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Public Relations: It's the Content, Stupid.

by Stuart Foster on July 27, 2009

awesome

Want content to live forever? Make it kick ass.

Great content will get you noticed.

Everyone will want to write about you and the awesome stuff that you are doing. After all, both reporters and bloggers are trying to move eyeballs and get click-throughs (regardless of what purists tell you). That's why you see non-stop coverage of celebrities, squirrels on water-skis and a variety of other stock human interest garbage clogging up your news-feed. Products and stories should ideally sell themselves, it's your job to make sure that both are in position to deliver to their maximum potential.

Best way to accomplish this? Pair your story with experiential marketing. What is experiential marketing? Well it's just that: creating an experience for the blogger or reporter and allowing them to put their own personal spin on the content. Recent examples? Ford Fiesta. Grasshoppers. A senior suit? Each is clearly worth more PR then a simple press release. The stories around these ideas/promotions practically write themselves.

Story telling has always formed the back bone of PR. So why aren't more firms creating stories? These ideas, concepts and productions usually end up generating far more press (and often at a lower cost) then traditional outreach. Thus learning how to create, mold and effectively handle content creation should be a PR person's first priority. The excuse that creative is best left for the creatives is no longer an option anymore.

With the merging of departments, the flattening of organizations and general disarray within the economy PR is more important then ever. Why? Social is PR.  The profession has to cross all categories and be integral to any adoption/evolution of marketing. Social is going to live and die with PR. Thus, we should start creating content or get out of the way and let someone who is creating content into the game.

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  • Consumers don't like it when a big company tells them what to think about their product. Experiential marketing allows them to determine on their own what they like/dislike about your product. If you've done the work on the front end to make sure your product is awesome, experiential marketing can help make these consumers evangelists for your brand.
  • Exactly. It's all about letting go of control. It's easier to sell companies on a big experiential push rather then just completely letting go. This way they can (try) and shape the dialogue.
  • Um, this is my manifesto and I have long championed these ideas ever since I saw something about experience-based consumerism in a trend report. Experience is everything. Especially now when over-consumption is looked down upon. Having a lot of "stuff" just isn't in anymore. And it's how you should sell things from toilet paper to trash bags. Great example = BlogHer this past weekend. I asked just about everyone I met who the stand-out sponsors were and they all mentioned sponsors that allowed them to have experiences (EA Sports at Hard Rock Cafe - playing games or Bounce/Tide who allowed you to meet Tim Gunn). The memories were much more important than the swag they got.
  • Is Tim Gunn that Bravo dude?

    100% agree that experiential (and the subsequent tie in and eventual blogging/documenting) is going to be the future of advertising.
  • The Art of Storytelling is a Gift...While the Craft Can be Learned, to be a Great and Memorable Storyteller, You Have to Really Have Something Special. This is why the BEST Companies, Products, Innovations are Born Out of Passion and Drive. And This Passion and Drive Tells the Story....or, at the Very Least, Helps Tell the the Story!

    This Passion & Drive Gives Content to Your Story...RICH and MEANINGFUL Content. It's Almost Like It Tells the Story Itself...Because, It Kinda Like its SCREAMING to Be Told! People Love Good Stories...and HATE Mediocre Ones...! This is Why Solid Stories Have Elements of Real, Fresh, Passionate People/Products....!
  • Exactly. Experience is useless without passionate advocacy.
  • I think it was Burger King that first realized consumers want to "have it your way." It's always been the case, and only recently have marketers caught up to the panoply of voices waiting to be catered to as the individuals they are. Marketing aspires to the one-on-one interaction, and that's why word of mouth marketing is powerful, because as hard as companies may try to make an impression to the masses, they'll never substitute for what your friends tell you.

    As creative executions move from prime time TV into social forms that require peer-to-peer "hey, did you see that!" pass along-ability, the bar is being raised higher for the marketing itself to stand alone as creative marketing. We're moving away from metaphor and into reality. Perhaps this is because of the influence of reality on our lives in everything we consume (even TV -- I love you Khloe Kardashian). Read more about being born social at http://bournesocial.com
  • Khloe Kardashian precedes your cta? I would have gone with Kim.
  • Figures!
  • Yeah...I think just about everyone who knows me knows that Kim Kardashian is teh hotness. Apparently she is also available now. Woot!
  • Hi Stuart,
    I agree with your perspectives on the importance of content. However, experiential marketing refers to creating brand experiences for the intended consumers/customers, not for journalists and bloggers. -Don B @donbart
  • I disagree with your assessment Don. I believe that in order to gain any sort of leverage over potential influencers...you need to push experience.

    Yes experiential marketing is great from a consumer standpoint as well...but guess what? It's unlikely that they have the influence fire power of these other players.
  • Not so much my assessment, Stuart, as the generally accepted definition of what experiential marketing is. I'm not sure 'marketing' is the right mindset to have when reaching out to and engaging with bloggers and other influencers. Influencers are the means to the end (consumers) not the primary target.
  • True. But that's under the old model of broadcast (and it assumes that consumers aren't talking back). Consumers ARE blogging. Thus you need to win over consumers who have more influence than others.

    By creating experiences for the journalist or blogger you can than go into detail about what sort of benefits your product entails. This is marketing via experience.
  • Not sure what I said assumes asymmetric communications, but I take your point on consumer (non-professional) bloggers. However, this is still primarily a broadcast model if you hope these bloggers will influence other consumers - not really different than more traditional 'media' outlets. Plus it pays to keep in mind the greatest influencer for most consumers is 'someone just like me', generally trusted family, friends and colleagues, not a blogger.

    Fully agree on the strategy of creating unique experiences as a way to better differentiate your product and brand.

    Thanks, Stuart.
  • I agree that content is important, but I'd also suggest that relationships are equally if not more important to success in public relations and social media.

    Yes write good content, but also engage your community, read what they are saying, and through that engagement you will have the opportunity to build a relationship, one which will result in dispersal of your ideas once you write the good content.
  • Both are important. But I'm not going to write about what you are selling if your product and story are terrible. No matter how awesome your relationship is with me.
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