The “12 Days of Christmas,” PR-style

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‘Tis the season for the annual Christmas Price Index from PNC Wealth Management, which tallies up the cost of the “12 Days of Christmas” each year. According to the 2012 appraisal, there’s just over a six percent mark-up from last year, meaning it’ll set you back a cool $107,300, as reported by USA Today.

Here’s a detailed list of the breakdown:

  • Partridge, $15; last year: same
  • Pear tree, $189.99; last year: $169.99
  • Two turtle doves, $125; last year: same
  • Three French hens, $165; last year: $150
  • Four calling birds (canaries), $519.96; last year: same
  • Five gold rings, $750; last year: $645
  • Six geese a-laying, $210; last year: $162
  • Seven swans a-swimming, $7,000; last year: $6,300
  • Eight maids a-milking, $58; last year: same
  • Nine ladies dancing (per performance), $6,294; last year: same
  • 10 lords a-leaping (per performance), $4,767; last year: same
  • 11 pipers piping (per performance), $2,562; last year: $2,428
  • 12 drummers drumming (per performance), $2,776; last year: $2,630

But here at PerkettPR, we’re singing a bit of a different tune. In keeping with the coming holidays, we thought it would be fun to create our own version on the classic song, just for our PR pals. After all, what good is being in this year’s so-called seventh-most-stressful job in America if we can’t poke a little fun at it – and ourselves? So without further ado:

On the first day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… a last-minute press release edit.

On the second day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… two misquoted clients. 

On the third day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… three RFPs.

On the fourth day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… four conference calls.

On the fifth day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… five cu-ups of coffee (Or is it happy hour? Then co-old martinis it is!).

On the sixth day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… six urgent emails a-waiting.

On the seventh day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… seven events a-networking.

On the eighth day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… eight stories not a-newsworthy.

On the ninth day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… nine awards needing drafting.

On the tenth day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… 10 products a-launching.

On the eleventh day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… 11 tweets to be posted. 

On the twelfth day of Christmas the PR gods granted me… 12 HAROs needing pitching, 11 tweets to be posted, 10 products a-launching, nine awards needing drafting, eight stories not a-newsworthy, seven events a-networking, six urgent emails a-waiting, five cups of coffee (oh, forget it…just bring on the martinis), four conference calls, three RFPs, two misquoted clients… and a last-minute press-release edit.

Care to add some more ideas on how we can “spin” the 12 days our way? Let us know in the comments below. And, last but certainly not least, we wish you and yours a very happy holiday season from all of us here at PerkettPR!

PR – A Great Thing, but Not a Miracle Worker

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It’s a funny thing about PR…sometimes it’s viewed like other professions that people have a love/hate relationship with – like law enforcement, insurance providers, lawyers. Or like those that people expect magic from – beauticians, plastic surgeons, teachers.

Here’s the thing. Anything can be branded, marketed, promoted. Anything can get a first look. But public relations won’t make or break your business without a little help from you.

Stop making your PR department/firm/executive the scapegoat for your crappy products.

It’s not our job to convince people that your products are good when they aren’t. We don’t “dumb people down.” PR isn’t to blame if you can’t sell. PR isn’t to blame if your product doesn’t do what you promised – or told us to promise. Even Apple can’t pull that off.

I’m not being over sensitive. I’ve been in this business long enough – heading into my 15th year of owning my own firm – to recognize the unbelievable expectations that executives can have about PR. And I’ve seen many executives that don’t get PR at all – who have no idea that their CMOs are throwing money out the door jumping from agency to agency trying to find the right match.

I also know that PR agencies can seem like a dime a dozen. There’s one on every block like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. I know that it can be tough to find the right match – chemistry with the team – on your first try. But if you or your marketing head have gone through more than two agencies in 12 months, maybe it’s time to take a look inside.

Here’s a few things you can expect a good PR team to accomplish:

  • Get your products in front of the “right people” – those can vary, but for most companies it means reporters, bloggers, analysts and others who influence the buying decisions of your prospects.
  • Connect executives with these folks for personal meetings/briefings/interviews – beginning and helping to maintain a more personal relationship.
  • Get these influencers to listen – based on long standing relationships and/or the talent to understand what they want, how they want to be connected with, what they care about, etc.
  • Give you inside views on where to be (events, online and off) to connect with the right folks who can help you – whether it’s media, VCs, analysts, customer/prospects, partners – a good PR team can help with all of those, making sure your valuable time isn’t wasted, and that you’re not missing anything crucial.
  • Help you write, message, brand and promote what you want to say in a more eloquent manner.
  • Help “roll out the red carpet” for sales by spreading awareness of you, your company, your products consistently, and in the right places. Ideally, PR sets the stage so that when a sales executive walks into a deal, the prospect says, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of you – I see you guys everywhere.” That’s always a nice start.

