Getting a hit on the "Today" show is a coup - but not if the audience you're trying to reach is reading El Dia and watching Telemundo news programs.
John Shors, of PR and marketing firm PowerPact, LLC, spent October (National Breast Cancer Awareness Month) pitching Soraya, a Columbian singer who suffers from breast cancer
herself. PowerPact client Procter & Gamble partnered with The Susan G. Komen Foundation and Soraya to get the word out to Hispanic women that they're at high risk for breast
cancer and that they should have regular screenings for the disease.
For Shors, the key to success has been ample supporting information to go along with the pitch. He has research and collateral materials showing the propensity among Latina
women to develop breast cancer. And he has it in both Spanish and English so that he can share the information in whichever language editors and producers prefer.
Another critical factor in gaining coverage has been his own understanding of the disease. Shors has made it a point to not only know Soraya and the details of her
collaboration with the Komen Foundation and P&G, but also to understand the disease and be able to discuss the need for increased awareness among the Latina population. "I'm
having wonderful conversations with female reporters and producers on the matter," he says.
The results of those "wonderful conversations" have been abundant: Shors landed a cover story in the Hispanic Journal, and stories in Hola Magazine, Semana Magazine, El Dia,
Hispanic Today and Boom Magazine. Broadcast coverage appeared on Telemundo and Univision in several markets. Mainstream outlets also covered the partnership, with stories in The
Houston Chronicle and on several local broadcasts. And since the partnership is slated to run through April 2003, the media relations sweep is far from over. "These placements
aren't in The New York Times, but we're really going after the Hispanic community, which we're hitting with [these] placements," Shors says. (Shors, 303/926-0973, [email protected])