Afterword: Why PR Doesn t Happen Overnight

Overview

Despite the fact that news happens pretty much while you sleep, PR is surely not an overnight process (to say the least). In PR, as with so many facets of life, patience is a virtue.

We hear about “instant gratification” every day. Everything from digitally recording boob tubes to Lipton’s Cold Brew teabags is engineered to give us exactly what we want when the whim overtakes us. Unfortunately, to really savor both little and big luxuries, you have to earn them. Waiting for the tea to brew and cool is a chore that takes time, but when it’s ready to be served, it’s a brew that’s far better than that from a scientific teabag ever could be.

The same goes for getting media coverage. Never expect a catchy pitch letter to reap mounds of press just because you like it.

Those pieces of correspondence that you so adore, the phrases you think are so amazing—the real news is that only you may think so.

There’s simply no just add water solution. Great PR takes time, patience, and a lot of talent, time, and effort. Anyone can land a story with enough phone calls, but remember, that’s not the goal. What you’re ultimately trying to achieve is to communicate through the media how your products or services promote exciting cultural developments, shifts, or trends.

That’s no small feat. We live in a society overburdened with media, one in which all of us are bombarded by information from the TV, the radio, the Web (darn those pop-up ads), and billboards. We are constantly assaulted by information. Few spaces are private anymore—think about all the advertising you see on the backs of cabs and in elevators. In this environment, making your message seem important simply isn’t an overnight job.

Let’s take TiVo’s digital video recorders as an example of the story behind a seemingly “overnight” success. TV technologists at TiVo started spreading the buzz well before their apparatus was available. They were smart enough to know that there were some perception potholes in the minds of consumers that would need paving before any couch potato would plunk down a few hundred bucks to bring a DVR home. “I just got a DVD player, what do I need this for?” “Monthly fees on top of cable?” “Are commercials really the enemy?” And, of course, “Harrumph! Sounds complicated! Is there a manual I gotta read?”

And yet, over the course of a few seasons, TiVos “suddenly” were being heralded as the invention of the decade. There’s a lot of strategy behind what looks like an overnight success, and strategizing and planning take time.

Many people misunderstand the whole point of PR. At our firm we often cluck at the naysayers, those people who think there is a quick fix and that everything can be solved with one decent piece of press.

The awesome undertaking of a successful PR campaign is building brand and awareness on a grand scale. You’re using the press to sway opinions. What’s more, you’re posting a detour sign on the road of the natural course that the media follows to make a tiny piece into a national phenomenon. It takes a while to make the phenomenon real, so when a first month’s worth of work hasn’t panned out into gobs of coverage, remember that you’re a month closer to the pinnacle of success. Don’t confuse that slow but steady upward climb with being down in the gorge of failure. You may still have a long way to go, but you need to feel good about how far you’ve come.

Here’s hoping the gods of PR shine upon you. With a head start, the odds are certainly in your favor.