About Designers Market-Link™
Back to DesignSite Home Page

[DesignSite logo]


Designers Market-Link™ Newsletter

"Smart Marketing Tools for Architects, Designers, and Allied Professionals"


Online Issue No. 4

"Feeding the Grapevine . . . Simpler than You Think"

by Susan Bilenker

A while back, in the "Home" section of The New York Times, there was a big photo of some dishes I designed and an accompanying article about related design trends and how my product fit into them.

One of the congratulatory phone calls I got was from a friend who said, "How did you -- an unknown designer -- get into The New York Times? What luck!"

Wrong. It wasn't luck at all. It was carefully crafted publicity, and I'll share the story with you as an example of how simple and effective this marketing tool can be.

First, there was the hook, which is the idea that will spark the interest of an editor or reporter. I'd identified this hook when I first started my new product design company, Globalware™. Actually there were three hooks:

  1. Designs influenced by world cultures,
  2. Products used by people at home in their everyday lives, and
  3. Sophisticated contemporary design at an affordable price.

There was the timeliness, or news-worthiness of my story. My dish patterns came to market at a moment when "ethnic" design was all the rage in home furnishings. So a reporter could do a story on a trend that my product was part of.

I assembled a press list of editors and publications that might be interested in my story. As you would expect, I entered the list into my computer so I could edit and manipulate it easily.

I wrote a news release. In the lead paragraph I set up the hook right away and provided the essential facts of the story -- the who, what, when and where that you may recall from high school English class.

I sent out the news release as soon as I heard my dishes were in the stores. Since I wanted to reach as broad an audience as possible, I extended my media reach by using a wire service that covers hundreds of publications, radio, TV, online computer networks, and special interest markets for a very reasonable fee. This kept my mailing and media research time and expense to a minimum.

Along with each news release that I mailed I included color copies of photos of my dishes. At the top of the news release that I sent to the wire service I wrote "News Photo Available -- Contact Susan Bilenker 914-478-3514."

When a New York Times reporter called me requesting actual photos, I was friendly and accessible on the phone, sent her the photos right away and encouraged her to call me if she needed additional information.

When the New York Times reporter called back to interview me about my dishes, my company, and trends in the marketplace, I gave her my full attention, thought about what I said before I said it, and faxed her ten pages of background material about the market and ethnic design trends.

I didn't know that I'd get into the Times, but when it happened I was very gratified to see the results. And the next week I got a call from the editor of an Italian design magazine who'd seen the New York Times article and wanted photos for a possible article in her publication. Needless to say, I sent them to her right away!

Staying in touch works. Once you've set up a media list and/or a relationship with a wire service, all you really have to do to keep in touch with editors and reporters is to send them a one-page news release whenever you have a new project or activity to report. Or you can include several related items in one release. Always include visuals if you can. If you do this in an ongoing way, your company will become familiar to them, and they'll have a file of story possibilities to help them fill their news and feature pages.

In addition to news releases, you can also send selected editors an essay you've written about an industry trend or expert advice about issues of concern to a publication's readers. Especially at trade or association publications, editors are happy to get article ideas from members or readers.

For instance, I'd been writing brief articles about trends in the entertainment business and sending them to Facilities magazine, in order to get some editorial coverage for one of my clients. After months of hearing, "Your article will be in next month's issue," a brief item and photo appeared in a subsequent issue of the magazine, and my client got five very interested calls the day it appeared, one of which resulted in an office visit the next week by a prospective client.

I called the editor to thank him for the terrific exposure and the very next week sent him a new article about industry trends. The next time we spoke he told me he'd turned my article into a "letter to the editor" and would run it next month.

OK, now it's your turn to become a media maven.

Susan Bilenker is a marketing and publicity consultant. She specializes in strategic thinking and implementation for architecture and design firms, working directly with the principals to identify and open up new markets for their services. Involved with the Internet since 1995, she publishes several informational Web sites, including DesignSite and Rivertowns Online.

copyright 1996 Susan Bilenker Communications. Send comments and suggestions to Susan Bilenker at info@design-site.net.