The Event: A Cornucopia of Publicity Opportunities



The easiest way to turn the press into your publicity bureau is by having an event. An event gives the press a handle; they understand how to treat events as news, and as promotable calendar items. Having any kind of event makes you automatically newsworthy. So a good trick for you as the publicist is to phrase your activity as an event.

Yes, the same techniques apply to other promotable activities, but so many more doors are opened by linking your publicity agenda to some kind of event that I'd encourage you to do them whenever possible.

For instance, don't just have a sale; a sale is not a news event, but a commercial device to increase business. But a sale can be rolled into something more newsworthy, such as: charity dance-a-thon with reduced prices on dancing shoes and leotards; appearance by a local person who is known for using your product, with concurrent sale on the product; craft demonstration by an artisan who uses materials that you sell, with price cuts in those supplies; foot race from a central point to your food shop, with free refreshments for participants; old shoes trade-in, deduct 10% off the price of a new pair of shoes by bringing in an old but still usable pair for donation to charity; food sampling fair, with discounts on all the participating foods; plain, old party with store-wide clearance sale; concert in a music store, with sales on the instruments the band plays; downtown cleanup with free brooms to participants, as well as a sale on trash bags, rubber gloves, etc.

Of course, it's not necessary to have a sale as part of your event. Many wonderful events can happen without a sale. But if you want a sale, you can get a lot more publicity if you focus on the event. Toward the bottom of your release, mention the sale: "To honor Emma Lazarus' reading and book signing, Great Books is having a sale on every book that contains any of her poems," or "In conjunction with the charity skate-a-thon, Alfredo's is offering reduced prices on all skates and skating wear."

The Community Service Tie-In

You will notice many promotable events involve charity or community service. This is not coincidence. It is always easier for a business to get free publicity if it's also promoting a cause. Food donations, community improvement projects, and raising/donating money all attract publicity--and help something you genuinely believe in.

That last part is key: if you try to do charity insincerely, it will show, and boomerang back at you. But your firm can get commercial mileage out of its good deeds! The donation can be small or large, but it must be genuine and heartfelt.

Here's a large scale example pioneered in my area by Stop & Shop supermarkets: They worked out a deal with a computer manufacturer to donate computers to elementary schools, then invited schools to participate. For every hundred thousand dollars or so in register receipts, the school got a new computer. It was a brilliant move; the promotion was much talked about in the community.

Many people switched to Stop & Shop for the duration of the campaign. It cost the store nothing, and also benefited the computer company. Not only did the manufacturer get good will, but also trained a new generation of students in using its products--a classic win-win scheme.

Working these two opportunities will only require a few hours each month, but should never be overlooked as a marketing tool. Marketing is about meeting the public, and creating a company image. Too many new business owners are afraid to try something new. However, trailblazing is one of the oldest entrepreneurial fundamentals, it is not a new fad.