Are Press Platforms Worth It for Small Businesses?

Creating buzz for a small business is difficult. Most small companies don’t have the time to do their own PR and even fewer have budgets big enough to hire outside marketers. That’s where websites like NewsBasis and Help a Reporter Out (HARO) come in. Both claim they make it easier for businesses to connect with reporters who need sources. Today thousands of reporters and businesses find each other on these websites (for free), but will news platforms work for your business? Can you really see a return worth the required time investment, however minimal?

While both HARO and NewsBasis are tight-lipped about their in-house metrics, several users of the sites agreed to share their experiences and tips. Here is what they said:

Staying on Topic Pays Off

Evan Fray-Witzer, a lawyer at the law firm Ciampa Fray-Witzer, has been responding to reporters' requests on HARO for two years. According to Fray-Witzer, who has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and TheStreet.com thanks to HARO, the service is easy to use, doesn’t take much time, and has generated welcome publicity for his firm.

“I try to be very targeted to reporters’ specific requests,” said Fray-Witzer. “If someone is looking for an expert in nuclear science, I don’t respond and say, 'I’m not a nuclear scientist, but I’ve defended them in employment law cases!'”

Fray-Witzer suggests being sensitive to deadlines, but first and foremost have something interesting to say. “I was able to relate the story of how I helped one of my corporate clients deal with an administrative assistant who had taken to opening her mail with a butcher’s knife and telling co-workers that a mass murderer was her idol,” he said. That anecdote ended up in the Wall Street Journal.

Amanda Steinberg, the founder of DailyWorth.com, started using HARO last year and has so far received three mentions on SocialMoms.com. “Most entrepreneurs don't personally know journalists working for national publications, making it difficult to break through the noise, especially when you're competing with savvy, experienced PR representatives with large Rolodexes,” said Steinberg. “I'd say it's tied with e-mail for effectiveness; it's free and it works -- what else can you ask for?”

Perhaps HARO’s biggest advantage is its wide net. The site boasts nearly 30,000 journalists and more than 100,000 sources. According to its founder Peter Shankman, HARO is responsible for publishing more than 75,000 journalist queries, facilitating nearly 7,500,000 media pitches, and promoting close to 1,500 brands.

Bigger Isn't Always Better

Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

Ken Shuman, the head of communications at the real estate search engine Trulia, said he first started using HARO two years ago and has netted multiple mentions in USA Today on issues dealing with foreclosures, first-time home buyers, and government incentives. But Shuman pointed out that bigger isn’t always better. “HARO is so widely-used and reporters get bombarded with pitches, so your chances of success are more slim,” he explained. With so many sources using HARO, it’s clearly a buyer's market. Few of the individuals I spoke with had their first pitches successfully picked up.

Recently Shuman began using NewsBasis, which launched this spring, and he’s already scored exposure in Men’s Journal. "They contacted me because we are real estate experts and they asked us to create a list of thriving cities for 2011 where housing will see a positive increase," said Shuman. “I think it is worth it for companies with specific expertise to be on NewsBasis. When reporters are looking for a reference, this a great way to be front and center.”

Unlike HARO, which divides its users into two camps -- sources and journalists -- NewsBasis takes a more nuanced approach, asking sources to also list their expertise. Thanks to that additional information, journalists can search for specific sources in addition to releasing a mass request. “I think if you have a 'specialized expertise,' NewsBasis will be the gift that keeps on giving,” Shuman said. “The media struggles to find good resources and being listed in NewsBasis is a great way to be found.”

Well-known tech analyst Stowe Boyd is another specialized source who has had success with NewsBasis. “I've been contacted about mobile use, future operating systems, and pieces on social technologies,” said Boyd. “I have been in three or four articles already. [And] it took only a few days.”

Less Time, Better Results Than Twitter

NewsBasis

Although journalists can turn to other social media tools to pinpoint specialists, Brian J. Greenberg, an IT consultant at General System Dynamics, said platforms like NewsBasis are a superior avenue for promotion. “Twitter, etc. is a crap shoot and journalists have to troll the pools of tweets, blog posts, etc. for qualified sources,” said Greenberg. “NewsBasis provides an option for PR without having to have a large PR budget. Since NewsBasis is currently free, there’s nothing but upside for a small boutique firm like ours.”

Fray-Witzer had a similar experience. “Twitter is fine, I suppose, if you can spend the time to develop a million followers. That’s not really practical for my practice,” he said. “We spend our time representing our clients. The nice thing is that HARO requires very little in the way of a time investment to show really outstanding results.”

While these publicity platforms may not spell the end of the press release, they certainly have made it easier for enterprising businesses owners to get press. For his part, Fray-Witzer recalled a recent breakfast with a friend who runs a high-end PR firm in Boston: “I told him about the Wall Street Journal article, the Washington Post article, and the others and he shook his head and said, ‘You know, it used to be that to get that kind of coverage you would have had to hire someone like me.’”

Source:

Alexander Hotz  (Mashable), “Are Press Platforms Worth It for Small Businesses?”, American Express Open Forum, February 10, 2011

Imported From Detroit

Chrysler, Eminem Super Bowl Ad Says Detroit's Back

Eminem: "This is the Motor City. And this is what we do."

