Industry Watch: Celebrity/New Product Public Relations
April 2006

Q&A with Alyson Dutch, CEO, Brown & Dutch Public Relations, Inc.

Q: Having recently been to a Beach Boys concert (and, by the way, they put on a great show), I have to start by asking what it's like working with them and what exactly did you do for them?
I adored working with the Beach Boys. I knew Mike Love first when he hired me to do PR for the opening of a restaurant concept called 'Club Kokomo.' I enjoyed the time I spent with these guys --- they were such legends. I remember being on stage with them once on a hot summer evening in Reno. As they played, I was standing behind the speaker stacks and watching the audience going crazy and the boys to my left just playing. The feeling an artist gets from that kind of audience is wild…I thought then how intoxicating it must be for them. Carl was an angel and I was there when he died...arranged his funeral, which was a star studded affair. I got to know the whole family very well and stay in touch with all of them.

Q. What are the differences between public relations for a known commodity like the Beach Boys as opposed to a new product launch?
Doing PR for a celebrity is a gatekeeper and strategy job. A new product requires constant innovation of ideas and the ability to move quickly when assumptions about an audience turns out differently than you originally anticipated. New product PR is a hard core hammering of pitching and requires the client's patience for at least one year.

Q. Which is easier?
Celebrities!!!!! Are super easy, (but not as much fun)

Q. How do you approach 'branding' a new product?
I start with the business goals. Are they looking for a specific customer? Do they need investment? Are they breaking new ground with a completely new concept? We then create a snapshot communication about the product or concept that can easily be communicated. For example, for Tokyo Coca Cola's Green Tea Terrace, they were making lattes and mochas from green tea. We started with a descriptive as the "Starbucks of green tea." Then the campaign was developed from that standpoint and to their target customer in a way they will understand and appreciate.

Q. What was the most challenging new product you've had to launch? What obstacles did you have to overcome and how did you do it?
Hmmmmm… well...I think most challenging are products that are first to market with a brand new way of doing things. One would imagine that a product that solves a problem in a new way would be easy, but it's really the second company to market that has it easiest. There was a product we launched years ago that was a human cadence, flashcard-based reading software for people with reading issues. Getting school districts to adopt this new way of teaching reading was like pulling teeth. They all recognized the benefit of a flash card, human cadence presentation over linear reading, but didn't readily adopt it. Another challenge was working with Mrs. Fields cookies. They are a household name, but their 25 year longevity had thrown them into a malaise with their customers...how do you make something tried and true fresh again? We created an amateur cookie contest with the demographically matching NBC's "Days of Our Lives" soap opera. The new product raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For the first time in many years, the press reported like crazy about this...and of course, it attracted reportage from entertainment press and news who would otherwise never have had anything to say about Mrs. Fields cookies.

Q: Your website boasts "a consultation and implementation service that bridges the gap between traditional and new marketing methods-MarketingBridge." Please tell us about it. What is it? What does it do?
MarketingBridge was created in the height of the dotcom craze. I noticed that dotcom companies were marketing in a vacuum. They seemed to think that since they were online that they only needed to market online. I thought that if your customer rides the bus, then you better be buying bus bench ads and not relegating your marketing online only. And, on the other side, it helped offline, brick and mortar companies expand their presence online.

Q: You're a crisis management specialist. How do you approach 'putting out a fire'?
It's a lot of observation and research to start. You must first determine what's been said, how publicly and if anyone has reacted. A lot of times, there's nothing to do until someone reacts. Crisis management is very customized and depends upon a lot of factors, but when and if we do something, it's never, ever defensive and the "no comment" ostrich head in the sand approach is never employed. We usually find something positive about the situation that is related and turn the media's attention toward that instead of defending. Of course, information needs to be centralized and executives briefed with questions to expect and armed with answers to give. Media training is necessary to make sure they are coming across naturally, authentically and the poignant information across.

Q: Have you ever found a crisis you couldn't quell or refused a client?
No. Sometimes the outcome isn't what you want, but thankfully Americans have short memories. Look at Michael Milken. Here's a guy who made millions stealing money from old people and has suddenly become a hero for raising money for prostate cancer. Whoever shaped that campaign did a great job, though, ethically, I would have never taken him on as a client.

Q: How did you get started in Public Relations?
I went to school for advertising and all the internships were in PR. I just stayed here. A few years into my career, I was offered a job at Grey Advertising working on the Honda account. I was so turned off by the corporate human resources labyrinth that I never returned. I think they gave me Rorschach tests and wanted my first born before I could even be interviewed.

What made you start your own company? I was fired while going through a divorce. I was the head of the international entertainment division at Baker Winokur Ryder. My mantra of the moment was 'pain is resistance to change' when my boss called to sever our relationship, I stuck to it and went to the beach for a week with my dog, trusting that it was happening for a reason. I didn't do anything but trust the next thing was going to appear. Within a week, Colin Cowie (event design and production) called and hired me. Mike Love called and said he was opening a restaurant. When I called the Beach Boys' manager to get a photo of Mike, they said, we're hiring you too. That was 10 years ago.

A question I like to ask all our guests is what advice would you offer to the new communications pro and for that matter, what advice to the seasoned professional who may be looking for a new position?
Think from the perspective of a journalist. What is truly "news" worthy? How many different ways can you tell the story? I have a little formula that works for any industry: great PR comes from three things: 1: being able to tell a great story, 2: at the right time 3: to the right audience.

For seasoned pros: be resourceful and think about everyone in your universe that you know. Never just answer ads, you'll never find a job. Network, network, network. Be charming. Give more than you get; it always comes back to you in one form or another.