The Lakeview Blog

The top 3 things to consider before you start advertising from Colleen Gareau

There is not a public relations person on the planet who hasn’t had a client who wants coverage in the news. Sadly, there are many PR people that go to unprofessional lengths to obtain this coverage. I’ve heard stories from journalists about PR people sending gimmicky trinkets to garner attention — trinkets that cost the client money and end up in file 13; that hound journalists with call after call — again costing the client money while earning them a bad rep with the reporter; or sending a War and Peace length news release when one page is what is required. (If you can’t summarize your news, how do you expect a reporter to write a pithy news article about it?) What you need to know are the elements of news — the factors that editors and reporters are looking for. The nine elements of news Timeliness : Freshness matters; it's the new in news . Does the thing you’re trying to pitch have a best-before date, after which it won’t be relevant? That could be a good...

Some years ago I read Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath. Given today's prevalence of "alternative facts" and fake news, I thought it was worth revisiting some of their ideas to see if they could provide some rationale for the state of the current news cycle. As the book title suggests, the brothers explain why some ideas live and others flounder and how we can improve our chances of creating and communicating an idea that “sticks.” They use plenty of great examples. Some of my favourites are the completely untrue urban myths that circulate and are believed widely. Did you know that there is no evidence of anyone ever sticking razorblades in Halloween candy? That there is no kidney-theft ring? That the Great Wall of China is not visible from space? Yet many of us believe these stories. Why? The Brothers Heath identify six principals that contribute to our belief. These are: Simplicity: the core of an idea is ...

Congratulations! You’ve launched your business or non-profit and you’re excited. Or maybe you have the task of marketing something to others. Whatever your scenario, you have a product, service or cause to share and you can’t wait for people to hear about it and get just as excited as you.  Who can blame you? You’ve got your website ready; your business cards are printed; you’re pretty sure you’ve figured out social media. Now what? In a world where information is fast, furious and often conflicting, and where making decisions about traditional versus digital marketing spaces can be confusing, it can be nearly impossible to figure out where to put your efforts and money. Download the top 3 advertising tips now! ...

When public relations is discussed – in newspapers, on Twitter, in coffee shops – conversation most commonly  focusses on the latest public disaster, ethical practices, or how someone needs the magic wand of PR (if only there was one) to promote something for them. What is less-often talked about is what goes on behind closed doors and the role that PR practitioners play in an organization’s decision-making process. One of the key tenets that I hold to be true of the job of PR is that we must always provide our best possible advice. But what does that mean exactly and how does that play out in the boardroom? In my experience, providing my best advice means first that I have to understand the business of my client or employer, know what the bottom line is and how the organization plans to achieve it. I have to know whether staff is engaged in the business and what clients/audiences think about the organization. Next, I must be able to articulate this knowledge in co...

Humour can be an effective way to get a message across. Most of us use this technique unconsciously everyday. But sometimes humour can be inappropriate or tone deaf to the sensitivities of society. Some years ago, Motrin created the commercial above, targetting new moms and trying to blend (I assume) empathy with humour. They likely thought: "what mom can't relate to back pain?" The commercial is, on the surface, fun. It's irreverent, has good animation and a female narrator. Where it went horribly wrong was linking baby-carrying with fad and fashion. New moms were portrayed as using their babies as a fashion statement -- baby-sling fashion, if you will -- rather than as a way to bond or to help them get things done with a newborn in tow. I don't imagine they were prepared for the backlash, but it was stupendous once it came to the attention of social media users. Motrin issued a half-hearted apology, which wasn't enough and they were forced to i...

I watched a home design show not too long ago — a woman redecorating a cottage. As she selected and installed a white couch all I could picture was how it would look after sandy feet, damp bathing suits and  dripping ice cream had had their way with it. The result of her decorating was gorgeous, but I thought it was an example of poor planning. This in turn got me thinking about goal setting and about the things that we do that are contrary to what we want to achieve. In business as in life you have to set goals or you’re going to find that you run out of time and money before you get to do those things that must be done. I've seen many organizations, particularly small businesses without internal PR or marketing staff, bombarded with opportunities for promotion from broadcast to print to digital. Without knowing what their business goals are or how they are going to measure the success of their promotional efforts, it’s impossible to decide which, if any, of these o...