Full Frontal PR: Building Buzz about Your Business, Your Product, or You

Citation

Beard, M. (2006), "Full Frontal PR: Building Buzz about Your Business, Your Product, or You", Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 112-113. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540610646454

This book is mainly about the techniques of successful media relations so a natural starting point is to question whether it makes a significant new contribution to an already substantial bibliography.

There are two obstacles to overcome before reaching a conclusion about this. The first is the generous sprinkling of US colloquialisms that could be a deterrent for some readers. There are more darns than might be found in a scarecrow's overcoat. Readers outside the US might acquire a useful new vocabulary. The word “maven” applied to gossip column writers has attractive resonance. There are also plenty of “muckety‐mucks” around and most of us could identify candidates for that description. The other factor is that the context of the book is naturally set solidly in the US media environment. It therefore addresses issues of geographical spread and media diversity, which create public relations challenges and opportunities denied to practitioners in most markets.

After a while these factors cease to detract. Instead they add character to the book as the sheer weight of great ideas and expertise in media relations, amassed and now shared by the author, predominates. Richard Laermer's opening statements emphasise that “buzz makes the world go round” and that the best way of achieving this is to get people talking and keep people talking. The reader is then taken on an action‐packed journey through a world in which inspired and structured media relations activity can achieve just that.

At the beginning the importance of word of mouth techniques is described, including the potential benefits of creating a new terminology to draw attention to a new message. The point is illustrated by convincing examples, such as the invention of the term “glass ceiling” by the author Marilyn Loden to draw attention to barriers women face in the workplace. From here Laermer, himself a former journalist, describes the way journalists work and the importance of empathising with their needs and the nature of their working days.

There is a valuable chapter on the tactics of public relations with helpful checklists and a model structure for a 90‐day campaign. The author pays considerable attention to the technique of “source filing” where the practitioner registers herself with target journalists as a reliable source of copy and background information. The key task of developing an effective news hook is explored in detail with lots of relevant case studies.

Many campaigns with high potential fail because the media relations team does not succeed in selling‐in the story to the target journalists or the interviews achieved are not effective. These tasks are dealt with in considerable detail, reinforced by “27 Media Relations Do or Die Commandments”. Laermer's claim that “a good PR person calls seventy people a day, if the list is relevant and the pitch second nature” could encourage some of us to book a time management course.

There is a strong chapter on use of the internet and e‐mail to reinforce general campaigns and as an alternative route to coverage in some situations. Here the content is particularly oriented towards the US market but the principles outlined can be adjusted to other national and international markets.

Readers will gather that Full Frontal PR quickly won over this reviewer after a hesitant start. It will probably have the same effect on most practitioners who buy it. The book deserves a place in any public relations library. The fact that it is packed with practical advice and real examples of good media relations activity is one reason. The other is that the author's creativity and sheer enthusiasm shine through and bring the case studies to life. Laermer's own public relations consultancy must be a fun place to work. His book will provide a terrific stimulus for anyone just embarking on a career in public relations. It could also serve as a valuable refresher for even the most experienced in‐house and consultancy media relations teams.