The Sooner yearbook campaign

The Sooner yearbook campaign
Carrie Musch

As part of the JMC 4403 (PR Campaigns) class, Innovative PR was assigned a client, Sooner yearbook, and charged with developing a public relations campaign that addressed Sooner’s lack of student awareness and poor sales.

Dr. Carstarphen suggested our campaign take an indirect approach – our efforts should focus on creating college nostalgia rather than directly promoting Sooner. We were also asked to develop a way for Sooner to participate in campus life so that it would be a more visible entity of OU.

Secondary research has shown that Sooner is not alone. College yearbook sales are dwindling across the United States. In fact, Lori Brooks, Sooner’s director, said only 83 college yearbooks are still in print. Yearbooks are also competing with newer mediums such as social networking Web sites like Facebook and MySpace.

Innovative PR distributed surveys to collect primary data. Our survey research reported that 60 percent of students said the yearbook was slightly or completely insignificant to their college memories. We will continue to collect data through updated surveys and a focus group.

Innovative PR has begun event planning. To evoke college nostalgia, we will host a free screening of Old School on Monday, April 14. We are currently seeking donations for this event in addition to executing our media strategy and finalizing our crisis plan. To keep Sooner in touch with campus life, we are implementing a sticker campaign during Big Event, a one-day student run community service effort. Our stickers will say, “Your smile is a Big Event in OU history.” The sticker will also direct students to a MySpace page that gives them more information on the yearbook and how to place an order.

We believe that both of these events will add value to Sooner.

How to pitch to bloggers

How to pitch to bloggers
Carrie Musch

Blogs have created valuable opportunities for the public relations discipline. They allow PR professionals to communicate with target publics in a unique way. Professionals who participate in online conversations engage their publics and are in a better position to influence them.

So, how do you get bloggers to blog about your client? Follow these four rules and you’ll be a blog superstar.

Be blog worthy. Bloggers have little tolerance (even lower than journalists) because their thoughts aren’t edited. Attracting a blogger is easy if you’re behind a great company or product.

Know your blogger. Your pitch must be relevant to the blog, which means researching more than just the title of the blog. The best way to determine whether your pitch will be a good fit is to subscribe and get involved. This will also help you make connections before you need them. Ogilvy PR’s Web site has a collection of feeds from some of the most influential blogs out there. Linking IS the sincerest form of flattery.

Be persistent. E-mails are received and forgotten. Respectfully send follow-up e-mails to get a conversation going. Don’t be offended if a blogger isn’t receptive to your first pitch. Keep subscribing to their blog and you’re sure to be successful at another pitch.

Schwag is good. Schwag for bloggers is a great marketing investment. Bloggers don’t make a lot of money from their blogging efforts so gifts can go a long way. You can’t buy bloggers, but you can give them an excellent opportunity to post a photo with some honest commentary, which is why the first rule is so important.