Archive for publicity
Remembering an Extreme PR Experience
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Today’s announcement that ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will soon come to an end brought to mind Sawmill’s experience working with the Hollywood producers during a 2007 build in Port Deposit, Md.
It was one of those extreme PR assignments that come along every so often, requiring constant caffeine injections as we managed all aspects of media relations while a team of more than 1,500 volunteers built a 4,300-square-foot home and a therapeutic riding facility in less than a week. Actually 106 hours, to be exact, and we wouldn’t trade those 20-hour days for anything.
Sawmill was brought on board to craft messages, help with product placement, provide media coaching and provide round-the-clock management of the onslaught of media coverage that was sure to arrive with Ty Pennington (seen above with the Luther family on “Move That Bus” day) and the rest of the cast of the Emmy Award-winning reality television show, including the always-in-pink Designer/Carpenter Paige Hemmis (below, chilling with Jeff just after the door-knock).
During the course of the build week, results included more than 55 television stories, dozens of newspaper articles, regular live radio interviews coverage in the trade press and one surprised family!
Media Relations Tip #18: Your Op-Ed Needs to ‘Grab’ the Editor
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“The purpose of an op-ed is to make one point — a good point — and make it well.”
That’s a piece of advice from Barry Rascovar, the long-time Baltimore Sun political columnist and deputy editorial page editor, who joined Michael Cross-Barnet, The Sun‘s deputy opinion editor, at the recent PRSA Mid-Atlantic Chesapeake Conference to share insider tips on getting an op-ed considered and published.
Here are just a few insights:
The Sun publishes 12 op-eds a week. They receive more than 100 each week that are “worthy of consideration.” At The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, the competition is considerably higher.
Good writing is as important as an interesting topic. Use clear prose and concise, simple language. The academic community tends to have trouble with this, Cross-Barnet said. Rascovar suggests that writers dig out their copies of Strunk & White’s “Elements of Style” for a refresher on making every word count.
Your submission needs to “grab the editor” with a piece that solves a local problem. Be creative, imaginative, concise and cogent.
Is it “different enough, unusual enough?” Or is it another bland piece that will get tossed into the rejection heap?
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations Marks 17th Year
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I’ll spare us the parade of trite sayings such as “it seems like only yesterday, blah, blah blah” about Sawmill Marketing Public Relations marking its 17th year in business. Instead, here are two of my high highlights as well as three maxims that I’m sure will guide us the next 17 years as they have since 1995.
High Highlight #1: No question..it’s when Jeff came on board and we became SMPR partners. A Public Relations professional to his core who has lead us in new directions…most notably/recently his expertise in social media…he is also a genuinely nice guy and good friend.
High Highlight #2: Being on site (and working around the clock day after day) for five weeks at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City where we represented a resort property that was an unofficial Olympic Village for Nordic ski and biathlon teams from around the world. It was a heady experience working with major national and international media on a daily basis and in close daily contact with athletes of that caliber.
Our Three Maxims:
- Always Take the High Road. No exceptions, no detours.
- It is a Small World. In large measure reputations rise and fall as a result of this simple statement.
- LOVE what you do or don’t do it anymore. A great day @ SMPR is when we get a “hit” for a client and/or we provide counsel that a client recognizes as smart, insightful and new.
Thank you for your part in helping us to arrive at age 17 and for your continuing help to propel us to the next 17 years.
This week’s Baltimore Business Journal showcases @contactjeff as a Twitter account worth following.
The item in “Smart Strategies” notes that PR firms and advertising folks were among the first to use Twitter to promote clients and engage in dialogue with the media. “One of the early adopters in this field was Jeff Davis, a partner with Sawmill Marketing Public Relations.”
“His tweets offer a nice mix of the personal and the professional — and some are quite funny,” the BBJ says. At least that’s their opinion!
In fact, the BBJ was the first to cover Sawmill’s push into social media in 2007, and then in 2008 under the headline: “What Are You Doing? PR firms answer that question and more via social networking phenomenon Twitter”
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations Named Agency for FCC Environmental, LLC
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BALTIMORE, Md. (September 21, 2011) – Sawmill Marketing Public Relations, a Baltimore public relations firm, has been selected by FCC Environmental, LLC, one of the world’s largest environmental services companies with an expertise in waste oil collection and processing, for a comprehensive awareness campaign for its first sustainable used motor oil recycling facility.
