The emails come rolling in - 100 or so every hour. Amongst them are some relevant ones. An invitation to a briefing from a high-powered union official wanting to explain allegations against him. Another invite for the launch of the new PSL league fixtures. Both of which your audience need to know about.
Then there's the invite to Phalaborwa for the launch of a new project aimed at 'empowering the local community with a sustainable working project aimed at sustainable eco-friendly methods of sustainable living' or sustainable words to that effect!
They even offer to transport you the 500-odd kilometres in their transport - a minibus taxi hired for the occasion leaving from Sandton at 6am - oh joy!
Once there you'll be greeted by local entertainers followed by speeches by four totally unknown speakers and ...drum roll ... a deputy minister of something. Well, straight away you know the deputy minister won't pitch and they might, if you're lucky, send a deputy of the deputy MEC - so no worthwhile photo ops there.
And of course there's the ubiquitous (did I really use such a big word?) lunch, which would really have to be something to drive all that way for.
Once proceedings are finished - around 2.30pm you will be whisked back to Sandton in time to go home to bed.
The PR company concerned sends these invites out to the 300-odd media that somehow they've managed to find through their Media Lists, who they assure the client would be dying to write about their project. The resultant acceptances - 0!
So bottom line - in this day of reduced staff in newsrooms, either have the launch in Johannesburg or another major city, invite maybe six to ten media who genuinely would have an interest in this area or alternatively have it in Phalaborwa for the local press. After all they have very little to write about and this would be an event for them.
That of course is the bottom line - the only people who would probably be interested would be the Phalaborwa press.
Launches, however small, take funding, and from experience even journalists who accept the invites rarely pitch. Yes, you can complain to their editors - in fact most codes of ethics see this as a serious issue, but the danger is alienating that particular journalist...
Bottom line - really ask yourself the following questions before having a launch:
• Will media really benefit from actually attending this function?
• Will there be exceptional photo opportunities - as in a really well-known celebrity or a government minister attending?
• Have we sent this invite to the right media?
• Could we achieve the same or better results from dealing one-on-one with these media?
Be realistic, and think what you would consider a good result in terms of publicity. If you perhaps got a business, financial and wow - a consumer write up - and possibly an interview or two on electronic media that's a win! So once again we're talking a handful of media who definitely would not want to go to Phalaborwa and back in a day!
