You Can’t Put Lipstick on a Pig
I don’t know where the phrase “You Can’t Put Lipstick on a Pig” originated, but for animal lovers out there, including myself, I want to reassure you I have never tried. Unfortunately that can’t be said for some businesses, organisations and even PR and Marketing agencies. Their unsuccessful attempts to make something ugly look more attractive – which is what the saying means – only succeed in alienating the media.
Pitching, what one of my former news editors called a “pile of p**h,” will not make you very popular. Your organisation or agency will be seen as someone who doesn’t understand the news/features agenda. That is the last thing you want…trust me I’m a journalist!
So this creates a dilemma. You are a business/PR/marketing agency and your client believes they have a great story or a great idea for a feature. They truly believe it and you want to believe it too. But you don’t. You know “pigs will fly” before a news desk uses the story. Yes there is a pig theme going on here.
What options do you have? Well you can be upfront with the client. Obviously you won’t want to tell them their idea is a “pile of p**h.” Come on, you are PRs, you can be more inventive than that. You could try explaining why the story won’t work…..if you can get the client to listen. Or you could take the nub of the idea, put lipstick on it and pitch away.
I realise I am not being very helpful here. But when businesses start to ignore the advice of their PR and PR’s don’t have the integrity to give good advice, that is where trouble lies. News desks do want stories but you do have to really understand their audience. Who are their readers/viewers/listeners? What sort of stories have they covered about your sector in the past?
Is this the right time to pitch this story i.e. weird shaped Christmas trees work at Christmas and not in February…..although it does depend on how weird (but we won’t go there). For the trade sector what is the issue the industry is currently having to tackle? Do you have an expert opinion on how to fix it?
People say to me, you know lots of journalists, you’ve worked them. Won’t they run a story for you? The answer is a big fat as a pig NO! If it isn’t a story I don’t stand any more of a chance than anyone else.
Sometimes speaking out doesn’t make you popular. We all have to earn a living. But when clients want to fill a press release with marketing messages that you know won’t work, then ultimately you may lose the contract anyway because they won’t get the coverage they want.
It is the story that counts every time. This isn’t being negative about other people’s ideas. It’s about helping them understand what the media want and not pig trotting out press releases because it meets their KPI’s. One press release = one more piece of work for that month’s target.
Give the media real stories, real people and a real reason to run the story. None of us want to wrestle with a pig.
whirlwindcommunications.co.uk
Pitching, what one of my former news editors called a “pile of p**h,” will not make you very popular. Your organisation or agency will be seen as someone who doesn’t understand the news/features agenda. That is the last thing you want…trust me I’m a journalist!
So this creates a dilemma. You are a business/PR/marketing agency and your client believes they have a great story or a great idea for a feature. They truly believe it and you want to believe it too. But you don’t. You know “pigs will fly” before a news desk uses the story. Yes there is a pig theme going on here.
What options do you have? Well you can be upfront with the client. Obviously you won’t want to tell them their idea is a “pile of p**h.” Come on, you are PRs, you can be more inventive than that. You could try explaining why the story won’t work…..if you can get the client to listen. Or you could take the nub of the idea, put lipstick on it and pitch away.
I realise I am not being very helpful here. But when businesses start to ignore the advice of their PR and PR’s don’t have the integrity to give good advice, that is where trouble lies. News desks do want stories but you do have to really understand their audience. Who are their readers/viewers/listeners? What sort of stories have they covered about your sector in the past?
Is this the right time to pitch this story i.e. weird shaped Christmas trees work at Christmas and not in February…..although it does depend on how weird (but we won’t go there). For the trade sector what is the issue the industry is currently having to tackle? Do you have an expert opinion on how to fix it?
People say to me, you know lots of journalists, you’ve worked them. Won’t they run a story for you? The answer is a big fat as a pig NO! If it isn’t a story I don’t stand any more of a chance than anyone else.
Sometimes speaking out doesn’t make you popular. We all have to earn a living. But when clients want to fill a press release with marketing messages that you know won’t work, then ultimately you may lose the contract anyway because they won’t get the coverage they want.
It is the story that counts every time. This isn’t being negative about other people’s ideas. It’s about helping them understand what the media want and not pig trotting out press releases because it meets their KPI’s. One press release = one more piece of work for that month’s target.
Give the media real stories, real people and a real reason to run the story. None of us want to wrestle with a pig.
whirlwindcommunications.co.uk
