WHY TO CONCENTRATE ON THE RIGHT PUBLICS ONLY?

What do you prefer: to draw the crowds or to get the votes? Jim Horton has noticed that Barack Obama is drawing the crowds but Hillary Clinton is getting the votes. Why?
Not all the population is likely to vote. The essential voters are only those who are going to vote, and they are a minority of the population.
So you don't need to reach all the voters, it is certainly not anyone in your state. There are only certain groups of public you must reach.

PR tip is to focus on targeting the right groups of public at the right time.

PR TIP: USE OVERHEAD AERIAL IMAGES OF BUILDINGS

When you look at the overhead aerial image of the building of a Naval base in California, you see a strange thing: this building, which from above, looks like a swastika (= the symbol of Nazism).
This instance is about a negative effect. However, I am trying to derive a positive effect, a positive PR tip: pay attention how you look from every possible angle.

Use overhead aerial images of buildings in the way you prefer.

SELF-PROPAGATING INFORMATION VIRUS

Three months ago I wrote about information viruses. Now we have a new instance of such a virus.
When asked why democracy was not taking hold in Iraq, Bush said that it was because the people of Iraq are still traumatized by Saddam’s rule, and that Saddam killed all the Mandelas. (Nelson Mandela was a freedom fighter in South Africa.)
This Bush's saying 'Saddam killed all the Mandelas' being right or wrong, still people repeat it. So this is the main point in public relations: to build a construction to be repeated by the public.

A PR tip to make the public talk about you and propagate your words is to launch an information virus capable of self-propagating.

PR TIP: ERECT A SMALL PIECE TO DEMO YOU CARE ABOUT A BIG ONE

As you know, the 2008 Summer Olympics will be celebrated in Beijing, People's Republic of China. However, concern has been raised over the air quality of Beijing and its potential effect on the athletes.
The Chinese will do something before the Olympics. One of the moves is to erect Solar panels. Even if they will be mainly for show. Putting a few Solar panels won’t cure any pollution issues but will be a good public relations move. Beijing will definitely try to show that they are committed to the environmental cause to all the visitors and the media.

So, which PR tip can be derived from it? Raise a small but visible piece to display you care about a big issue.

HOW TO DEMO YOUR POLITICAL SELF-CONFIDENCE?

President Putin has been photographed bare-chested, with his perfect muscles on proud display. It was quite audacious demonstration of political self-confidence from a political leader. Vladimir Putin certainly absorbed everything one needs to know about psychological warfare. How many of the politicians do you estimate would emerge enhanced if their torsos were laid out for all to see on a summer fishing trip?
What Vlad’s tactical strip has revealed is the continuing role that nudity plays in male power relations.

However, not only the nudity is the point. If you have anything good to show - show it. That's a PR tip about it.

WHAT STORY IS YOUR PUBLIC LIVING?

This book by Carol Pearson, Ph.D., and Hugh Marr, Ph.D., WHAT STORY ARE YOU LIVING?, is talking about so called Archetype. We are all heroes of our own life stories. We live according to some archetype (Innocent, Orphan, Warrior, Caregiver etc.).

So what is the PR tip about it? When you appeal to some specific public, learn the archetype of that public. What does that public think of itself? What story is it living?

HOW TO INCREASE THE CREDIBILITY OF YOUR ORGANIZATION?

When you don't update the content of your web site, the customer may find wrong information. It's frustrating. The customer asks whether the information can be trusted. See this article of Jim Horton about it.

So what is the PR tip here? Update your site at least monthly. And, more important, let everyone know the very fact that you update your site.

HOW TO BROADEN TARGET PUBLIC FOR YOUR PR EFFORTS?

This article advises to remember faith-based communities when identifying target public.
Faith-based communities are large, active, and influential. They are well organized and have regular methods of communicating via websites, newsletters, direct mail, and face-to-face interactions. For example, if your restaurant is near a church, make sure your hours and staffing can accommodate parishioners before and after church services, and let the church leaders know you are happy to serve their members. If you are near a Jewish temple, you may want to offer some authentic Jewish and kosher food items.

The PR tip here is to remember faith-based communities when identifying target public for your PR efforts.

