Ask Mr. Marketing: Avoiding bad publicity

Oscar Wilde observed “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”

And while chronic bad girl Kim Kardashian might argue the point, you can have bad publicity.

The U.S. Forest Service learned this after their plans were revealed to spend $10 million on a five-year public relations campaign. The effort was intended to brand the agency as caring about people and nature.

Now I love hiking and camping. It’s important that we preserve the land so future generations can also enjoy it.

However, the Forest Service has money problems. Lacking funds to prevent erosion and protect wildlife, they’re facing major public backlash about closing trails and roads to motorized vehicles.

Then there’s the question of who pays to fight wildfires.

So rather than investing $10 million in taxpayer dollars into the work that needs doing, the service instead planned to tell you about the great job they’ve been doing.

I’m reminded of a scene from the movie “Dave,” in which the U.S. Commerce Department plans to spend $47 million to remind consumers how happy they are with the American-made cars they’ve already purchased.

Yes, that idea got scratched too.

These high-level mistakes are worth considering as you develop your own publicity efforts. You want people talking about you, but you want them saying good things.

So use a little common sense before launching your press efforts. Ask yourself:

• Is the story compelling? Will anyone outside your organization really care about what you’re saying?

• Will the editor care? Try offering an exclusive story to one key industry publication or blog.

• Is your story well written? A highly-respected editor once told me, “You’d be surprised how much junk is submitted here each week.” The editor’s too busy to re-write your story, and if it’s not high quality material, it won’t get published.

Make sure your website and social media are current, and provide links in your release.

And remember: intelligent planning, quality storytelling, and anticipating editorial concerns will achieve your objective every time.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

Mr. Marketing helps you get better publicity at www.askmrmarketing.com.