date published / 12 May 2010

Public Relations Idiot Say: It is Still the Dark Night

Today’s hot PR tip from a tit at just another London PR agency is this: when you’re putting out a line to the media, it’s often worth writing certain sentences in a slightly different tone, or with a slightly different feel. We did it this morning with Fishers, our accountancy client. One line in the quote, which was on the unemployment data, was deliberately over-dramatic — “It may be a new dawn for politics but for jobs and the economy it is still the dark night.” — and guess what, The Sun went for it. The rest of the quote was more technical and was picked up by the likes of the Beeb. So, while you should always keep the overall tone and fabric of the text consistent with the client’s brand, a few subtle adjustments here and there can make all the difference in terms of pick-up. Keep reading for more fantastic tips from London’s most idiotic pr agency. Tomorrow. Or maybe not.


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date published / 3 May 2010

Small PR Tip for Small UK Businesses and Start-Ups

A very short but very sweet PR tip from London’s most rhizomatic PR agency today. Think carefully about the words you use when issuing a reactive media statement… in some cases the way you say something will ensure you get picked up even if what you’re saying isn’t that ground-breaking or original. For example, last week, on behalf of CJ, one of our property clients, the following two sentences got major pick-up across national media: “The property market may have edged into double digit territory but it’s important to put this symbolic price point into context. The price rises of the past year have been driven primarily by a shortage of stock rather than strong demand.” Why did these lines get so much pick-up? Simple. Because they sound clever/authoritative even if they aren’t really that clever/authoritative. Oh, and because I know that journos on the likes of The Times and Torygraph (the two key media for this client) love words like ‘symbolic’… papers are keen to play to the intellect of their readers and so we play that game, too.


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date published / 28 Apr 2010

PR Tip for Gordon Brown re. Gilliangate

Ha ha ha. Brown’s gaffe today — and it was a big ‘un — has the UK’s PR professionals out in their miserable droves, desperate to prove how perceptive they are in crisis management. What rot. Read this garbage on PR Week. Brown should have looked sorry when he said sorry, Brown shouldn’t have criticised the media, Brown shouldn’t have XYZ, it was a train crash in slow motion…. aarrgggghhhhhhhhh! Do you know what my advice to Brown would have been?.....Read more


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date published / 27 Apr 2010

Best PR Agencies React to the News

I’ve said it before 197 times, but when you’re choosing a pr agency make sure you find one that is able to react quickly to the news. We did it this morning when the British Bankers’ Association published its latest mortgage lending stats. The stats came out at 9.30 and by 10 we’d pinged out a line from Brian Murphy, the resident guru at the Mortgage Advice Bureau. Pow, a couple of hours later and it’s snowing coverage online: on The Times, Telegraph and no end of trades, for example, Mortgage Solutions. The lesson of this rather short (and shamelessly salesy) post is this: generating media coverage is really quite easy if you keep your ear to the ground and react.


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date published / 23 Apr 2010

Free PR advice and Tips from London's best PR agency (ok, maybe not)

Last week I said that we’d be at the French House in Soho to give free pr advice and tips to small companies. But as yet, no takers......Read more


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date published / 20 Apr 2010

The Best PR Agencies React To The News

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The best pr agencies know that all you need to do to generate exceptional media coverage is give journalists what they want when they want it. It ain’t spaceship science, kid......Read more


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date published / 19 Apr 2010

PR Man Say: Learn from the Tories' mistakes

While public relations is often focused on generating media coverage, it’s always focused on the type of messages companies or people relay, the tone of those messages and their timing......Read more


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date published / 18 Apr 2010

Professional PR Agencies Look Out!

Professional PR Agencies Look Out! Rhizome PR is moving online, we’re integrating, going multi-channel — and fast. Just look at the quality of this first foray into the world of online video… hell, we’re vlogging…. get it on….....Read more


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date published / 17 Apr 2010

Free PR Advice And Tips On The Last Friday Of Every Month

In PR, as in most sectors, Friday afternoons are dead time. Nothing much happens newswise, although nobody does much anyway because we’re all already thinking of that first….....Read more


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date published / 12 Apr 2010

Want Media Coverage? Then Stick Out Your Neck

Some people are good at it, others aren’t. To some people it comes naturally, to others it doesn’t. Some people shy away from it, others get stuck straight in......Read more


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date published / 11 Apr 2010

PR Tip From a Public Relations Idiot: Your Business Isn't That Interesting

This will come as a surprise to many company directors, but to the majority of journalists your business will be of very little interest......Read more


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date published / 9 Apr 2010

3 PR Tips from a Rootin' and Tootin' London PR Agency

Below are 3 simple PR Tips from Rhizome PR, one of the most, well, rhizomatic London PR agencies.

The first PR Tip we have for smaller businesses who may be trying to pr themselves and build up their brands (because big companies will have an army of PRs doing this for them) is this:.....Read more


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date published / 5 Apr 2010

Fat Fingers Typin' Fast Makes for Great Media Coverage

Are you a company director? Do you have fat fingers? Then you’re just about to get some free public relations advice from a PR idiot at London’s worst pr agency (how about that for a keyphrase/bit of self-promo?)......Read more


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date published / 4 Apr 2010

PR Tips for Small UK Businesses and Start-Ups

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. One of the best, cheapest and fastest ways to generate instant media coverage for your business — in national newspapers, trade magazines, or wherever else you want to be — is to react to the news as it breaks......Read more


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date published / 4 Apr 2010

PR Tips for Small Businesses from a specialist SME-focused PR firm

PR Tips for UK SMEs

If you’re a company director of a UK SME and want to start getting your company name into certain key media, but maybe can’t afford an agency right now, or can’t be doing with all that public relations fluff (we know where you’re coming from, believe me), then how do you go about it?.....Read more


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date published / 9 Sep 2009

PR Tip of the Day (267) - It ain't dead yet, is it Buck?

A good friend of mine, the Randy Romper of Royal Ascot (as the Sun nicknamed him), who got fired from his job at the I won’t say because that’s not fair for making love to a pissed ginger scouser on Ladies Day next to the 1 Furlong Marker, not long after the last race (and I kid you not), had his ways with the ladies. .....Read more


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date published / 8 Sep 2009

Choosing a PR Agency? Use an early bird

This morning was quite a morning. And today was quite a day. We bagged what I can only describe as a f%%$^g shi$%*ad of coverage for the UK’s best mobile phone comparison website, Omio.com......Read more


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date published / 8 Sep 2009

PR Tip for Business Owners

There’s this big misunderstanding about lunch with journalists. Many business owners think that lunch with a journalist is all about them pitching their product/company and proceed to babble on endlessly about how good their company is or their views on the market that they’re in......Read more


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