PR TIP: HOW TO MAKE THE PEOPLE TALK ABOUT YOU?

In an extraordinary public admission in July, Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (popularly known as Lula) confessed that he fears for his life when flying under the current conditions.
"It's no secret to any Brazilian that we have an aviation crisis," he said. "Personally, when the airplane door closes, I deliver myself to God. Even with my luck in the hands of God, I confess I'm afraid. I confess this publicly because I am not embarrassed to say we are afraid." Silva vowed to "do what has to be done and spend what has to be spent" to make air travel safe in Brazil.

The PR tip to induce the public to talk about you is to make an extraordinary public admission.

PR TIP: HOW TO FURTHER INCREASE YOUR POPULARITY EVEN IF YOU CHALLENGE PROBLEMS?

Jessica Simpson’s (an American pop singer and actress) recent divorce further increased her popularity. Why? Because people wish to relate to others. They wish to relate to somebody facing similar problems. Ordinary people are struggling all the time, and they wish to see they are not alone.
So, showing you struggling improves your image.

The PR tip is to share your own personal challenges, battles and triumphs, because you inspire your target audience to continue working to overcome their problems.

HOW TO STAKE YOUR CLAIM? A PR TIP

A Russian expedition set sail on July 25 for the North Pole, where it plans to send a mini-submarine crew to plant a flag on the seabed and symbolically claim the Arctic for the Kremlin.
The objective is to be the first to put a flag there, a Russian flag at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, at the very point of the North Pole. Legal and defence experts see the move as part of a Russian push to assert itself globally and equally, a canny public relations move.
How are they going to fulfill it? If all goes according to plan, the nuclear-powered icebreaker Rossiya will smash through the ice, leading the way for the main expedition ship, which will launch the submarine. We are talking about a small submarine for three members of the team. A Mir submersible vehicle will delve 4,000 meters to the bottom of the ocean beneath the pole.

Which PR tip can we learn from this example? Wish to claim your rights to some territory? Wish to make PR about your success in a new scope? So stake a visible/ concrete/ real/ physical object to prove it.

PR TIP: PUBLISH A TEST

In 2004 Google Labs published so called GLAT - Google Labs Aptitude Test.
Readers were asked to mail in their answers and promised that they would be contacted by Google if they scored well.
The declared reason was to attract high quality people into their ranks. Actually, it was a clever PR move which generated a lot of interest from it.
First, the public gets the idea that the company (= Google Labs, in this case) is hiring only very clever folks.
Second, the public gets the reminder that the company is on the map.
Third, you get much buzz, interest and involvement about this point. Public involvement is necessary for good PR. You may call it even 'viral marketing'.

The PR move for brains, intellectuals and know-it-all guys is to publish a test as if you were hiring folks.

PR TIP: AVOID "DUCK AND COVER"

A crisis stalled JetBlue Airways (JBLU) over nearly a week following a Feb. 14 ice storm in New York. Hundreds of passengers were stranded and flights canceled in the wake of the storm.
Not only JetBlue printed an apology to customers in a handful of U.S. newspapers but also the chief executive of JetBlue David Neeleman issued profuse public apologies on network television, on the video-sharing site YouTube, and on the JetBlue website. Most importantly, Neeleman looked and sounded sincere in all his public appearances.
Let us divide all the tenets of sound crisis management to three parts:
1. Before the crisis: Be prepared, know that all companies will have a crisis. Know your crisis team.
2. During the crisis: Run to it, avoid "duck and cover." Avoid saying "no comment." No vacuum.
3. After the crisis: Make a sacrifice, don't want to win it all.

(As you know, Duck and Cover was a method of protection against the effects of a nuclear war which the US government taught to generations of school children. Immediately after they saw a flash, they had to get on the ground and assume fetal position, lying face down and covering their heads with their hands.)

The good PR move to face a crisis is to run to it, to avoid "duck and cover".

ONCE MORE: PROMOTE YOURSELF AS ANIMAL-FRIENDLY (PR TIP)

In January 2007, the Mayor of the city of Saskatoon (Canada) Don Atchison expressed a desire to see a mounted police patrol (= officers on horseback), saying it would be beneficial and a great public relations move.

