Baseball legend “Shoeless” Joe Jackson said “if you build it, he will come”–a quote made famous by the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams. A lot of companies take this approach when it comes to public relations. They believe that a healthy stable of press announcements will eventually garner media interest and attention. While this isn’t totally off-base, press releases announcing new products and services, management team additions, corporate milestones, new locations, etc. will only get a company halfway there.
The best PR programs often leverage a company’s best assets, its subject matter experts, by seizing and capitalizing on the news of the day. I call this Carpe Diem PR. Absent new company developments, the key for any company is to secure frequent, meaningful media mentions and buzz, by finding natural ways to make the company part of an already existing news cycle or trend.