I recently wrote about how in-house magazine publicists scan the galleys of their publications for the best gossip/photos/news content to take to the tabs and other non-competitive media. Today’s “Page Six” shines a spotlight on the always column-worthy Vanity Fair and its alleged practice of unexpectedly pulling a cover if the subject doesn’t dish deep (salaciously) enough. While I don’t profess to know the secret elixir for what cover art drives single-copy sales, I do know that there should be few such surprises if the pre-interview prep work is done correctly. It’s simply not enough to unilaterally prepare a client for a media interview (not that Paris Hilton will ever subject herself to media training). You need to work both sides of the story equation. Many of today’s successful media trainers have a good grip on what it takes to make their charges more effective and comfortable in delivering messages no matter the medium. Few, however, have had any interaction with the actual journalist conducting the interview. Hence, the journalist’s true interests arrive indirectly to the trainer via the “media relations specialist” or account handler. For a news story to be truly successful, all parties to the interview need to emerge satisfied. Hence, it’s key to ensure that your client not just delivers his or her finely honed message track, but that he or she delivers on the interests of the journalist. How many interviews have you organized that resulted in nothing, zilch, diddly? The most common reason: a disconnect between the expectations of the journalist and his or her subject.

PR media public relations Vanity Fair media training “Page Six”

No. I’m not talking about the aspirations of the U.S. Executive Branch, but rather the name of a buzz-worthy new TV series on the machinations of a celebrity PR firm. Australia’s The Age gushes over the new series:

“IN THE murky, manipulative world of Prentiss McCabe, the fictional public relations company that is the centrepiece of the brilliant new satire Absolute Power , anything, or anyone, can be spun.”

The BBC TV series takes a jaundiced look at the world of celebrity PR with a more literary approach than “Power Girls” (the “Show Girls” of the PR-in-pop-culture genre). The series producer added,

“You ask young people what they want to be and the idea of wanting to be something specific is being eroded. The answer has become, ‘I just want to be famous or rich’, and fame is more addictive than anything else.”

That it is. In transitioning the program from BBC Radio to TV, the brief changed from dirty politics to celebrity scandals,

“The nice thing about a PR company, which wasn’t just a political PR company, meant we could look at PR in all its forms.”

Well, at least we now know that our industry has evolved to embrace new “forms.” We “spin” both politicians and celebrities.

PR media Absolute Power public relations BBC popular culture

Very few advertising campaigns make news (other than a presence in Ad Age, Ad Week or the ad-oriented blogs). Provocative creative certainly can generate media interest beyond the trades. Take the Super Bowl spots. Virtually all attract some level of media scrutiny…for better or worse. Some ad agency creative types even weigh a campaign’s potential “mediability,” e.g., its ability to spill onto the news pages, when conceiving or deciding on which creative approaches to deploy. My advice to them: look to a PR pro when assessing possible news value. It is my fondest hope to one day convince a beauty products marketing chief to pre-produce a TV commercial featuring all of the Oscar nominees in the Best Supporting Actress category. After the winner delivers her acceptance speech, the network cuts to the commercial starring the lucky actress (with product or product spiel in hand)! That certainly would make news, though not nearly as irreverent as those goofy Burger King spots and their goofier online executions. The creators were so successful at crossing over onto the pages of the mainstream media that they landed on the cover of Business Week. Advertising ubiquity is a given in every media consumer’s life. View the ads on Slate…in order to freely read the stories. Click on the video stream of a news segment on MSNBC.com, but first endure the 30-second commercial. Download a movie to your video iPod, but take the commercials with it. X-out on the ads before jumping to Forbes.com’s home page. Spend 20 minutes watching commercials at the time the movie was supposedly scheduled to start. Usually the creative content will drive editorial interest in an ad campaign. Today, however, the advertisement’s context can also make news. This week, the first live commercial debuted on the New York City stage. Here’s a case where the context, not the content, sparked media interest. As the communications director for the advertiser Visit London explained: “They’re a captive audience. They can’t switch channels or change over or walk out once the thing is started.” (BTW — no money changed hands since the production has a sister show in London.) I’m not sure whether this is the kind of publicity the advertiser envisioned when he or she decided to take center stage. My guess is that theatre audiences too will eventually learn to accept the birth of the live sales pitch as it unfolds before them.

PR advertising Burger King Visit London Super Bowl public relations New York Theater marketing