Orange Slices

One of my colleagues recently noted that, thanks to layoffs in the media industry, there are fewer and fewer reporters and editors, and these days they’re usually stretched more thinly than ever before. Our media relations efforts – the pitches, news releases and what we offer during media tours – have got to be sharper and stronger than ever before. And a dose of style would help, too.

Too often, style is dismissed as merely a sauce on the nutritious bread of substance, when in fact it’s inevitably a form of substance itself.

Sam Anderson – New York Magazine

While I will never argue the against importance of content in pitches, release and media tours, the savvy media relations pros know that substance alone will not score coverage. They conduct their media writing strategically and mimic the all-too-important yet often-overlooked writing style of their desired publications.

Not only is strategic media writing effective, it’s cheap. Go to the website for the publication of your heart’s (or your client’s) desire or run a search for your targeted journalist. Stylistically, note the tempo, attitude, choice of words and metaphors that writer or editor favors. Does the subject of your scrutiny compose elegant and scrolling sentences, using the natural music of words to create a harmonious concourse? Or are sentences terse, even Hemingwayesque?

A great example of effectively customized media writing is RLF’s work in launching the Starry Night^TM Sleep Technology bed from Leggett & Platt- the first bed to incorporate diagnostic and entertainment technologies to create an intelligent, intuitive and comfortable sleep environment- at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

CES is the nation’s largest and most publicized tradeshow, as well as the largest consumer technology tradeshow in the world with exhibitors from more than 140 countries. The show attracts a variety of media attendees including business publications, popular lifestyle magazines, cable and network television, tech blogs, etc. Media coverage is highly coveted so it was crucial to ensure that journalists received product information and media writing in a form that was relevant and easy to share with their specific audiences.

Our team ultimately achieved 57.6+ million impressions worth more than $900,000 thousand in media value at CES, in part by tailoring our pitches to fit the needs of a multitude of media outlets. Test your strategic media writing and pitch skills by matching the content and writing style of the following pitches with their intended news outlet. Answers will be revealed after the jump below.

Media targets:

a.     Lifestyle editor at a popular women’s home and garden magazine

b.    Online sex and relationships editor for the Web site of a men’s lifestyle publication

c.     Technology journalist for a senior citizen’s publication

d.    Senior editor of a science and technology magazine

e.     Producer of a major U.S. network morning talk show

Customized media pitches:

1.     I have for you the ultimate Love Machine. Need to add a little bump to your bedroom? Like it hot? Wanna take pictures? This bed does it all, and all to the tune of Barry White. Want to learn more? Meet me at CES in the Next Gen Home. I’ll be waiting in bed.

2.     What does your bed do for you? If you’re still bunking up on that cheapo mattress you bought right after college, read on, my friend. Picture this – Lying in bed with your significant other and at the touch of a command, the bed flexes into your favorite love position, the lights dim, stereo speakers emerge from the headboard and footboard, and Marvin Gaye begins to croon, “Let’s get it on.”  Talk about connectivity in the bedroom! It’s all controlled via a RF wireless remote via Microsoft Media Center.

Too many cocktails or beers before bedtime? Starry Night knows that when you get out of bed at 3:00 AM, you’re probably going to the bathroom, so it lights your path. All the better not to trip on those stilettos on the way to the loo.

3.     I understand you are registered to attend the Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas.  Leggett & Platt, a Fortune 500 components giant based in Missouri will be debuting the Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed. This is the first bed ever to be shown at CES and it is particularly relevant to your readers because of its associated health technology.  It is the first bed that has the ability to heat and COOL the surface of the mattress, which will be a boon for menopausal women who suffer from hot flashes.

4.     Our beds are our havens, an oasis from the day’s stresses and fatigue. Leggett & Platt designed  the Starry Night in response to how today’s consumers actually use their beds – for reading, watching movies, cocooning – with multimedia entertainment and adjustable body positioning. After all, a happy bedroom means a happy home.

5.     Technology is getting into bed with people – literally.

A leading bedding components manufacturing company (Leggett & Platt) will unveil its Starry Night Bed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. Why should you care? Well, this bed is basically one big gadget.

When you know how to write for the media, they will quote you verbatim. If you can effectively emulate an editor’s writing style AND offer education materials they feel is suitable to pass along to their readers, not only will they use your copy nearly word-for-word, but they will seek you out again and again as a story resource. You make their job easier and have control over your client’s messaging.

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Make the jump for answers to the quiz…

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Harris Teeter, a grocery chain with 168 stores in six southeastern states, knows good customer service. The company has empowered its managers to take charge to make customers happy. I’m one of them.

Through an electronic snafu, my loyalty card got linked to a relative’s, who was awarded my Aerobed. (You earn it by frequent shopping.) The manager that weekend happened to be bagging my groceries and when she heard me ask the cashier about the notice on my receipt, immediately took action. She offered to call customer service herself, followed through, and called me to report on what she had learned. Then, after the linking snafu was discovered, she put an Aerobed aside for me saying she knew I was a frequent shopper and would qualify for the prize.

I was already happy. But then she took the next step. She filled out a new application on my behalf so that I would have a new loyalty card in time for the store’s next promotion. She waited for it to come to the store and then mailed it to me personally with a nice note. Am I going to shop at Harris Teeter? Absolutely. Am I going to tell my friends and neighbors about my good experience? I have, and took it to the next level myself by posting it here.

I’m in the minority. Some happy customers might tell their family or friends and stop there. Others might tell no one. In fact, that’s the premise behind “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000″ by Pete Blackshaw.

The flip side of a happy customer is an unhappy customer, and those can do significant damage to your brand. Most customers who are unhappy with their treatment tell the story over and over. And with the power of the internet at everyone’s fingers, whether through email, blogs, social media or message boards, your company can’t afford to let an issue snowball out of control.

Companies like Dell learned that hard way. A 2005 blog post ignited a firestorm around Dell’s customer service when a prominent blogger posted his customer service experience. That same blogger recounts what happened, and how Dell fixed the problem and its reputation in this BusinessWeek article.

Empower your employees to satisfy your customers. How you behave towards your customers impacts your brand just as much, if not more than, any campaign you can run.