The Four Seasons of Publicity - Building an All-Year Publicity Machine

If you’re like most publicity seekers, you probably think oneproject at a time. You’ve got a new product coming out in April,so you send out a release in March. You’ve hired a new executive,you’ll put out a release when she’s on board, etc.

For hard-core publicity insiders, though, there’s a rhythm togenerating coverage, based upon the natural ebb and flow of theseasons. Such an approach can help you score publicity throughoutthe year, and will help keep your eye on the ball from Januarythrough December.

Essentially, a yearlong approach consists of two strategies:

* Timing your existing stories (new product introductions,oddball promotions, business page features, etc.) to fit theneeds of the media during particular times of the year.

* Crafting new stories to take advantage of events, holidaysand seasonal activities.

Before we run through the four seasons of publicity, a few wordsabout lead time. In this age of immediacy (only a few secondsseparate a Matt Drudge or a CNN from writing a story and puttingit before millions), it’s easy to forget that, for many printpublications and TV shows, it can be weeks -- and sometimesmonths -- before a completed story sees the light of day.

The phrase lead time simply refers to the amount of time neededfor a journalist to complete a story for a particular issue of amagazine or episode of a TV news program. For example, afreelancer for an entertainment magazine may need to turn in astory on Christmas movies by September 15. That’s a lead time ofthree months, time needed for the editor to review and change thepiece, the issue to be typeset and printed and distributors toplace the issues on newsstands before December. Lead time canrange from a day (for hard news pieces in newspapers) to a fewdays (newspaper features) to a few weeks (weekly magazines) tomany months.

The longest leads are the domain of "women’s books" like GoodHousekeeping and Better Homes & Gardens. These publicationsoften have a lead time of up to six months, which means they needinformation for their Christmas issues as early as May!

Here’s a tip to help you discover the lead time of a particularpublication you’re targeting: call the advertising department ofthe publication and request a media kit. Since advertisers needto know when their ads must be submitted, each issue’s lead timeis clearly stated in the media kit.

Factor the lead time into your planning as you look over thefollowing sections. If you have a great story idea for RollingStone’s summer issues, you need to be on the ball well beforeMemorial Day.

The Four Seasons of Publicity:

First Quarter: January - March

What the Media’s Covering: Early in the year, the media islooking ahead. It’s a great time to pitch trend stories,marketplace predictions, previews of things to expect in the yearahead, etc. If a new President is being inaugurated, you’ll seelots of "Will the new administration be good for the(textile/film/cattle ranching/Internet/...or any other)industry?" types of pieces. This is a good time to havesomething provocative, or even controversial, to say about yourindustry.

The media also likes this time of year to run "get your personalhouse in order" sorts of pieces. Tax planning, home organizing,weight loss, etc. Anything that’s geared toward helping peoplekeep their New Year’s resolutions can work here.

Key Dates and Events: Can you come up with a story angle to tieyour business into an event that typically generates lots ofcoverage? Put on your thinking cap -- I bet you can! Here aresome key events during the First Quarter: Super Bowl, NCAATournament, Easter, The Academy Awards.

Second Quarter: April - June

What the Media’s Covering: An "anything goes" time of year.With no major holidays or huge events, April is a good time totry some of your general stories (business features, new productstuff, etc.) Light, fun stories work here, as a sense of "springfever" takes hold of newsrooms (journalists are human, you know.They’re just as happy winter is over as you are and it’s oftenreflected in the kind of stories they choose to run.). As Mayrolls around, thoughts turn to summer. Now they’re looking forsummer vacation pieces, outdoor toys and gadgets, stories aboutsafety (whether automotive or recreational), leisure activities,things to do for kids and so on.

Key Dates and Events: Baseball opening day, tax day (April 15),spring gardening season, Memorial Day, end of school, summervacation.

Third Quarter: July - September

What the Media’s Covering: The dog days of summer are when smartpublicity seekers really make hay. Folks at PR firms are onvacation, marketing budgets are being conserved for the holidaysand reporters are suddenly accessible and open to all sorts ofthings. Get to work here, with creative, fun angles.Entertainment-themed pieces do well in the summer, anything withcelebrities works, lighter business stories, new products, trendpieces, technology news, back to school education-themedarticles, you name it. Reporters are about to get deluged onceagain come September, so use this window of opportunity wisely.

Key Dates and Events: July 4th, summer movies, summer travel,back to school.

Fourth Quarter: October - December

What the Media’s Covering: The busiest time of the mediacalendar, the Fourth Quarter is when the business media turnsserious and the lifestyle media thinks Holidays, Holidays,Holidays. Business angles need to be hard news. Fluffy trendpieces won’t cut it, as business editors begin to take stock ofthe state of the economy and the market. It’s a tough time toput out a new product release. For the non-business media, thinkChristmas. Christmas travel, Christmas gifts, Christmas cooking,whatever. If you have a product or service that can be given asa holiday gift, get on the stick early.

Nail down lead times for the publications you’re targeting, callto find out who’s handling the holiday gift review article andget your product in the right person’s hands in plenty of time --along with a pitch letter or release that makes a strong caseabout how what a novel, unusual or essential gift your productmakes. After Christmas, you have a brief window for "Best of theYear", "Worst of the Year" and "Year in Review" pieces. Becreative -- the media loves these things.

Key Dates and Events: Labor Day, World Series, Thanksgiving,Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s Eve.

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