I just received an email from a PR counsel at a VERY large PR firm that handles PR for at least a half dozen automation company clients. I’m going to quote parts of the email, but try very hard to shield the identity of the writer and the firm and its clients, as I usually do.
The email first said: “The first press release I had sent on 2/14/07 on behalf of [client]. I noticed on your editorial calendar that you have a focus entitled “Motors & Drives” that is slated to run in your April issue of Control Design, so I sent along a release which detailed [client]’s [product name].”
Of course, as is clear from the Control Design media kit, Joe Feeley is the editor of CD, not me. It pays, sometimes, to RTFMK. (explanation of the acronym not really necessary, is it?)
Wait! But there’s more! And at no extra charge!!
The email went on: “I sent the second release on 2/14/07 on behalf of [other client] because I noticed on your editorial calendar that you have a focus entitled “Flow” slated to run in your April issue of CONTROL. The release detailed [other client]’s new [product name] Interface level transmitter.”
At least the counsel got the magazine right this time. I suppose it is necessary to point out that “interface level transmitter” has absolutely nothing to do with an editorial focus on “Flow” regardless of what issue it is scheduled to run in.
Friends, I’ve done PR for years, first with supplier companies and later as part of the services Spitzer and Boyes LLC provides for key clients, and now I’m on the receiving end as an editor.
This sort of unbelievable nonsense happens all the time!!!
Is it any wonder that CEOs think that marketing and PR are curses that just blow money?
Two clients are being charged serious money by the PR firm that this person works for. That’s shameful.
Technical Services And Strategic Consulting For Technology Companies
