February 2006 PR Perspective

PR Perspective: PR and the Art of Launching New Products

by Alyson Dutch,

CEO

Brown & Dutch Public Relations, Inc.

alyson@bdpr.com

How many times have we heard public relations described as free advertising? Are you ready to just bop the next person on the head who dares utter this again? For better or worse, this perception is one of the main inspirations that entrepreneurs, as brilliant and ambitious a breed they are, simply love PR.

For most of my career, I have specialized in launching new products and concepts. Sometimes our campaigns are for large companies like Tokyo Coca Cola who dared to make frothy lattes and mochas from green tea to become the "Starbucks of green tea." Others have been for toothpaste-impregnated Velcro Dental Dots to become the "world's first disposable toothbrush" or celebrity-designed undergarments that eliminate visible bra lines.

Most entrepreneurs have a finite budget in terms of both money and patience and gravitate toward marketing methodologies that will most quickly indicate the success of their brain storm. Contrary to what publicity is traditionally meant to do entrepreneurs also want to see the money they spend on their marketing to directly impact their sales. I've seen this happen, but it's not common. As every PR practitioner knows, keeping your client happy often requires providing an ongoing education and most definitely a means to quantify value.

Though it's nothing new, we find that bi-annual advertising equivalency reports are a very effective way to do this. These reports are very time consuming to produce, yet they are worth every ounce of effort, especially when they double as marketing tools to leverage your success when looking for new clients.

What kind of return of investment (ROI) should an entrepreneur expect from a good PR campaign? For the Dental Dots and "Starbucks of green tea" projects, we produced 425% and 1465% ROI, respectively. The campaign on the celebrity-designed bras not only directly and solely drove sales, but produced a 900% return on the client's investment. The highest ROI we ever produced for a client was a colossal 36,000% (yes, you've read it right, that's 5 figures!). This impressive report, for a Hollywood catering maven; aka the "Epicurean Spielberg," was larger than most because of the celebrity factor which attracted multiple reports in major publications like People, US magazine, CNN, airline in-flights and major market daily papers.

For anyone who is a business owner, the adage, "tell them what they need to know and sell them what they want" is all too familiar. So, after dazzling your clients with ROI reports that could grace the Rodeo Drive windows of Harry Winston, what is the real value they gain?

The Public Relations Society of America has standardized the value of media placement as five times that of an advertisement. So we know that in comparison, PR is indeed inexpensive, but why is PR more effective today than advertising?

I like to answer this question by asking my readers (over the age of 35) to remember back to being a kid. Do you remember when the Fuller Brush Man would knock on the door and your mom would not only open it, but invite him in for coffee while he displayed his wares? The relationship between and seller and buyer then was very different. Today, if you found someone on your doorstep trying to sell you something, chances are you'd have your hand on a trigger before you opened the door, never mind invite him in for coffee, right? In effect, today's consumers, whether they be in a retail environment, solicited on the phone, via mail ---- or, God forbid, are in the form of a Jehovah's Witness on the stoop --- have become wary of anyone trying to sell them anything. Consumers are very savvy these days. Most people know that advertising space is paid for and that any claim can be made for a dollar; or in the case of a SuperBowl ad, millions of dollars.

Despite the fact that we are a highly technological folk these days, the top marketing modality is still "word-of-mouth." The credibility factor that a personal recommendation makes is worth its weight in gold. On another note, celebrity endorsement has become a commodity in and of itself and counts as the word of God.

So, today's marketing struggle, especially for entrepreneurs with new ideas to present to the world, is to gain word-of-mouth marketing, any way you can get it.

Because the climate between consumers and sellers has changed so drastically over the years, the struggle to get your product "talked about," is, indeed, formidable. Even for niche products, the competition for consumer's attention is fierce. Everywhere one goes we are bombarded with messages, from the back of our valet tickets to the back of the bathroom door. It's inescapable! I dare you to count how many advertising messages you encounter on your drive home from work today. And, most importantly, I challenge you to count them accurately and not get into an accident from the distraction.

The brilliance of publicity is that reportage is, in essence, a reporter giving his or her opinion about something. Editorial (as opposed to advertising), provides word-of-mouth and is an island of impartiality in an ocean of prejudice. We publicists call it "third party endorsement." This, in addition to ROI, is the secret sauce that will undoubtedly impress an entrepreneur with your professional prowess.

