Everyone knows what PR is, and almost everyone knows what PR costs, but what about Free-R? A term probably used most widely by the ones dispensing it, free-R is PR or marketing that you get for free.
There are many ways to get Free-R, but mainly it happens when you are pushy about asking questions to people you don’t pay, or (the better way) you are lucky and the universe sort of hands it to you. Example: Back in the days of the Sex and the City television show, some clever jewelry designers tapped into the SATC message board and "anonymously" dropped the name of some of the jewelry that was seen on "Carrie." This low-effort tactic led to several direct sales of those and similar pieces by the designers.
Try to avoid the first way of getting Free-R, and just hope for the organic/lucky method.
Organic/Lucky: You know you have lent jewelry to a production, and you know they have used it. For the months that you know the film is in production leading up to when the film is released to the public you should have a Google Alert set for that actor’s name. Set your Google alert for blogs only. Then Google will email you anytime a blogger posts about that actor. Follow the links, and you may just find a picture that some celebrity stalker took of the actor in your jewelry.
Now here is where you come in: Comment on the blog! It is even more effective if you do it anonymously from a different email (which you can create for free with gmail), like “who’s jewelry is she wearing?” Then a few days later, you can reply from your email answering the question – “oh that happens to be the work of (insert name here).” This gets your name, and usually URL, up on the blog.
(Google alerts and Gmail accounts are very easy to set up, free, and great tools to be familiar with. You can set up both from the Google homepage.)
Hi Michelle,
Setting up Google Alerts is a great way to monitor for PR hits - however, I completely disagree with the strategy of posting blog comments from an anonymous email address and then responding.
Those of us who work in online PR and advise on Social Media Strategy for clients carry very close to our hearts (or should, if we know what's good for us) the idea of transparency. That is, no anonymous commenting (such efforts have landed many a CEO/OR Agency in very hot water in the past).
Social Media is about being honest, transparent, and making yourself available to those on the web though building relationships and providing value.
Instead, here are a few quick, legit ways to leverage press:
1. When you find the photo of the necklace in question, get permission to use it. Or request a photo or film still directly from the stylist or production company. With that in hand, you are golden! Send out information about the piece with the photo to fashion and celebrity bloggers.
2. Send out a notice to your email newsletter about the piece, highlight the celebrity connection on your site, and if you have a blog/myspace/or facebook page (or all of the above!) share the posts from bloggers writing about the movie.
3. Email the blogger directly and say that you are owner/buyer/whatever of the brand of necklace/watch/whatever and that you are so excited to see that the item made it into the movie. Ask if they would mind updating their post with the purchase information of your item.
Posted by: crosby | July 01, 2008 at 08:33 PM