Here’s you should not expect PR to do:

  • Get people to keep using your product if it’s not working right.
  • Cover up bad customer service – certainly we can try to help fix a crisis, but this shouldn’t be the ongoing plan.
  • Work in a black hole – share information with your PR team and trust them to help you come up with the best, most strategic plan on what information should be communicated, to who, how, where and when.
  • Make reporters personally like you.
  • Tell reporters what to write. We can give them facts, we can encourage certain angles. But they’re not puppets and we’re not puppet masters.
  • Be responsible for repeat buyers. That’s your job – through great customer service, good products, stellar relationship management. We’re matchmakers of sorts – we get people interested but it’s up to you to maintain the relationship.

Of course, good PR executives can help with more than these things – it’s just a quick list. We can help you maintain relationships to a certain degree. But we’re not miracle workers. If your product or service isn’t working right or your customer service team isn’t treating customers well, don’t blame PR. Understand – and manage – the difference between positioning communications and information, vs product development, customer service and executive management. Too often, PR is blamed when all three don’t come together well.

What do you expect from PR?

 

 

 

“Trading cards here! Get your trading cards here!”

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New PR Tips Collection to be Featured Weekly; Ultimately Producing a PR “Bible”

 

What do baseball and PR have to do with one another? Other than individual performances adding up to a team win, maybe not much (although it could be a fun subject for a future blog post). Regardless, PerkettPR is hoping to create some fun with its new “PR Trading Cards,” which will be featured on our Pinterest and Facebook pages starting this week.

Remember collecting baseball cards as a child – trading and sharing and trying to obtain them all?  We wanted to create some similar fun – while also sharing some best PR practices – by showcasing our own “trading card collection” of PR Tips, by way of trading cards that you can trade, share or just keep handy.  You can even print each trading card off and stick in the spokes of your bicycle if you like. 😉 We’ll be featuring two trading cards each week with our top PR and marketing tips.

In addition to sharing and trading them, we’d love for you to submit your own PR tips – we’ll design the best tips into a trading card to be featured in the collection.  A fan-contributed PR Tip trading card will be featured each Friday on our Pinterest and Facebook pages and included in an upcoming “PR Bible” as well.  This “PR Bible” will include the first 50 PR tips submitted, along with your name as the contributor.

To add to the fun, if you collect and share 10 tips or more, you can win a PerkettPR coffee mug. So be sure to like, follow, plus, view or read us and let us know that you’ve been sharing!

Are you ready for some fun? Head on over to our Pinterest and Facebook pages and check them out! To contribute a PR tip, please email your idea to prtips@perkettpr.com.

 

Top 10 Do’s & Don’ts: A PR Executive’s Crib Sheet

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It’s easy to play up the adversarial relationship between “Hacks” and “Flacks,” but the truth of this perennial love/hate relationship is that that we really do need one other. Although the value of PR professionals to journalists is often called into question, as this article points out, “the popularity of services like HARO and ProfNet should be proof enough that journalists have a need for PR professionals.”

That said, as PR professionals, our jobs are two-fold: Not only are we advocates for our clients, but we’re also here to make life easier on our journalist comrades. Between a non-stop news cycle, scary budget cuts and mounting competition for clicks, there’s a good chance they’re working in a pressure cooker environment, so the best thing we can do is to think from their perspective and assist rather than annoy. After all, it comes down to relationships, and there’s nothing worse than trying to work with someone who makes your job harder.

So, without further ado, here are our “Top 10 Yeas and Nays” for better PR practices. Although some may seem pretty obvious, those are often the ones that are first forgotten.