Entrepreneurs are an interesting breed of cat and come in all shapes and sizes. Some have good solid ideas and some are nothing short of earth-shattering, but the commonality amongst all of them is: impatience. The entrepreneurs who have noodled out their marketing plan and have a budget in place to make it happen are far ahead of the game and usually are more flexible and tolerant. However, after they buy-in on the ROI and word-of-mouth benefit, most don't understand that building credibility takes time and repetition. That can be expensive and it certainly takes time. I tell every entrepreneur I meet to prepare for at least one year of a PR outreach before they can expect to gain a foothold with their customer. Again, there are exceptions that are quicker than that, but surprisingly it's not usually that one giant hit in Time magazine or MSN.com that does the trick. Often it's just good timing like a same sex-wedding cake topper being marketed at a time when a gay cowboy movie (Brokeback Mountain) gets a nod from the Academy or gay marriage is legalized in Canada.

The time spent on a campaign can vary. I've found that some products destined for retail shelf distribution start by building a portfolio of publicity and often the retailers require the entrepreneur to also invest in advertising for a period of time before signing a purchase order. In a case such as this, the entrepreneur usually splits their budget in half for the PR and advertising and commits to 6 months worth of each. If a retailer such as, let's say, Walgreen's, commits only to test a product in their dog market first before promising a larger order, a short super-targeted regional publicity campaign can do wonders to expand the minds of the buyers in potential markets. It's nice to know that franchised retailers do respond when demand for a product comes from customers wondering why Walgreen's in Dallas had the pH-balanced women's private moisturizer, but, alas, in Manhattan it is nary to be found.

All our marketing classes taught us that distribution is a must before a PR campaign starts. There's nothing worse than an impassioned customer showing up at a store or website who cannot gratify themselves by walking out of the door with their new widget. However, if you time it right (and have a client willing to take some risks) some fashion or trend products can attract distribution from a hard hitting, targeted 6-month publicity outreach. When we launched a nail polish line with each color named after historical goddesses and affirmations on the back of each bottle, this "inner beauty product" was sold to a major department store chain in this exact fashion. It indeed sounds backwards, but the articles in WWD, Vogue, InStyle and the Washington Post impressed buyers so that they sat up, took notice and ordered. In the meantime, the polish was sold on a website and a tiny sales force sold the inspiring lacquer to salons and at boutique beauty retail stores. The plan worked quite well, and, we too, were astonished at the results.

Of course, we love large brands that launch new products. For our client, Mrs. Fields Cookies, the publicity budget was just part of their marketing mix and unlike the sole product entrepreneur, they have more patience. Their expectations about PR are limited to building "buzz" and customer feelings about their brand. A $900 million company like this doesn't expect PR to drive traffic into a store or directly impact sales. These kinds of new product launches are certainly more stable clients and the bread and butter of PR agencies, but often not as exciting as seeing the "little guy entrepreneur" wow their customer base who, in turn, award them with generous sales and product loyalty.

Launching new products can be a very fulfilling part of the PR business. Often we are the first one to position a product and give it a face that the product will forever have. Years later, it's wonderful to see former clients still using concepts that we created for them. I once worked with an animal activist group that had been in business for 20+ years. They were more venerable than the well-known PETA, but didn't have the brand name. We sat down with them, got to know their business and culled that investigations on animal injustices was really their game. As such, they became known as the "FBI of animal rights," a moniker that not only attracted reportage from a mainstream media outlet such as Reuters, but even helped them identify their own direction as a non profit.

I've always found entrepreneurs to be fascinating and the people I most respect. I list Richard Branson of Virgin, as one of my favorites --- there's nothing more intoxicating than someone beating the odds to become a smashing success. In Branson's case, he never finished high school and somehow his bankers still give him new money when he suddenly switches from the music business to bridal, sodas, airlines or cell phones. New product publicity for entrepreneurs is wonderful for me, because I have the opportunity to move in a constant stream of passionate individuals, brimming with ideas and optimism. It's infectious and gives me a reason to come to work everyday. It's fun. I must admit, that after 20 years in the PR business, I still shout "yahoooooo!" when I land my client anywhere from the pages of the New York Times Magazine to the Malibu Times. Of course, the first usually gets a louder shout, but none the less, it's a thrill that never stops.

About the author

In 1996, Alyson Dutch , alyson@bdpr.com, founded Brown & Dutch Public Relations, Inc. which specializes in launching new products, services and personalities and is the author of the PR Handbook for Entrepreneurs (available at www.bdpr.com). Dutch credits the company's success and inspiration to the office location amidst a grove of ancient Malibu oaks and from the dogs that snore from under the desks.

Copyright © 2006 Alyson Dutch. All rights reserved.