© Jeffrey Geibel, All Rights Reserved
If you review as many high-tech web sites as I do each week (a dozen or more),
you can't help but notice that they all begin to read the same - mostly product
announcements, some strategic alliances, management resignations or hirings,
earnings statements (if public) and occasionally a new customer or two.
Which is to say boring.
However, there are a very few that stand out. When you examine them in detail,
the difference is subtle, but makes all the difference in the world. What
they do is use the Larry King approach to high-tech public relations.
Larry King is the phenomenally popular CNN talk-show host. A year ago or
so I was watching him being interviewed. The reporter asked him why he (Larry
King) was so popular - top personalities in entertainment, politics, world
affairs all jump at a chance to be on his show - he thought a moment and
said: "Probably because I'm not so interested in what they do, but
why they do it. If a firefighter runs into a house to rescue a child,
I don't want to know what he did - I already know that - but why did he
do it?"
When applied to high-tech public relations, they Larry King approach will
have you documenting your customers in terms of: Why did they do that?
In other words, document the purchase decision in terms of why they chose
you and your technology. Not the more common 'case study' of how they
implemented the technology and used it - which is about as exciting as reading
an operator's manual.
The other reason that the Larry King approach is so powerful is that it keeps
you focused on the customer's buying decision, and using that information
to craft your message to the market. Conversely, the further you get away
from this decision (that is, more into their operational experience) the
less interested other prospects will be. Basically, prospects often don't
care about someone else's operational experience with your product - they
think that their situation and experience will be unique (whether in fact
it is or not is another issue.) But they are keenly interested in the buying
decision - because that information can help them make the 'right' decision
in purchasing the technology that they need or want.
This is somewhat contrarian to the current infatuation with operational 'best
practices'. What may be regarded as 'best practices' for one company may
be held in disdain at another. I first noticed this phenomena several years
ago when I was doing marketing strategy consulting. When I suggested some
techniques or methodologies to my clients that where used by other businesses,
(either competing or noncompeting) more often than not I got a response to
the effect of: "That may work for the way they run their business, but it's
not how we do business." Right or wrong, this is the way a lot of management
looks at the world.
If you don't want to get your public relations message bogged down in this
debate, it's best to stay close to the buying decision. Rather than dismiss
it as they would with 'best practices', the Larry King effect takes place
and your prospects will lean forward when you say: "Do you want to know why
they did that?"
Here's a few pointers for taking advantage of the Larry King Approach to
high-tech public relations:
Larry King is the most popular talk show host around, possibly of all time.
And that's for a reason. You may not make the millions he does, but if you
apply his approach to your company's public relations program, you can help
your company make those millions.
Copyright 1998 Jeffrey Geibel, All Rights Reserved
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