The Wax Blog

I thought I would bring back a post from last year – how many of you got “bad press” in 2010? Was it good for your company or not?

We’ve got a gossip columnist here in Minneapolis who  trashed me (in print AND on air no less) after which one of my clients called me and quoted George Plimpton – bad press is like bad breath, it’s better than no breath at all.

But is that really true? Since we were talking about bad publicists last week I thought I’d add my two cents on this topic. Most of us think of bad press as press where we are mentioned in a bad light. It’s really more than that and for PR 2.0 bad press can linger a long, long time. As I mentioned earlier, placements that make no sense are worthless for a brand. To me that’s bad press – my client paid for my time to make that placement so it’s money thrown down the drain. Remember every single mention can live forever online – in my book you have to avoid bad press like the plague.

So what exactly do I consider bad press? Here’s my list but feel free to add more. (more…)

I was bashed by a gossip columnist in our local paper once and a kind client sent me an email that said “Remember, bad press is like bad breath. It’s better than no breath at all.” Though at first I was embarrassed (particularly after she called me out yet again  on live TV) the next day I began to get congratulatory emails from Twin Cities media and others in the community. Apparently, this woman is so loathed that by hating on me, she unwittingly gave me a stamp of approval.

It’s a common conversation with my clients, many of whom are new to the media and concerned about their reputations. Should they be overly concerned with a bad review or just be glad they made it into XXX magazine?

Now we have proof that bad press may actually be good, particularly if you’re not well-known. (more…)