DON’T even think about…

  1. Not doing your research/reading a journalist’s articles before pitching. Know who you’re targeting, and only send something to them that you think would be of interest.
  2. Sending a pitch via email blast. The shotgun-spray approach is not appreciated; rather, think like a sniper.
  3. Asking if you can see and/or edit an article before it’s published. This is a huge no-no!
  4. Making up a response if you don’t know the answer. It’s perfectly acceptable to say, “I’m not sure. Let me check and get back to you.”
  5. Disregarding deadlines. Your journalist friend has theirs, so make sure you meet yours.

If you want to develop good working relationships, DO try…

  1. Respecting the journalist’s preferences. If they’re an email person, and you’re more comfortable on the phone, adapt. Work their way.
  2. Keeping pitches and releases short and to-the-point (and as buzz-free as possible). Repeat after me: Less is more.
  3. Thinking about how to streamline the process. Have assets and answers ready, and be available when the reporter is writing and may have a question. (Package the story beforehand as much as possible: angle, visual content, facts, references, spokespersons, etc.)
  4. Proofread, proofread, proofread. And when in doubt, hit spell check again before sending that pitch – perhaps even send to a colleague to review with fresh eyes before contacting the reporter.
  5. Focusing on relationships. I said it above, and I’ll say it again – it’s all about relationships. They make the job easier and a whole lot more fun! For example, interact with, read, comment on, share and praise a reporter’s work that you find of interest –  not just when it’s a story about your company or client.

And, as always, there’s often no better place to hear it than from the horse’s mouth. So unless you don’t mind finding yourself mocked publicly (yep, we’re quite aware of the conversations going on here, here or here), we also suggest checking out (and heeding!) veteran reporter Rafe Needleman’s Pro PR Tips: http://proprtips.com/

Which tips would you add to the list? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Running a PR Agency – Big or Small, Challenges Remain the Same

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Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Council of PR Firms‘ Boston roundtable, to discuss industry and agency issues with fellow Boston agency leaders. This was my second time attending this annual event, and I again came away inspired, energized, reassured and enthusiastic. The folks I was lucky enough to sit around the “asylum white” Board room with at Weber Shandwick included agency leaders in executive management, HR and business development from large, global firms such as Porter Novelli, Weber and Fleishman-Hillard, to midsize and smaller agencies such as CHEN PR and March Public Relations. In all, there were about 20 of us who talked about what’s looking up in the PR industry, how PR has evolved since the advent of social and digital media, HR and recruitment challenges, the integration of advertising, digital, social, mobile and video into PR campaigns and much more. We spent a great deal of time talking about measurement – what clients want, how we provide it and what tools and strategies we are using to get there.

The thing that I always find most interesting about meeting with my industry colleagues – some of them even competitors – is that we all face similar issues. Large or small, focused on tech or healthcare or consumer PR – the agency challenges are always along the same lines. As the owner of one of the smaller agencies, I love to hear that we are successfully navigating the same issues that agencies of any size do – how to motivate staff, how to identify and hire the right people for our culture, how to juggle client demands with realistic budgets. It reminds me that sometimes getting together with your “frenemies,” as I like to call them, benefits everyone. Here are some of the issues that resonated across the board:

Recruiting. Currently, the biggest challenge is finding social and digital experts who understand communications strategy and PR. It’s easy to find one or the other, but the combination of both is valuable and rare. PR folks –that’s an open invitation to you to hone your social and digital skills and surpass those “social media experts” for jobs that require knowing more than how to Tweet. What’s the real value in using these tools in a strategic communications campaign?

HR. One of the big issues on the table was telecommuting and virtual work. I am obviously – as an owner of one of the first and most successful virtual agencies – fortunate to not have to deal with a traditional office environment where executive staff is trying to figure out how to provide the opportunity for employees to work from home some of the time. That balancing act can get tricky – providing the perk without it getting out of control, managing expectations between management and staff and still keeping employees motivated and happy. Almost every agency provides the opportunity to work from home some of the time for some of their employees, but much was discussed about how this affects training of junior staff, expectations from clients, and the overall culture. Apparently the new wave of workers expects this perk, so agencies are navigating their way and trying some interesting combinations of integrating virtual work with traditional office environments. Other topics on the HR front were how to manage employee demands for more and better perks, investment in training and opportunities for growth from within, as well as the return of bloated salary requests. We were all enthusiastic about joining an HR roundtable next to continue to inform one another and discuss these issues – helping to keep the industry in check.

