In IT, a black box is a program that measures output against input in complex systems.
This Black Box is designed to help companies achieve a similar goal in PR. Black Box provides our candid input—based on several lifetimes of experience—for companies that want to measure and improve the performance of PR programs.
Remember those old War on Drugs commercials? Where they crack an egg into a sizzling pan and say “This is your brain on drugs?” PR can have that effect, too. Get an ordinarily lucid CEO going on the subject of PR and suddenly he’s strung out. The guy is clearly fried, the brain part anyway.
When Virgin Mobile USA’s announcement on its all-you-can eat mobile data plan leaked prematurely this week via Facebook I read a different story into the news: Could it be that the venerable institution of the press release is breathing its last?
A client asked why their press release bill was 3X higher than before. Though the answer was a no-brainer — they issued 1 press release one month and 3 the next — I was reminded that these days everybody is mindful of costs. In the future I’ll ask: “Are you sure you want to do this release?”
We got a call from a young engineer who advises oil companies on deep sea drilling. What were our thoughts on holding a seminar on blowout prevention, charging press $1200 to attend — but forbidding questions? “I’ll pay double the ticket price to see that,” I replied.
My last exposure to math was the final question in a high school physics exam: “If a dog is sitting at the bottom of a six-foot window and sees a man fall past, how fast is the man plummeting?” My answer: “What’s the dog got to do with it?” Since that day I’ve nurtured a healthy distrust of math, which — fortunately for me — has no place in my chosen profession of PR.
With 2010 almost upon us, it’s likely that companies will continue to have lean budgets and staffs for marketing and PR, yet the same or greater demands for increased visibility. A quick look back at 2009 provides useful guidance for the year ahead on what to do and how to save.
Some weeks ago I raved about the new web-based press release distro services destined to replace the “wire service cartel.” And I believe they will do so — once they can move as quickly. For now, expect delays of up to two days between the time you post your release and the time it goes out.
Like clockwork, three months into the new agency’s tenure they approached us about turning our chief exec into a “thought leader” by ghosting a CEO book. “So — since he’s just a ‘thought follower’ now, would you read his book?” I asked.
PR account executives, grab your smelling salts. We’re about commit the ultimate industry apostasy. Here goes: Hiring a PR firm is not for everybody.
As a kid, my idea of a fun Saturday was sitting by my Dad in the darkened transmission room of the local NBC affiliate, where he worked as an engineer.