The campaign will include strategic message development, traditional media relations, website development and management, community relations, crisis communications planning and spokesperson training.
The $50 million facility, to be located in Baltimore, is the first of several used motor oil recycling operations planned by the company in the United States.
About FCC Environmental
FCC Environmental, LLC provides recycling services for the automotive, commercial and industrial sectors of the U.S. economy. Its service offerings include used oil collection and processing, collection and recycling of used oil filters and antifreeze, along with parts cleaner supply and service, plus field service activity and emergency response capabilities to support the requirements of its customers.
Headquartered in Houston, FCC Environmental has maintained a regional office and operation in Baltimore since 1950. It has 38 branches and terminals throughout an 18 state operation, serving over 30,000 customer locations. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), one of the world’s largest environmental service providers with headquarters in Madrid, Spain. With more than 90,000 employees operating in over 50 countries, FCC was able to provide the financial capability and leadership to allow FCC Environmental, LLC to expand its service offerings. For more information, visit www.FCCenvironmental.com.
About Sawmill Marketing Public Relations
Sawmill Marketing Public Relations is a Baltimore PR firm and social media marketing communications agency established in 1995 specializing in the development and execution of marketing public relations programs as business development strategies for business-to-business, business-to-consumer and professional services clients. The Maryland public relations company specializes in social media, traditional media relations, media training, and crisis communications. For additional information, visit www.sawmillmarketing.com.
Is Your Website Press Room Missing Something?
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Does your website press room offer the information the media expects to find there, including an image library, useful contact info for your spokesperson and easily-printable fact sheets and background material? If not, you’re making a journalist’s job more difficult and that could reflect poorly on your brand.
Here’s a link to an informative blog post based on research on “what journalists really want from an online newsroom,” by David Bowen of Bowen Craggs & Co. and posted on the MyNewsdesk customer blog. [Thanks to Keith Childs for sharing it on the FIR FriendFeed room.]
Media Training Can Help in a Variety of Situations
Posted by: | CommentsIn getting ready for an important meeting later this week that will include an in-depth question and answer period, I was reminded of media training basics including answer only the question that was asked and do not speculate.
Learning how to deliver your key messages clearly, concisely and consistently has so many valuable uses beyond communicating effectively in a media interview such as meetings and presentations of all descriptions, employee/staff situations, hiring interviews, and even sensitive family discussions.
There are several other basic media interview tips that can come in handy in a variety of situations beyond those with the media. Email me at susan.anthony@sawmillmarketing and I will be happy to share them with you.
This Hit Never Gets Old
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One thing that never gets old in our business is getting a client mentioned in the media, otherwise known as a “hit.”
Today we got our hands on the August issue of Baltimore magazine and inside is an article about seniors housing communities that includes our client, Crystal Spring. It’s a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) coming to Annapolis in 2012 that will also include village center-style townhomes for people of all ages and a destination retail village with shops and outdoor cafes, as well as a cultural arts center and village green. A boutique inn and spa is also being considered. It’s all on one “campus,” and is the new way CCRCs are being designed and built vs. the old stand-alone model that isolates the residents from the broader community.
Sawmill has been working with the writer for many months. In fact, the paragraph were I am quoted comes from an interview I did back in January. Proof that publicity also requires patience.
The Same Old Story – This Time from Inc. Magazine
Posted by: | CommentsInc. is a favorite magazine of mine because I always learn something and enjoy a good read as I do so. Imagine my chagrin when editor Jane Berentson
took the PR profession to task with yet another trip to the woodshed for irrelevant pitches and obvious email blast pitches.
When will we learn?
Ms. Berentson shares that, for her, the best story ideas “unfold in a conversation about this and that” which provides valuable insight into her approach for exploring and discovering stories that reside beyond the obvious and the expected.
Our challenge is to find a way to be a part of one of her conversations about “this and that” and in so doing, uncover a story that neither one of us knew was there.
