By
Richard Levick, President
Levick Strategy Communications
Without doubt, lawyers, while among the
most intelligent people on the planet, have the greatest misnomer when it comes to
publicity. We've gathered up the ten most common myths and listed them below.
Reporters are like stray cats - if you don't feed them, they go to someone else's door. Call them back first, even if it is to say that you can't say anything. Reporters remember who calls them and who doesn't. Not returning the journalist’s call today, no matter what the reason, guarantees that you won't get the call when you do want to be in the paper. By not returning calls, you are forfeiting your right to complain when others are quoted.
Reporters
can't be trusted
Reporters have a different job than you do. Their job is to write a story, not your story. But that doesn't mean they can't be trusted. Of all the thousands of reporters we work with all over the world, only a handful don't play by the rules, They may not always get it right from your perspective, but almost all will work to get the story the best they can. The more often you work with them, the more likely they are to get it right
Moving to new
offices and hiring lateral partners are news
Uh huh. Sort of like flossing your teeth is news. Look at the publications you want to be in regarding your office move or new hire. Ask yourself how many times they devote more than a paragraph to one of these earth-shattering events. That doesn't mean it's not important or that news coverage of these and related events will not occur. It just means that news is more likely to be made if there is something of significance attached to it, such as a move into an historic building or a named partner or entire practice area moving from another firm.
A merger is news
With the exception of historic mergers (eg. Clifford Chance), law firm mergers are news, but they are known as one-day stories. Focusing your press efforts on the merger rather than the law firm is like Honda focusing all of its press on only the first day of its new model year. Press efforts have to be ongoing to be effective. Look to get some press from a merger, then give it value by getting press coverage of the partners, practice areas, and firms for the other 364 days of the year. That is, after all, how your clients and prospects read the news.
The daily newspaper
will mention the name of the firm
The
higher up in the media food chain, the less likely the name of the firm will be mentioned.
If you are getting coverage in the industry trades, you will likely get the firm name
mentioned and often even a photo. If you get into the Times or New York Times, you
very likely will not. This doesn't mean don't spend time with the major dailies. It just
means that while continuing to push for the name of the firm in the paper, set your
expectations on what is realistic. Fortunately, most of the local Asian dailies frequently
include the firm name.
Advertising
and public relations
are the same
Advertising
and public relations are the great marketing trade off. With advertising. you control
exactly what is said, where, and how often. But because you do, there is far less
credibility than with public relations. Interviews, on the other hand, require a third
party -the reporter, You cannot make a reporter write something as you want it or see the
story exactly as you see it But when managed, it can be influenced. What reporters write,
when repeated often enough, has far more credibility than advertising. It's the power of
the third party.
Everyone reads the articles as closely as you do
Lawyers
read newspaper articles about themselves like, well, lawyers. Newspaper articles are not
legal documents. They are opportunities to get the name of the firm or its attorneys in
the press with enough frequency that it develops the benefit of familiarity with clients
and prospects. With rare exception, that's it Did they include your quote? Spell your name
right? Will the news source call on you again? If the answers are “yes”, then
you have a successful interview. Now, do it again and again -- and again.
Publicity Is local
In the age of the Internet there is no local paper.
Producers at the BBC read stories that appear in the Bangkok Post. It's called the
news stream, and once you get into a newspaper, no matter where, the chances are clients,
prospects, and other reporters are going to have access to it
That
means if there is a bad story in one city, it should be countered by other stories, or you
leave it as the only record on that issue. If it is a good story opportunity, take the
reporter's call, even though they are 'out of market'.
Publicity begins with a press release
According
to Jim Schachter, the New York Times Business Editor, "sending a press release
to the New York Times is like sending a satellite to Pluto." Press
releases written by lawyers have all the appeal, news, and timeliness of white rice. We
place 300 to 400 different legal stories every month, using a total of one to two press
releases monthly as the tools to place those stories. Press releases, like any legal
tactic in a lawyer's bag of tricks, have their place and time but it is seldom and not
always.
Law
firms conducting press relations project-by-project are wasting their money. If Coca-Cola
only engaged in publicity when they had a new formula. you would be drinking Pepsi.
Publicity requires reach and repetition. That means lots of placements, lots of times.
Getting press 'every once in a while' . has little value beyond soothing the ego.
Publicity for law firms is about business development. not ego.
The good news is that
with a little practice, lawyers can overcome the power of these myths and become good
press sources. The bad news? Well, we already have most of the myths for next year.
Richard
Levick, President
Richard
S. Levick, Esq. is the President of Levick Strategic Communications, the worldwide
leader in law firm business development media relations, representing nearly one quarter
of the AMLAW 100 and many of the Global 50.
Richard is the former Director of
American University's School of Public Affairs Leadership Program, where he is still a
guest lecturer. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from the University of
Maryland, a Masters of Science in Environmental Advocacy (Communications) from the
University of Michigan, and a Juris Doctor degree from American University's Washington
College of Law.
This article is reprinted, with permission, from Professional Marketing, The worldwide journal for marketing professional services, www.pmint.co.uk.