Full Frontal PR Report
Alan Danzis

A judge sleeping with a contestant on one of America’s most watched reality programs. Enjoy the coming dramatic pause.

Horrors.

If you haven’t picked up a newspaper, turned on the TV or read Google News in the last week : The judge is Paula Abdul. The show is American Idol. And the former contestant is that kid with the corn rows and an almost Muppet-like singing voice who sounded like he just got punched in the gut.

While sloshing for a big advance on his upcoming memoirs (hey, I’m about his age, I really got to start !) and dreaming of 13-year-olds clamoring for his upcoming CD, Corey Clark told ABC that Paula Abdul was the show’s equivalent of Stifler’s Mom (without the humor).

American Idol haters—and not just those who started votefortheworst.com—thought this might be the end for the reality series and could spark a crisis for the clothing company behind Simon’s black T-shirts.

But lo and behold Primetime Live’s ratings were the highest they’ve been in years, go figure, and American Idol’’s haven’t plummeted but rather risen because of the fervor. With all the negative publicity surrounding American Idol this year—Mario Vasquez leaving for so-called unknown reasons, more talented winners going home earlier than usual, the fake fighting between Paula and The Mean One, and of course Paula As Bad Woman—you’d think something could have been enough to throw a chink into the armor that is now Ryan Seacrest’s only TV outlet.

But no. Alas, if that show has taught us one thing—two if you’ve invested in Karaoke machines—negative publicity isn’t bad publicity when everyone’s in the game.

Let’s consider some examples of late…

When a competitor beats you to market…
As a Windows user for many years—though not by choice!—I was happy to see the next version of Windows (Longhorn) arrive on the scene last week with real-time searching. Oh wait, that was Apple’s OS. Mine doesn’t come out for another two years if we’re lucky.

Microsoft got a lot of heat because Apple beat them to the punch by incorporating real time search into the OS. And of course Google beat everybody months ago by offering a stand-alone product just like it.

But is all that negative press bad for Microsoft? Don’t hit alt-Delete yet..

Microsoft can—and has—been able to turn some of these stories into equal-time opportunities to talk about Longhorn. They’ve turned questions—we call it bridging—about why don’t they offer real-time search yet into discussions on a snazzy Avalon-based UI and their “virtual folders” feature!

Without all of the recent negative publicity surrounding Microsoft for falling behind their competitors, Redmond executives might have had a harder time getting anyone to write about why they think the product is better. Now they have a lot of ears.

When an article says Company X is better than yours…
Say your client gets a full feature in a publication with over a million readers. There really is nothing better.

What about when their competitor gets one too?

Or, even worse, writer says the competing product is better.

If you’re talking technology pieces, where comparisons are more easily made than in soft goods, it might not be time to start looking for rocks to hide under. Instead, if the article is featured online, a link might be available to your company’s Web site enabling readers to do the homework themselves.

If everyone did what critics say would anyone have gone to see House of Wax—-ever? If your product is mentioned, you might get more hits and sales with this article on the competitor rather than if the article was instead dedicated solely to your product.

When a writer/critic rips a product to shreds…
Ah, the promise of a feature on the front page. And then it turns to be “Oh. My. God.” And you feel your co-worker’s hand on your shoulder as he exclaims, “You can always get a job in the White House press corps! They’ll hire anyone!”

Calm down; all isn’t lost. If the article is laughable because the writer did not to their homework, you can call his editor and suggest a retraction/correction. While you think most readers won’t see it, chances are it will run in a pretty obvious place, as in page one or two…and who knows what that will lead to.

Plus you will feel better.

But say the reporter did his homework and is actually dead-on. Your product, he discovered, has some kinks still. You now have a golden opportunity to use this negative coverage as pure and unadulterated advice. Fix the problems, go out and tell the world you’re better now.

Get yourself some positive coverage.

Product press can be tricky. If you’re doing PR for a Web destination, and a reporter says it lacks a feature and that becomes the focus of an article, don’t necessarily think it’s the end of the world. Send the piece to your product manager. Say, “Look, maybe we need to adjust this quickly.” After you do it send the reporter a note saying “We got this covered.” And while you’re at it, issue a press note to other relevant reporters. Suddenly there’s news where there was nothing before.

It certainly is an improvement on a header that says Local PR Professional Found Wallowing by Duck Pound Bemoaning Reporter Who Tricked Him.

Just as Pat (“I’m On The Phone”) O’Brien and Paris (“Not That Tape”) Hilton will attest, negative publicity can be pretty good sometimes. (Martha, anyone?) It could bring your brand legions of fans who might have never known you. Ah okay, it won’t be for the right reasons at first. But you get those key messages in shape, you make sure the product is in tip-top form, and those newfound customers will stick around for the right ones.

With that, Alan Danzis…….out!

Danzis is an American Idol¬-loving RLM account executive who diligently avoids “looking on the bright side” while ensuring meaningful coverage for clients.