What impact can an ad really have? Can it actually make a city feel better about itself? The answer the day after Super Bowl XLV seems to be yes, thanks to Chrysler and ad agency Wieden + Kennedy.

The relationship between America’s car companies and the city that originally made them has been awkward for years. The city of Detroit housed and raised the factory workers of Chrysler, GM, and Ford. But the car companies discouraged diversification of the city’s economy, and city residents will tell you that the Big Three pretty much just stood by as the unemployment rate soared, the school system went sour, violence reached epidemic proportions, and city government became a piggy bank for the friends and family of city officials.

But a Super Bowl ad from the company that is now 25%-owned by foreigners has the whole city buzzing. Chrysler, which is run by Fiat chief Sergio Marchionne, delivered a rousing two-minute spot that summed up the hopes of everyone who believes the city can come back strong. The ad made the front page of the Detroit Free Press, with the headline “Motor City Pride." On Facebook, Detroiters across the country are raving about the spot, reflecting the affection they still feel for the city they left. 

The ad was ostensibly for the Chrysler 200, and it roared out from the pack of silliness during the third quarter. It did so much so right, offering so many details that showed a real understanding of Motown. Opening shots of factories; interstate road signs to introduce the name “Detroit;" cutting to downtown as the narrator begins to discuss “luxury,” a downtown still resplendent with buildings and architectural detail from a time when Detroit was the richest city in America; straight ahead references to the fact that the city has "been to hell and back"; and finally a ride down Woodward Avenue, ending up outside the beautiful and majestic Fox Theatre.

The tagline, "Imported from Detroit," is perfect. It blends luxury and quality with Motown pride, while at the same time acknowledging just how much America has wanted to pretend that Detroit is from a different country, an "unAmerican" country that would allow its citizens to live in such despair.

On EW.com, the Entertainment Weekly Web site, Annie Barrett had the Chrysler ad among her five favorites for the game, writing, “I liked the mystery of this. Was it about effort? American values? People were lifting things and there was figure skating. Something about drive and determination. All of the above!”

There’s a moment early on when viewers could see Eminem at the wheel of the car, creating a level of disbelief that it’s actually him. But the pulsing music behind the whole thing is the great intro to “Lose Yourself,” whose propulsive beat has always seemed to me the best modern expression of what’s at the heart of the city.

Rick Rojas of the Los Angeles Times wrote in a blog post Sunday night that the ad was “a magnificent tribute to the city that has been plagued by all the ills that an urban area could possibly face. And it's a message to stay strong … it's honoring a time when America was about making things — real, hulking tangible pieces of machinery. It stood in contrast to the rest of the ads for things we click on, things made far, far away …

"Chrysler seems to say that Detroit isn't dead, and maybe the spirit of Americans making things isn't dead either.”

The extraordinary two-minute commercial, believed to be the longest ever aired during a Super Bowl, was developed by Chrysler’s new ad agency, Widen + Kennedy of Portland, Ore., the folks who gave us Nike’s “Just do it” campaign. Fox was charging $3 million for 30-second Super Bowl spots, but Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne would only say last week that the company spent less than $9 million for the airtime. The Drum, a British-based creative marketing Web site, said in a report Sunday it was the most expensive commercial in TV history.

Update: Plagiarism, the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Did Audi Rip Off Eminem's Chryler Ad?
(6/2/2011)
A German auto commercial is hitting a little too close to home for some folks in Eminem's camp.

Eight Mile Style, the Ferndale, MI company that handles song licensing for the Detroit rapper, alleges that a new Audi ad uses an unauthorized interpretation of Eminem's "Lose Yourself."

The firm says the Audi spot appears to borrow in general from the Chrysler's 200's "Imported From Detroit" campaign which uses "Lose Yourself" as its centerpiece.

Eight Mile Style filed a motion in a German court this week to quash the Audi ad, which shows a driver touring an urban landscape in a 2012 A6 Avant. The A6 Avant is not being marketed in the U.S.

"It's stunning," said Eight Mile Style manager Joel Martin. "What makes it extraordinary is the similarity to the way Chrysler is using (the song). We saw it and said, 'This has got to be a joke.'" 

The video debuted May 18 at a media event in Berlin and has been posted on YouTube by several auto news services.

A German attorney representing Eight Mile Style said the company will seek damages from Audi.

Sources:

1. Rick Tetzeli, "Super Bowl Ad Stories: Chrysler, Eminem Break an Awkward Silence in Detroit," Fast Company, February 7, 2011

2. Ron Dzwonsowski, "Did you feel it? Chrysler Super Bowl ad says Detroit's back," Detroit Free Press, February 7, 2011
3. Rick Rojas, "Super Bowl Ad Tracker: Chrysler, Eminem proclaim Detroit is still alive," Los Angeles Times, February 6, 2011
4. Annie Barrett, "Super Bowl XLV: Best and worst commercials," Entertainment Weekly, February 6, 2011
5. Brian McCollum, "Audi Ad has Shades of Chrysler-Eminem Hit," Detroit Free Press, June 2, 2011