Client Expectations. This is always a topic of discussion and I was glad to hear that budgets all around are returning to a more realistic level to align with the results desired by clients. Remember, you really do get what you pay for in PR. You can’t expect to saturate the market if you don’t put the proper investment behind that (money, time and executive commitment and belief). Remember what Bill Gates allegedly said about his last dollar…

Measurement and Proof of Value. Speaking of client expectations, the burden of proof of reaching those expectations continues to drive discussions within all agencies. We talked about using tools such as Radian 6 and (our PerkettPR client) uberVU. We discussed the value of measuring how our promotions are driving traffic, sales leads, brand awareness and more – but the challenge remains to find the exact best way to do this. There is no PR industry standard and furthermore, clients don’t want to pay extra for it. The burden of proof is on PR firms – and how the different agencies handle that is all over the place. (On a self promotional note, our agency is working on a tool that fellow firms will definitely find of value – stay tuned for our launch this Fall.)

Competition. A great deal of discussion was spent on how PR agencies are taking business not from each other, but from other entities such as advertising agencies, digital houses and even the new found “social media” agencies. The common belief – and trend we’re all seeing – is that the shiny new ball syndrome of hiring an entire agency to execute social media is quickly fading. Social media is simply a new set of tools, not an enlightenment of communications strategy for newbie professionals who have never dealt with brand strategy, corporate crisis and more. The competitive landscape is wider, but PR is holding its own, as effective communications that illicit the proper actions continues to be key. Also hot for PR agencies is adding staff for mobile, digital and video content. Most agencies are moving from outsourcing this type of position to owning it in-house with a dedicated team or position.

I do believe there were a few laughs when I mentioned that the telephone has been around for quite a while, but it certainly doesn’t make everyone good at communicating. It’s true – and neither do social media tools. This is why the PR industry is not dying. We’re thriving – and our 2012 budgets and client rosters continue to reflect that truth. I can’t wait to see what 2013 brings to us as an industry.

If you’re a PR executive or agency, what trends are you seeing in the above areas? How are you navigating the changes discussed (or the traditional issues we all still face)?

Thanks to Weber for hosting, and to Matthew Soriano and the Council for including me. And of course, to my industry colleagues for participating. It’s always a pleasure learning from you all.

PS Head on over to the Council’s website for more industry stats, insights and information! It’s  a great resource.

Say What? PR Slang – Defined

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As PR professionals, we often find ourselves in interesting conversations trying to explain what we do for a living. Truth be told, the popularity of social media and its integration into the PR and marketing mix has made it a little easier to help our family and friends “get it,” but there are still a lot of curious looks when you answer the question, “So, what is PR and what do you do as a PR professional, anyway?”

To complicate matters, we use a lot of PR lingo that makes no sense to those outside of marketing. Some of our favorite PR slang includes:

Pubs – publications, as in “we need to get media coverage in 100 pubs”

Hits – media coverage

Opp – opportunity, as in an opportunity to get media coverage

Journo – a reporter (journalist)

Pitch – note to inform/gauge interest

Running/ran – article appeared

Traction – interest/coverage

Out of the box – think beyond the obvious

Open the kimono – reveal more details

Prezo – a PowerPoint presentation

Release – a news announcement (as opposed to a product release)

Launch – the public marketing announcement of a G/A product (G/A = generally available)

B-roll – “highlights” video of something we want to promote (company, person, event), often used to show broadcast outlets the potential for a story and/or provide them with footage for the story

Ed Cals – editorial calendars (predetermined story topics by media outlets)

Boilerplate – short description of a company, most often used at the end of a press release

Evergreen – story/pitch angle that won’t fade over time, could be pitched/published at any time (as opposed to news that is only relevant during a certain period of time)

In-house – a “corporate” job where one conducts PR inside a business, as opposed to an agency job where one services several clients at once

Flack – although defined as “a publicist or promoter,” it is also a derogatory reference – often used by journalists – to describe a bad PR executive

Hack – PR’s response to “flack,” often used to describe a poor journalist or reporting job

What slang terms do you use in your profession that others might not understand without explanation? What’d we miss on the PR front? We are pretty sure our former colleague Terry Frechette will have some to add!

