PR Pitching 101: Is Personalization Gone?

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 Last week, I noticed a tweet from Andy Beal about Google PR sending an email on masses to a list of reporters and a few bloggers. His tweets were:  

Google PR just sent me an email. the CCd instead of BCC – I know have email addys for all major journalists! Woohoohaha   

Wow, this journalist email list is GOLD, shame I’m too ethical to do anything with it   

 I was surprised that Google PR didn’t personalize the emails based on the reporter/blogger and beat. Andy’s response was that this was typical depending on the PR person within Google. 

  Don’t get me wrong, Google is obviously doing something right. I barely read any negative articles about Google. But this non-personalized approach surprised me. I was always taught to personalize my pitches. Here are my top don’ts for pitching reporters:    

1. Don’t Misspell Names – Misspelling names turns off the reporter before he or she even reads your pitch. 
2. Don’t Use Nicknames – unless you’re absolutely sure, I would err on using the reporter’s full name. Make sure you remember point 1.
3. Don’t Generalize Pitches – research the reporter to make sure that you target your pitch to his/her beat. Using a general pitch can backfire as it’s obviously a mass emailing.
4. Don’t Mass CC Reporters – this one refers to what Google PR did. If you have to mass email reporters, at least use the BCC line. Otherwise, you’re advertising who you’re pitching and possible competitors in the email.

 Any thoughts or other recommendations for PR Pitching?

Blu-Ray Finally Winning?

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Update: Toshiba has announced that they will no longer promote HD-DVD. Blu-ray has won.  

I have a personal interest in the recent news coming out of CES and now Variety. I worked on the Blu-ray Disc Association from late 2004 to 2005 while I was with Blanc & Otus. Wow – that was a long time ago during the early years of the high-definition format wars! 

 At the time, the PR effort was focused on educating manufacturers and content providers (e.g., the studios) about the large support behind the Blu-ray format. At the time, the only major manufacturer NOT backing the format was Toshiba, who backed the HD-DVD format. Then there were the studios. The assumption was whomever could get the most content would have an edge. 

  It was unfortunate because the whole “format war” could have been avoided.  

 But who’s the true winner here?

 So fast forward to 2008 and it seems that Blu-ray may finally getting the edge over HD-DVD. Despite the bottom prices of HD-DVD, Sony’s PlayStation probably had a huge influence in the adoption of the Blu-ray format.  

 However, the possibility of downloading high-definition movies digitally is more a reality than two years ago. Why purchase another “DVD” player when my local cable company can provide me with a set-top box for downloading movies or TiVo adds this ability for current subscribers. 

 In my case, I don’t have TiVo or advanced cable service. Instead, I go online to watch episodes that I’ve missed, which raises another option – delivery to the computer.

How long will this last?

  If you’re like me and believe that Blu-ray will be the standard for high-definition viewing, then how long will the format be around? 

 This much is true – people are buying HD TVs. They want more than Discovery Channel in HD. Some will pay the premium to cable companies to get on-demand HD. But most, like me, will want the ability to get a rental movie delivered via Netflix or at my local Blockbuster. 

 Even then, we may be a few years before digital downloads rival Blu-ray players and Playstations for viewing movies. 

 So what do I think?

Frankly, I’m tickled pink. I truly believe that the Blu-ray format is better. I wish the association well and look forward to seeing how this will finally enable manufacturers to focus on consumer products.

This is an interesting case study in how a format war unfolds and a winner is eventually picked.

My Biggest Influencers

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Paul Dunay of Buzz Marketing for Technology tagged me for a meme about my biggest influencers. Here are my biggest influencers:

 My Grandmother (photo)- As I mentioned in an earlier post, my grandmother passed away in September. She was such a vibrant woman who took care of her children and grandchildren. She embodied what a strong woman is – she came from a small village in China and emigrated to the States. She was always there – caring and loving. She was my grandmother.

My Parents – It’s so funny. When I was younger, I wouldn’t have appreciated everything that my parents did for me. As an adult with a husband, home and profession, I now realize how hard my parents worked to raise and put me and my three siblings through college. They came to the US for a better life for their family. I truly appreciate everything they did and they have taught me the value of hard earned money.

My best friend, Danielle – I’ve known Danielle since my freshman year in college. Danielle has taught me so much about life and perserverence. She showed me patience when maybe, at times, I didn’t deserve it. She showed me what a true friend is and how to be a good one.

So there you go, my biggest influencers. I’m going to tag CK, Mack Collier and Brendan Cooper. Let’s see what they say.

Are You Going to Blogger Social?

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It’s a brand new year and I’m so looking forward to the Blogger Social. Only 90 more days and party in New York! I’m looking forward to meeting all the bloggers I’ve emailed, as well as those I read.

It should be tons of fun and I offered to teach a salsa class too. If you’re interested in meeting up or learning salsa, leave me a comment and we can arrange some time in between the events.

  If you haven’t registered yet, you have until February 15, 2022 to register. It includes three events – one Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening.  

There’s event a funny video that was put together of everyone attending:

Apologies for No Updates – Been Out Sick

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I’ve been sick this whole week. I hope to come back strong with posts. I’ve also been tagged by Paul Dunay about my biggest influencers, so I’ll work on that as well. Thanks!

PRMeetsMarketing Weekly Articles: December 20, 2022

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OOPS – forgot to publish this last week =)

This will be my last summary until the New Year. Come back next week for my post reflecting on my first 6 months of blogging and popular posts. You can click on the Weekly Articles tag for previous issues or subscribe to the Weekly Articles Feed:  

Pitched Into a Coma –  Ok – I shouldn’t be pointing to this but I did find Ken Magill’s of DIRECT Magazine description of a bad PR pitch quite amusing. Here’s an excerpt of his “rant”:

 Or maybe the reason we didn’t call back is because the pitch put us into a catatonic state. Such was the case with a pitch received here several weeks back.

It was so buzzword laden that before it put me into a catatonic state, it made me cock my head to the side like a confused dog.

Remedial Social Media Guide – Michael Pick wrote a great primer for social media at MasterNewMedia. For those just starting out, this is a must read, while it may seem simplistic for those already implementing social media.

 Social Networking for B2B PR – Tom Pick provides some interesting tips on how to use social networking for B2B PR. I highly recommend points 1 and 3 for any PR practitioner. 

 Oh No Spock! – Alec Saunders typically writes about VoIP type of issues. He occasionally looks at things that impact him, such as this interesting practice from Spock – the people search engine. Alex highlights how Spock is using interesting ways to send invites to people for your trusted network.  

SEOd Blog Drives Sales Results – BtoB Magazine highlights how a company leveraged SEO to increase blog traffic which in turn drove sales leads. As more and more B2B companies begin experimenting with social media applications and tools, there will be more case studies of this type.
  

Thoughts for 2007: Popular Posts

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It’s that time of year to reflect back on the year and make your resolutions for the New Year. I gave up resolutions a long time ago – how can you ask a chocolate lover give up chocolate for a whole year? Sorry – just can’t do it.

So instead of resolutions, here are the top posts from 2007:

1. Let the 2008 Trends Lists Begin
2. Many of you were curious about me
3. You liked the compilation of How to Pitch Bloggers list
4. And like me, online reputation management was a concern
5. SEOing press releases was another top post