Regard the T-shirt featuring the little boy as this blog's attempt at third grade humor to discuss part four of our series. Don't let the metaphor dissuade you from reading on. You'll come across many clients during your career who talk in PR terms they regard as familiar, but if you take them literally, you could be on the road to disaster. Ask questions. Dig deeper to determine what they really want so you can recommend what they actually need.
The most common case is the client who wants to make an announcement, but asks for a press conference. Your choices are two-fold: respond as if you work for Taco Bell (no disrespect to TB intended) and just deliver the order; OR.... ask about the specifics of the announcement and determine the best way to deliver the news.
If you take the Taco Bell approach, you stand a good chance of holding an unsuccessful press conference and looking like the kid on the t-shirt. If you take the PR professional approach, then you will learn the particulars of the announcement and delicately frame your recommendation. If you go this way, you and your client will be the better for it.
While I could regale you with endless stories of clients who insisted on press confererences only to fall flat on their faces, I thought the "dig deeper" metahpor was more persuasive.
Great post! Your advice is crucial to delivering successful client services. In my line of work, I usually encounter people that have a huge misunderstanding of media relations. I hear too often, "We need to do a PSA. Can't you just send a press release?" Not only do they think the two terms are synonyms but they also think that press releases automatically generate news coverage and should be written for everything. Digging a little deeper and having difficult conversations can steer an organization/client away from ruining their credibility and failing at their goals.
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