Posts
As this picture suggests, your story sometimes has unique elements that you simply MUST play into.My experience with this was promoting the Iams Company’s sponsorship of an Iditarod sled dog racer. The racer fed his team Eukanuba. My pitch used Iditarod, Iams and Eukanuba to create curiosity. And if my racer had won the race that year, he would have appeared on The Tonight Show.
My friends, Megan and Kristi, told me recently they were pitching a unique product known as a nose bidet – or nose douche. I laughed. A lot. And I made the obvious follow-up jokes because it looks funny, but it’s snot.
Megan and Kristi proceeded to place this “nasal gravy boat”” in episodes of Gray’s Anatomy, Today Show, The Office and – the Queen Mother of all product placements – Oprah [cue choir].
But why stop with the Oap opp? As part of a man’s daily routine, Megan and Kristi also targeted pitches for male-focused outlets and reporters. One problem, the most concise, popular way to describe this morning routine is shit, shower and shave.
Depending on your outlet, pitching and cussing at the same time can be tricky. We usually save that for after the phone call. But as this story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shows us, it can be done.
I’ve noted in the past that a pitch should never stand out so much that it becomes the story. I still believe this to be the case for the most part. But this blog is teaching me that absolutes like “never” and “always” are as suspect in media relations as they are in most any statement.
This story was clearly positive and joins some impressive national exposure. This pitch is the shit.
tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | good pitch | bad pitch | bad pitch blog | Megan Licursi | Kristi Mendez
9 comments:
Now that was pretty funny. And smelly. If it works, it works, especially when its creative and cute.
GREAT post, great blog. I posted it here
That's a Neti Pot. Google "Jala Neti". It's been around for hundreds if not thousands of years in India. It is a form of Yoga.
Why can't people go ahead and say shit?
Chris - Think pitching media is like LinkedIn where bloggers is like Facebook. I would feel more comfortable saying shit to a blogger vs. a member of the media. Make more sense?
My mom bought one of these. For years she's been concocting a mixture with Alcolol, I think. Then she saw this thing on some show, bought it, and swears by it. I guess this pitch works!
Yep, never seen a neti pot referred to as "nose douche" nor as something that should be used every day (I use mine when I have a bad sinus infection...can't take many meds while breastfeeding, it's my salvation)...but hey, if the pitch worked!
The thing is : it works. I had horrible hayfever as a kid and generally a clotted nose all year. I use this privately at home and don't tell anyone about it (because it infact does look very stupid), but it's working really, really great for me.
This is funny, because I get several hits a day from people who Googled "neti pot," because I gave a pictorial demonstration once, and swear by the thing for, yes, DAILY use (I use it twice a day during allergy season.)
And no, I have NEVER seen this device referred to as anything but a Neti pot, certainly not as a "nasal douche." Gross.
Post a Comment