which describes the impact that properly executed product publicity campaigns have had on their businesses beyond getting exposure in magazines and on the web. 

There’s a huge difference between writing and distributing a press release and preparing the proper publicity materials.  If you think writing a press release and distributing it on the PR Newswire or some other electronic Web distribution service is all that is necessary to get top notch publicity, then you need to read on. 

The greatest attribute of product publicity is that you cannot tell the size of the company from a product news feature.  We’ve had one-man companies on the front covers of leading publications and front pages of leading websites, right next to the biggest companies in the world.  From a marketing standpoint, it truly evens the…

Malcom Company sells a line of plastic welding tool kits and I’ve been preparing innovative news releases about the kits for about 20 years.  The tools combine heated air and pressure to weld plastic and can be used for repairing tanks and vessels, automotive bumpers, personal watercraft, canoes, snow mobiles, you name it.  Virtually anything…

Moving from Phase I to Phase II of an SBIR is a challenging prospect.  Typically, less than half of all Phase I contracts successfully make this leap.

On August 2, 1976 there was an article in “Advertising Age Magazine” entitled, “What Product PR can do for you in today’s advertising world.”  One of the key points the author of the article made was, “this unprogressive idea that product publicity is a fringe function may well be costing billions of dollars in lost…

When I first got into business for myself, the stakes were high and I learned to control the variables.  I knew about outsourcing and as a sales professional, I knew about preparation.

The amount of information and misinformation on the web is remarkable.  With respect to publicity, especially product publicity, quite frankly, the misinformation is astonishing. 

My writer drove around half of Waltham, as he described it, trying to find Custom Fabricators, Inc.  Why?  Because in his mind he was looking for a big factory, a facility consistent with the widespread exposure the company had been receiving in leading publications as a result of our work.

I was doing one project per month with Charleswater Products and playing a key role in their marketing efforts.  When I arrived for one of our monthly meetings back in the early 80s, my client, George Berbeco, who owned the company, announced that he wanted to do three projects per month.

In order to get the most publicity for my small business clients, I had to assure that Venmark International would be a “source of information” for media outlets around the world.

Many years ago, a client of mine in the plastics business was driving his expensive motor home during the winter in New England and his windshield wipers kept collecting ice.  Aggravated that he had to lean out his window while driving this large $250,000.00 vehicle and bang the ice and snow off of the wipers,…

“Content is King,” is more than a cliché today.   Savvy marketers understand how news is created and know the value of it.  They also understand how search engines work. 

Back in 1975 an article in “Advertising Age Magazine” entitled, “Money Can’t Buy This Kind of Advertising” went into a lengthy discussion about the value of publicity as a marketing tool. 

Content is king on the internet.  There’s no disputing that.   And cyber-clutter makes the need for a professional product publicist more important today than ever before. 

When Google reported sales and profit that topped analysts’ estimates, their stock value increased $68.68 or 12% in one day!  On the other hand, bad news can hammer a stock.  Because news is powerful!

Bill Gates said, “A fundamental new rule for business is that the Internet changes everything.” Is this true for marketing? 

Companies need to understand what media outlets are looking for.  And what they are looking for is meaningful content that adds-value to their website or publication. 

Regardless of how effective a salesperson you are, the events that stimulate a prospective customer’s buying behavior are outside of your control.