The Newest New Media
QUESTION: Is there any sense and sensibility in aiming PR campaigns at bloggers and podcast producers?
ANSWER: I don't know about the sense and sensibility, but
there is plenty of pride and prejudice when it comes to PR pitching to blogs and podcasts.
PR News and BurrellsLuce recently conducted a survey entitled "The State of the Media Pitches: From Blogs to Pods." More than 900 PR professionals were asked
about their approach to the new media outlets, and there were some surprises. When asked if story ideas were pitched to blogs, 68% of those surveyed said "Never" while 28% said
"Sometimes" and 3% said "Often" and a mere 1% said "Always."
Podcasting has raised a lot of attention: 53% of those surveyed said "Yes" when asked if they have interest in podcasting as a new media type. The responses "No" and "What is
podcasting?" tied with 23% each. However, 82% of those who were interested in podcasting acknowledged they had no success in pitching original content to that medium; 10% found
success and 8% only had occasional good fortune.
Suzanne Ross, vice president of marketing at BurrellesLuce, believes the survey confirms the growing significance of these newer media outlets and the willingness of PR
professionals to dive into relatively uncharted territory - or at least uncharted to some people. "BurrellesLuce was monitoring blogs long before they were ever called blogs,"
says Ross. "Currently we are monitoring 10,824, but this number is changing daily. We usually add between 40-50 blogs a week. We pride ourselves in providing comprehensive
coverage of all forms of media and blogs are no exception."
Contact: Suzanne Ross, 800.631.1160.
In The Picture
QUESTION: Is the PR industry actively using photography as part of its campaigns?
ANSWER: A new survey by the International Center for Documentary
Arts (ICDA) confirmed that PR professionals are making vigorous use of photography in their work. Polling 345 PR executives, the ICDA found 96% incorporated photographs into
their PR efforts. Most PR respondents used photographers 10 or more times per year (39%), while 29% only used photographer one-to-three times annually. Most of the photographs
come from outsourced assignments, although the use of stock agencies (including royalty-free Internet stock services) was commonplace.
And how is the photography being used? Primarily for marketing materials, press releases and event photography. Less common: product photography and internal
communications.
The ICDA was created by Michael and Alexandra Buxbaum, founders of Chicago's Stolen Buick Gallery, and part of its goals include the establishment of a national database of
photojournalists. "We did this survey to get a better understanding of PR and photography," explains Michael Buxbaum. "We especially wanted to measure the satisfaction levels
that PR experts have in using photography in their communications outreaches."
Contact: Michael Buxbaum, 312.226.5902, [email protected].
Teen Newspaper Habits
QUESTION: I am targeting teenagers for a new PR campaign. Does it make sense to focus on generating newspaper coverage to attract teenage attention?
ANSWER:
For many adults, Paul Lynde's wail in the musical "Bye Bye Birdie" still resonates: What's the matter with kids today? But there is at least one aspect where teenagers aren't
creating adult angst, and that comes in newspaper readership. A recent study by Teenage Research Unlimited for the Newspaper Association of America found today's
youth (from the tween cusp of 12 through 17 year olds) manage to take time away from their PC, iPods and DVD players to pick up a newspaper. The survey determined that 54% of
teens read a newspaper during the past seven days, while older teens (15-17) were more interested in newspapers than younger teens (12-14) by a 63% to 44% margin. The sports and
comics sections were the most popular with the teen males, while teen females enjoyed the comics, horoscopes, entertainment news and newspaper advertising. Only 22% of both males
and females checked out the national news. The survey harvested responses from 1,030 teen males and 977 teen females; Teenage Research Unlimited estimates there are more than
33.5 million teens in America today.
Chinese Spoken Here
QUESTION: What's the best way for a PR professional to reach the Chinese-American population?
ANSWER: Try the Chinese-language media. A new survey,
conducted by Lieberman Research Worldwide and Interviewing Service of America on behalf of a pair of Chinese-language broadcasting companies (KSCI in Los
Angeles and KTSF in San Francisco), found an overwhelming number of California's Chinese community prefer Chinese-language media (particularly television) to the English-
language media. Of the 800 people surveyed (half in Los Angeles and half in San Francisco), 87% preferred Chinese-language TV versus 13% English-language TV. Television was the
most popular information medium, with 60% of the respondents relying primarily on that outlet; newspapers were preferred by only 18% of those polled. The survey respondents
seemed to be serious news junkies: 90% reported they regularly watched both local English- and Chinese-language community news, and approximately the same number regularly tuned
in to news programs originating in Asian countries.
(To ask a question of the PR Sherpa, pass your inquiry to our editor Phil Hall at [email protected].)