 

Keeping up with the Kardashian Brand

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Kardashian. Even if you don’t want to, you know the name. You may watch the slew of reality television shows associated with the name (Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kourtney & Kim Kardashian Take New York, Khloe & Lamar). Or perhaps you shop at Dash (the Kardashian boutique) or Sears (the Kardashian Kollection clothing line). Or maybe you’ve read and weighed in about Kim Kardashian’s scandalous divorce with basketball pro Kris Humphries. Was it real? Was it fake? Was it all for money? Regardless, the name is everywhere (perfumes, weight loss supplements, jewelry, fitness videos, credit cards, cosmetics, Barbie dolls, etc). Hate it or love it, talent or no talent— no matter what you may think of the brand itself, it does have a powerful recognition — worth an estimated $65 million.

While a public divorce and paternity scandal (it’s rumored that the late Robert Kardashian isn’t the birth father of Khloe Kardashian) has kept the Kardashian name in the news, another PR and branding crisis may be looming. In recent news, the NY Post reported that the Kardashian brand is tarnishing — and fast. According to the article, “Ratings for the family’s reality show have plummeted, sales of magazines with Kim Kardashian’s mug go unsold, and her products are unmarketable, insiders say.” In fact the article continues to share some startling statistics that may just prove that the Kardashian brand is in trouble.

These include:

· E!’s Kardashian TV franchise — “Keeping up with the Kardashians” — suffered a 14 percent dip in Nielsen ratings, from 3.5 million viewers per episode last season to 3 million this season.

· Circulation at Us Weekly, In Touch, Life & Style and OK! dropped about 18 percent when a Kardashian was on the cover in December, publishers said.

· Skechers ditched Kim as the face of the company in 2011 — they’ve replaced her with a French bulldog.

In fact, 500,000 consumers have signed an online petition to boycott companies that partner with Kim Kardashian at BoycottKim.com. The site claims Kardashian has “made a mockery of American culture.” And while I can’t disagree, I also can’t stop watching.

This begs the question—what can be done to help save the seemingly toxic Kardashian brand? The answer may lay within the successful mastermind behind the brand, Kardashian mother, Kris Jenner. Kris manages all of her daughters’ careers and is president of her own production company, Jenner Communications. She’s proven that she’s a marketing and branding genius. From controlling the news to making sure consumers are left wanting more, Jenner has positively and continually exposed the Kardashian brand.

It will be interesting to see if the Kardashian brand is sustainable— where will it be in three years? What creative marketing tactics will be used to salvage the brand? Will the Kardashian brand find news way to connect with its audience, fans, and customers? What do you think? Are you ready for the Kardashian brand to retire? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

PR Definition

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We work in PR – and soon we’ll be able to tell you exactly what that means

A while back I jokingly joined a Facebook group called, “I Work in PR and My family and Friends Have No Idea What I Do,” partly out of curiosity, but mostly because it’s true. Chances are the description will strike a chord if you work in the industry:

“They know we spend all day at an office and that we are very busy, but no one we know understands what it is we do all day. We are equally unable to explain it to them.”

But that’s all about to change, hopefully.

It’s no secret that public relations has a PR problem. Forget the tension with the media (it’s high time to declare a truce and move on…but that’s another post); I’m talking about the fact that – while a myriad of definitions are floating around – existing descriptions are neither intuitive nor able to encompass PR’s ever-evolving scope of work.

PRSA’s definition of public relations was last updated in 1982. Over the course of the past 10 years, the organization has assembled two special committees to explore modernizing the definition of public relations, but recent discussions, blog posts, tweets and mainstream articles have called for more decisive action. Public relations professionals, having grown tired of lack a de facto industry definition and unhappy with current descriptions, want to both modernize the definition and increase its value.

So late last year the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) decided to tackle this conundrum with its “Public Relations Defined” initiative, setting out to answer the question, “What is public relations?” After collaborating with partners in allied associations and calling for open submissions, PRSA unveiled its three definition possibilities this past week:

1. Public relations is the management function of researching, engaging, communicating, and collaborating with stakeholders in an ethical manner to build mutually beneficial relationships and achieve results.
2. Public relations is a strategic communication process that develops and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their key publics.
3. Public relations is the engagement between organizations and individuals to achieve mutual understanding and realize strategic goals.

We’ve got until January 23 to review, react and comment, and then the collective feedback will be aggregated and analyzed for use in a second “Definition of PR” summit. The goal of that meeting will be to produce three final definitions, on which the profession will be invited to vote, and then the final definition is slated to be announced at the end of February. For more information, annotated versions of the definitions and to leave your thoughts for consideration in the process, click here.

