One inappropriately named PR agency (in this case) called The Good Agency annoyed the editorial team at How-Do with their epic release on Olivia Newton John saving a one day old cat in China.

As you might know How-Do is the North West portal for the creative industries.  So you might wonder what the relevance of Olivia Newton John and a cat on the Great Wall of China is to How-Do: none.

How-Do decided to name and shame the London agency for poor targeting.   The press release is fully of hyperbole including Olivia’s sleepless nights tending for said kitten called Magic.  This dross was accompanied by an e-mail clogging mega pixel image.

It is worth anybody’s time who needs a laugh (link above).

I could not find the Good Agency’s website because of a search of PR agencies there are a few that have good in their text, so they do not have a clue on online PR / marketing either.

It is not a new story. Unfortunately it is a common one. You go to pitch and you discover the prospect has been burnt by an unscrupulous agency before.

Even the best ideas and pitches can fall on this fact. Budgets that have been exhausted with little result and any imagination or adventure or even the fact of establishing trust cannot be planted.This must rebound on some PR agencies that are less than scrupulous. Yes, sometimes clients make it hard for the agency to work. Yet, there are simply too many cases of unsatisfied customers owing to little effort being applied on the part of the offending agency.

I can say that this can rebound greatly if the hurt party is well connected, and not all agencies realise how well connected someone can be.

PR and marketing are professions that still struggle to establish their credentials. Less than a professional effort undermines everyone.

I think you get good and bad in every profession, so it might be that I have nothing to really complain about. Even lawyers can be straight forward. I think?

Simon Wharton (pictured) of online search marketing agency PushON is not one to shy away from offering strident, and often perceptive, statements on online marketing.

In this issue of NW Business Insider Simon makes no exception with his view on the common lack of understanding of the Internet amongst many PR and marketing agencies:

“Traditional PR and marketing needs a kick up the backside – a lot of it is hugely dated. PR and marketing agencies don’t understand the Internet.”

“A lot of Manchester PR agencies are absolute rubbish – saying you’re a full-service agency is just words.”

Sharon Nash of Simpson Burgess Nash and Mike Ryan of Idaho, who I pitched to get featured, are less controversial in their comments but no less interesting can be seen in the November issue.

Chris Anderson, editor of Wired and author of the Long Tail, has decided to blackball journalists that he believes have spammed him.

Chris is irritated by PRs that send releases and pitches without finding out whether his magazine is really interested in such pieces and without finding out if he is the best contact.

He has listed hundreds of PRs from a month’s worth of “spamming.” Weber Shandwick even have the unenviable distinction of 3 staff being blacklisted.

The piece has generated some interest with I think about hundred comments. PRs take note.

Thanks to Craig McGinty for alerting me to this one and pointing out that I forgot the important link on original publication.

Rob Baker of Artisan follows on Mark Greenwood’s Networking Criminals article (that appears in the current issue of Entrepreneur North West) with 10 PR crimes that should be outlawed.

Writing poor English.

Anything that hampers the reader: long sentences; long paragraphs; over use of capital letters; jargon etc.

Disguising a press release as an advert – PR is about news, it is not free advertising. If it reads like an advert then you will not get in the paper, but you might get a call from the sales department inviting you to advertise.

Sending stories to papers that are of importance to you but are of no interest to anyone else.

Not recognising a great story when you have one to tell.

Not recognising all the titles and media channels that would be interested in your story or a contribution from you. It is alright getting in the Obscure Suburban Times
or the Unheard Of Village Enquirer but it is a rather limited outlook that will not yield the best results.

Telling the reader how delighted the managing director is that the company has won a one million pound account –would never have guessed that he or she would be pleased, but you can never tell. Quotes should be interesting and give a further insight into the story.

Dull photos. Use images to really enhance your story –it makes all the difference.

Not engaging with journalists. You should build up your relationship with journalists. Anonymous blankets e-mail shots with your story can have their place if you do not have much time. However, working with journalists, learning about their publications, their foibles and needs will really help you.

Writing poor English –it has to be said again.