PR and silver screen myths

November 2008

You may be relieved to hear that the wretched PR lowlifes in Hollywood movies do not much resemble the PR specialists found in Berkshire-based marketing consultancies.

Our methods of promoting and maintaining reputation just aren’t filthy enough for cinema. PR characters in the movies take the form of slimy New York publicists or press agents in a corrupt world of lies, spin and manipulation. They are “immersed in the theology of making a fast buck” from gullible showbiz wannabes.

In The Sweet Smell of Success, for example, Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) blackmails his way into gossip columns and frames an innocent man for a drugs bust. In Phone Booth, Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) is a fraudster who strings clients along with empty promises.

Shattering the myths

In our clients’ markets PR is less riddled with dirty tricks. Allow us to shatter some silver screen myths...

Myth one: “All PR people are scandalmongers”... Sure, tabloid journalists crave scandal – but most of the publications that we work with are more interested in useful facts and opinion for their readers. So, in promoting a company, product or service, that’s what we try to give them.

Myth two: “It’s a publicity man’s nature to be a liar”... This accusation is made in The Sweet Smell of Success, but in reality it isn’t in anyone’s interests for it to ring true. If a journalist thinks you’re lying, you’ll never get them to cover your stories again. You stay credible if you are honest and can substantiate your claims about your products or services.

Myth three: “PR is all about who you know in the media”... Real-life PR consultants do not tend to play journalists off against each other. In fact, the perceived importance of media networking in PR is often overplayed. Most editors would rather find a great story for their readers than spend their afternoon with a press agent. Either you have a good story and someone who can pitch it well, or you don’t.

Myth four: “PR is just for hotshots with big egos (and bigger budgets)”... Not true. As a matter of fact, PR is particularly effective for startups who want to establish themselves in their markets with targeted and cost-effective campaigns. Editors like to cover new products and will often give disproportionate coverage to new companies, as long as there is an interesting story to tell. And if you have a limited budget, you can control your costs by reusing content, or adapting it for different media.

Fact and fiction

As with any business, the key to running any kind of marketing consultancy is to look after your customers. Sidney Falco treats his customers with alarming disdain, presenting any one of his “forty deceptive faces” to them when the opportunity presents itself – a gesture that is just enough to reel them in to his web of corruption. “I’m no hero,” he says. “I’m nice to people when it pays me to be nice.”

It is the role of a marketing consultant to deliver something useful to both clients and to the media, and while Falco realises the importance of media liaison, the level of respect paid to customers by this fictional 1950s publicist “louse” is in stark contrast with that of real consultants of today. (If you have a different experience, we’d really like to hear from you...)

 

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