This past week we got online hits on The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, The Boston Globe and Deseret News (and also this fun “Today I Learned” subreddit) for research we created two years ago. Guess how many hours of work it took to land these placements? Zero. In fact, the client is no longer actively engaging in media relations (which might explain why they aren’t mentioned in the articles). So what? At Hodges we spend an inordinate amount of time researching what journalists are looking for…
Recently I was inspired by the chance to hear directly from producers at TODAY, Good Morning America, Morning Joe, The Meredith Vieira Show and more at a PR luncheon in New York City. The session was a great confirmation that there really are people on the other side of our pitch emails, and even national morning shows do want our pitches. (Trust me: This second part was said aloud—to a room full of PR people.) Whether you’re in media relations yourself or a business with a…
Earlier this year, Edelman, Newswhip and MuckRack released a fascinating survey of 250 journalists highlighting how social media and shareability are influencing how digital news is covered. The big takeaway—more than 75 percent of journalists say they feel more pressure now to think about their story’s potential to be shared on social platforms. The survey went on to explain the five key elements that make stories more shareable, which include videos/images, brevity, localization, more use of human voice and a proximity to trending topics. While…
Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA), a long-time THP client, promotes Fairfax County, Virginia, as a business location. The FCEDA has been so successful in its efforts that TIME magazine declared Fairfax “one of the greatest economic success stories of our time.” THP is tasked with trying to top that kind of national media coverage each year through media outreach to outlets like Fortune, WSJ, USAToday, HBR, CNBC, FoxBusiness, CNN and others. We pitched the results of the FCEDA’s “Creativity Gap” survey to Bourree Lam at…
In my first video post (hopefully of many), I explore the dual paths of traditional and “new” public relations and why we are traveling both. Marketing folks are using the phrases content marketing, social marketing, brand journalism, etc., interchangeably these days. This is causing a great deal of confusion not only in the client marketplace but within agencies themselves. As PR people look to grow they wonder things like, “What will happen to media relations as it becomes tougher given the shrinking media marketplace?” and “Where do I…
Even a half a foot of snow in Richmond (and three inches in New Jersey where Stacey lives) can’t stop us from celebrating media relations success. First, a great placement for Sandler Training, the leading global sales and leadership training outfit. This CIO.com placement quotes Sandler VP Brian Sullivan sharing his thoughts on using LinkedIn for lead generation. A true team effort on our end and a month in the making. Second, a national placement for a just-released survey from Monmouth University pollster, Patrick Murray,…
Two big announcements this week have “media” people (journalists, PR folks, social media peeps) wondering is this truly the beginning of the end. And the interesting thing is the announcements come from organizations on the opposite ends of the media world. First, Condé Nast, home to such high-regarded media brands like The New Yorker, GQ, Vanity Fair, etc., announced the birth of 23 Stories. This new “studio” gives brands and marketers direct access to editors at Condé Nast magazines to create “branded” content designed to fit in…
We had a client a couple years back that was launching a new product. It was a boot-strapped enterprise, funded mostly by family money and propelled by the kind of energy that fuels early-stage companies and that we PR folks love to feed on. We also did a lot of feeding on the product itself. I won’t reveal what it actually was, but suffice to say it was yummy. REALLY yummy. Because the founder didn’t have much of a marketing budget, he threw what he…
We at Hodges, especially the team that has worked with ChildFund International over the past five years, already knew what the editors at Time magazine recently declared — that the folks working in Africa on the frontlines against Ebola are heroes. The medical staff and aid workers who are putting their own health at risk to care for those who have contracted the virus deserve every bit of the recognition and accolades they are receiving. ChildFund’s focus has been on the children who have lost one…
When I first started in PR, no matter who the client, they wanted to be on Oprah. And many wished for the most-anticipated show of the year, the reveal of Oprah’s favorite things. Frankly, it’s a bit easier for us PR folks that there no longer is the “holy grail” that was Oprah. (By the way, until I googled a moment ago, I had no idea that there was still a “favorite things” list. Credit to you if you have the patience to click through…
Media relations is a core assignment and talent for most public relations pros. It’s what I cut my teeth at when I switched over from journalism 20+ years ago. It’s a lot of what we built The Hodges Partnership on when we started the firm 12 years ago. But the practice of media relations has changed dramatically over those 12 years. What used to be an exercise in list creation and blast emailing is now a more targeted, research-driven approach to find the right reporter/editor/producer…
Have you heard the news? Richmond is out. As a member of Richmond Region Tourism’s LGBT advisory committee, I’m so excited to see the OutRVA campaign launch – and thrive. For the past four years, we’ve promoted Virginia’s capital city to LGBT travelers through a campaign called Rainbow Over Richmond. We ran advertisements in nearby states, organized press trips and created online content to educate prospective travelers. I loved visiting journalists’ reactions a few hours into the press tours. “Whoa, I never expected this. Richmond…