Make the News

At least twice before I've mentioned a mentor's media relations mantra: you have to know the news to make the news. It got me addicted to NPR. An awareness of current events is critical.

But what do you do when you know that the news is all about Brad Pitt's hygiene and Old Spice commercials (I'm on a horse!)?

There are rare instances you can make your own news. Ryan Lytle is one of those examples.

Ryan is competing to become MTV's Twitter Jockey. His hometown is my hometown: Cincinnati. And some folks here are helping him secure his gig. That's how we roll.

Once you announce the local tie to a national competition, you effectively have told the story. But as we all know, online voting competitions happen in waves and you usually need more than one wave of publicity to get the word out.

Lytle's team had a local park, Lytle Park, temporarily renamed @rlytle as part of the promotional effort. It gave the media another reason to discuss the effort and encourage people to vote for Ryan.

Taking a sleepy park (with free public wi-fi access natch) tucked away in a corner of downtown and making it a reason to promote MTV and Twitter is creative. It's smart and clearly it was a good pitch.

It's also a specific example. You won't always be able to make the news. But this was a second wave vs. a first wave pitch. This clearly had a role in the pitch's success.

Disclaimer: Over the years I've worked with a few of the folks that made this pitch happen. But I had no knowledge of this pitch until the article ran and have had nothing to do with Lytle's support effort.