As a four-time Emmy nominated TV producer, Erin Saxton lists a
pile of talk shows on her resume, including "The View," "Rosie" and
"Good Morning America." She has seen her fair share of pitches,
too, most of which she says were junk.
"I would get hot pizzas sent to me. I would get canned
pineapple. I would get stories on marijuana," she recalls.
What she needed were two simple things: PR people to whom she
could turn for reliable stories time and time again; and pitches
that could sum up entire segments for the show, rather than just
scattershot ideas.
"A lot of people would say, let's just talk about spring tips or
spring trends," explained Saxton, who now heads up PR firm The Idea
Network, which specializes in talk show placements. "But I was
looking for them to give me pitches that would work immediately on
my show. I needed them to give me guests or products or concepts
that I could just take from them, put my own touches on, and put on
the air."
Before you begin orchestrating segments for Matt and Katie,
however, you have to get a foot in the door, which can sometimes be
a Catch 22. Producers and PR execs say the best way to land talk
show spots is by establishing a solid relationship with the
producers. Of course, that relationship typically is established by
landing a first successful spot. Their advice for beating the
odds:
- Think broad. Pitch your story far and wide, land a couple of
newspaper or magazine stories before approaching the talk shows.
"Media listens to media, they read magazines for their ideas," says
Michelle Rathman, president of Impact Communications. "They can't
just rely on our word, because we are paid to say these people are
good." - Be a resource. Andrew Martin, who now directs communications at
the nonprofit Seedco, created a handbook for journalists on
criminal justice issues when he worked at the Soros Foundation,
which promotes those issues.
The handbook covered everything from guns to juvenile justice to
white collar crime. Each chapter included a brief synopsis of the
issue and a list of resources both within the foundation and in
other organizations. While less direct than a pitch letter, the
booklet ultimately helped him to land the organization on various
talk shows.
"We looked at the kinds of people they were going to on criminal
justice issues and we realized they kept going to the same people
over and over again," he said. "We had to be very creative and
proactive about bursting through that bubble."
- Give them options. If you send a single idea for how a guest
could be used, you put the producer in a yes-or-no situation. "You
are better served by giving the producer three options, rather than
getting the rejection and then saying, 'Well, what about this other
idea?' Because by that point we are just looking to get it off our
list," says Trish Peters, who served as Bryant Gumbel's producer on
the "Today" show until Gumbel retired last spring.
"Think of different ways that it could be on the show. Would it
be a series? Would it be a demonstration? Give a producer plans A,
B and C."
Pitch Whole Segments
Perhaps the most important thing a PR practitioner can do is to
pitch entire segment concepts. Talk-show producers want things to
be simple and seamless, and the closer a pitch comes to this ideal,
the more likely it is to spark their interest.
In practical terms, this means offering up a full package of
materials.
"When you are pitching a profile on a medical issue, for
example, you don't just say, 'I have this story.' You get the
b-roll footage, the graphic animations, experts in fields A, B, C
and D, and you get permission to film in the hospital. You hand
them the whole package," says Rathman.
The pitch should also make it clear that there is a tight fit
between this segment and the show's typical needs. Saxton's idea of
a solid pitch: "I watch your show every day and I know you guys
love house-makeover experts. I also know that your host just moved.
I suggest this or that segment right in your host's home to help
them move in without stress."
It has everything: A viewer's knowledge of the show, a concept
that is visually creative, and most importantly a fully-conceived
segment that the producer can visualize easily.
Ties that Bind
Once you are in the door, maintain that relationship. Talk-show
producers are overworked. They are pressed by the daily need to
deliver fresh segments.
Become a reliable resource, someone they can turn to for good
ideas, and you have made an invaluable connection.
Often this means going beyond the specific needs of your company
or your clients. Martin's handbook, for instance, specifically
included the names of experts who disagreed with his foundation's
perspective.
In order to become the person the producers call in a pinch,
"you do not want to be perceived as a vacuum cleaner salesman,"
says Robbie Vorhaus, president and CEO of Vorhaus & Co. You
want to be a trusted resource, "and you do that by helping other
people."
A Winning Pitch
Claudia Renchy Morton landed her client, the New England
Culinary Institute (NECI), on the "Today" show in February. Here's
how.
"One of the founding chefs has been with NECI for 20 years, so
he has lots of great old stories. As we spoke I kept noticing more
and more names of couples who had met at NECI, and when I asked him
for a formal list it just kept growing and growing. It just seemed
like there was a story there," says Morton, PR director at
communications firm Kelliher Samets Volk.
The story: Couples Who Cook Together Stay Together.
In crafting her pitch she noted the national angle (the story
could include couples nationwide), and she added a recent survey on
couples and cooking to give it some weight. She pre-scouted likely
locations on campus and interviewed couples in advance to find the
ones that would play best on television.
"We felt like we handed it to them on a plate," she said.
She emailed just two shows, the "Today" show and "ABC This
Morning." ABC passed, Morton sent a follow-up email to the "Today"
show, and three months later the producers called to say they were
interested.
The segment ran Feb. 12, the school got the biggest number of
hits ever on its Web site that day, and Morton now has some
powerful new contacts in the media.
"Yes, I know they will take my calls now, but I am going to be
very careful about that boundary," she said. "I don't think I will
go back to them unless I find a story that is equally
powerful."
Contacts: Claudia Renchy Morton, 802/846-2850, [email protected]; Michelle Rathman,
630/377-8101, [email protected];
Erin Saxton, 973/560-0333, [email protected];
Robbie Vorhaus, 212/554-7400, [email protected]; Andrew
Martin, 646/843-6509, [email protected]; Trish Peters,
212/249-4565, [email protected]