No such thing as a free lunch…or free PR

It’s always amazing to me that even the most knowledgeable people associated with the marketing industry seem to periodically fall into the semantics trap of referring to public relations, publicity, press coverage…call it what you may…by preceding it with the adjective, “free.” As in “no cost.” Even veteran New York Times columnist, Stuart Elliot trips occasionally...A Deluge by NBC to Promote Leno's New Show.

The thought that the vast $10 million that NBC supposedly has squandered on pushing this rehash of Leno’s later night persona into primetime, strictly on paid advertising…with not a penny going to secure the publicity bonanza of magazine covers on Parade, TV Guide, and Time, is laughable. Why, those cover stories came about without a penny of cost…strictly because the editorial sides decided entirely on their own that Jay Leno and NBC were newsworthy. Right! And of course all the PR hacks in the background, either hired agency hands or internal NBC publicity staffers, that have toiled away behind the scenes for months making sure all the details were covered, did so for no pay. Right!

The false and silly declaration that all advertising and direct marketing is paid for in real dollars, but that publicity campaigns and PR (good and bad) is free is yet another reason that PR doesn’t really get its rightful due in the marketing mix. How can a marketing and communication discipline as important as PR ever get to sit at the table with its more expensive cousins, if it is forever referred to as something that “just happens” spontaneously, like a miraculous conception? Never mind how this perception affects budgeting priorities and allocation. Does the image of short sticks and suckling toward the far end of the sow come to mind?

I’m also not going to let my fellow professional (as in…paid) PR practitioners off the hook easily on this costly misrepresentation…particularly those in traditional pay-by-the hour agencies. By lumping all services including media outreach under a single, but ever expanding fee, the individual tactical processes, like great media placements, i.e., magazine covers, are demeaned. “Hey, that cover just happened as part of our overall ‘consulting services’…like, it was free. Pay by the hour or monthly for our consulting and messaging expertise, and get all that other stuff for nothing.” Really? How much better to break out the real effort of making that magazine cover happen…and charge accordingly.

Nothing easy or free about it.