Do you think the definitions above are on track? If not, how would you better define PR? We’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.

5 strategic social media tips for PR pros

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Fellow PR pros: Sure, you’ve got a Twitter account, a Facebook page and now a G+ account. You’re following key influencers and engaging with relevant media. But with time and attention at a premium these days, unless you’re using social media strategically, being active on such networks can sometimes do more harm than good. Below are five tips for better managing this increasingly-important facet of PR:

  1. Get organized. Yes, we’ve got to stay on top of the action, but it’s time-consuming to constantly troll the Internet in search of relevant news for Facebook and Twitter feeds. Instead, bring the news to you with an aggregation service such as Netvibes, which offers a personalized, real-time dashboard that syncs with multiple devices for easy access anytime, anywhere.
  2. Get acquainted. You wouldn’t make it a habit to walk up to strangers asking for favors (or maybe you do, but that’s an entirely different blog post…), and the same goes for journalists. Develop a rapport with reporters before you need anything from them – read their articles (c’mon, people, this should be a given), follow people with similar hobbies, start conversations, etc. – and there’s a better chance they’ll be open to reading that next pitch.
  3. Get creative. More publications are using freelancers, although many of them aren’t listed in media databases, so it can be difficult to track down these elusive writers. But thanks to the popularity of personal branding, there’s a good chance you can do a quick Google search and find out which social networks they’re using, along with other helpful information on how to best contact and pitch them.
  4. Get inquisitive. As much as PR is known for being a communications-heavy profession, sometimes it can feel like a one-sided pursuit (does anyone answer the phone anymore?). But by developing – and nurturing – a network of trusted colleagues in your social sphere, you’ve always got a trusted resource with which to crowdsource research, pose questions and get a flood of feedback. Veterans are often more than happy to share wisdom, knowledge, and even war stories, with those who will listen.
  5. Get real. Finally, as much as we operate almost entirely online nowadays, at our very core, humans are social creatures – and we crave face-to-face interaction. Social media allows us to expand our reach like never before, but there’s still nothing like a firm handshake and a genuine smile – be it with colleagues, mentors or members of the media. Leverage networks initially to expand your circle, but don’t forget to carry over those new connections into real-world interactions (try meeting up at industry events, local meet-ups, etc.), which can translate into offline working relationships that are both rewarding and enduring.

What are other ways that you’ve seen PR pros effectively utilize social media? Feel free to share examples and suggestions in the comments below.

A “Win-Win PR Situation” for Abercrombie & Fitch

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The SituationApparel retailer, Abercromie and Fitch issued a statement on Tuesday titled “A Win-Win Situation,” in which it stated a “deep concern” over the association between Mr. Sorrentino and the brand. A&F offered up a “substantial payment” to Mr. Sorrentino “to wear an alternate brand.” For those of you that live under a rock, the above mentioned, Mr. Sorrentino aka ‘The Situation’ found instant stardom as one of the notorious cast members of MTV’s hit reality series Jersey Shore.

Apparently, following last week’s episode of the Jersey Shore, A&F executives thought it was “terrible, terrible news” that The Situation was sporting a pair of A&F sweatpants. Execs were so distraught that they immediately asked “What are we going to do it about this?”

Of course the most obvious solution would be to compensate Mr. Sorrentino (as well as other cast members) for NOT wearing their brand of clothing and to issue a public statement about the request. OF course! Oh and coincidentally, the timing of the statement resulted in its reference during yesterday’s A&F earnings call during which the retailer’s Chief Executive Mike Jeffries chuckled, “Is no one going to ask about the Situation?” Hmm….

This PR flack thinks this was pure brilliance. Issuing a public statement requesting that perhaps one of THE most well-known reality casts stop wearing their brand has only drawn increased attention to their label of preference. This strategy had their story leading off all the national morning shows, including The Today Show, feature coverage in the Wall Street Journal, and all the top national dailies, as well as features in all the celebrity rags and fashion trades. On top of that, The Situation, and A&F are also nationally trending topics on Twitter today!

Well played, Abercrombie. It will be interesting to see if these reality stars bite and if so, what other brands will jump on the anti-Jersey Shore bandwagon. I guess the old adage holds true – any publicity is good publicity…???

What do you think about this PR strategy? Share your comments below.