First, "In any city where I've seen a horse patrol, people have been drawn to the animals. You never see them running away," said Atchison.
Second, positioning officers at such a height above large crowds improves their safety and gives them a clear view of what's going on. The horse can go where a patrol car can't and can move faster than an officer on foot.

So, once more we see the PR move to present one's image as animal-friendly. Wish to make the public feel good towards you? Present yourself connected to an animal.

PR TIP: TELL THE PEOPLE YOU ARE A GENIUS

From time to time we hear of a person having visions.
Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774 - 1824), the German Nun, claimed to have had visions in which she talked with Jesus.
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 – 1772) was a Swedish scientist. At the age of fifty six he experienced dreams and visions. He felt he was appointed by the Lord to write a doctrine based on a reformed Christianity. He claimed that the Lord had opened his eyes, so that from then on he could freely visit heaven and hell, and talk with angels, devils, and other spirits.
Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805 – 1844) was an American religious leader who founded Mormonism.In autobiographical accounts of his life, Smith said that during his adolescence he had a number of visions, including a theophany (= an appearance of God to man, or a divine disclosure) in his early teens. Smith said that from about 1823 to 1827, he had been visited by an angel named Moroni.
Nat Turner (1800 – 1831) was an American slave, a leader of slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. He frequently received visions which he interpreted as being messages from God.
My question is: how do we know they really had visions? The answer is simple: they themselves told us.

So I remember a joke:
"Our rabbi carries conversations with God every day."
"How do you know?"
"He himself told me that."
"What if he lies?"
"How could a person lie while every day he carries conversations with God?!"

What is my point? Just learn a PR tip on building your PR image from these examples. Want the people to think you are a genius in your field? Just tell them about it.

PR TIP: ADD ACCOMPANYING ARTICLE TO YOUR PRODUCTION

Glassware magnate Max Riedel and Oregon pinot noir makers have announced the design of a new glass specifically for Oregon Pinot Noir (pinot noir = dry red table wine made from purple Pinot grapes).
What makes this glass special? It's a large-bowled, tulip-shaped glass that flares out gently at the top. Tasters say that the slightly narrower opening of this glass seems to focus aromas.
What is my point? It is not about the aroma, nor about the special shape. My point is the main idea of this PR move: every wine should get its own glass. As if it's really so important!?
This is your way to promote your main production, as if it is so 'special', so exclusive that one cannot fully enjoy it without special equipment.
You can further develop this idea: every car should get its own tire, every breed of dogs its own dog-collar, etc.
So the PR tip is: Add some accompanying article to your main production.

PR TIP: PROMOTE YOUR INNOVATION AS ANIMAL-FRIENDLY

We read on the new innovation, synthetic surfaces for horse racing. They are combinations of materials including shredded fibers and chopped plastics coated by wax. First in the UK, then in the United States and Australia they are replacing traditional dirt racing surfaces.
The most important reason is safety, both of the rider and of the horse. Smoother surfaces cause less physical stress on horses.
When horses suffer major injuries in front of large crowds, it makes very negative impression. So providing better conditions for horses is a positive public relations move.

So the PR tip is: Wish to make the public think your innovation is good? Promote it as animal-friendly.

BALANCE OF POWER

If one of the two sides in conflict thinks that he is going to win (and win undoubtedly), then he will never agree to any compromise. Only if he sees that his victory is in doubt, then he will enter into negotiations.
Look at the today's situation between Israel and the palestinians. They agree to negotiate because each side has got the conclusion that he cannot beat one another undoubtedly.

So we can learn the PR tip: Wish to make your opponent agree to your proposed compromise? First, make him think that you have many options to beat him. Second, make him think that he cannot win undoubtedly.

KEEP UP WITH THE TIMES

Who rules in America, demos (= people) or chronos (= time)? America is a chronocracy no less than a democracy. Clothes and household things still of good quality are thrown out for the simple reason that they are old. Scientific, economic, and cultural trends are replaced every certain period of time. Presidents, computers, car models, artistic trends, dress cuts, textbooks have to change periodically to maintain their authoritative status as "new."

So we can learn the PR tip: Make your image as if you keep up with the times. Wish to promote your production? Present it as NEW.