PUBLICITY HOW TO GET IT
By John Burnham

Why does a class want publicity in a regional or national sailing magazine? The importance of this kind of publicity is hard to quantify, but the rationale is the same as for advertising any product: brand name recognition. Classes face the same fight for the “shelf” that Wheaties faces with Post Raisin Bran. If you don’t let the magazines know about your Frosty class, they might write about the Penguin class instead, either because the Penguin class sent the editors some material, or because one of the editors has a friend who sails a Penguin. If Penguins are the only class the readers of magazine X read about, they are less likely to think about Frosty sailing, and hence less likely ever to find themselves sailing in a Frosty.

In other words, pursuing editorial in national and regional magazines is an important, if less than concrete, method of class promotion because it can help garner new class members. But just as important is the pride class members will take in seeing their class gaining exposure; this is certainly helpful in keeping sailors in your class once you have them.

 What kind of publicity can you get?

1. Calendar dates listed.

2. Preview of a major event.

3. Regatta reports and photos.

4. From editorial mention right on up to feature story on the class, an event, class sailor, fleet or class development.

5. Instructional story by prominent class sailor, in­cluding photos taken in class boat.

6. Letter to the Editor relating to a story or report in  which you identify your class or class affiliation or discuss a class-related subject.

7. Outstanding photos of class boats.

We’ll discuss these kinds of editorial coverage later. 

How to get publicity

1. Appoint a publicity chairman – not necessarily the class newsletter editor, who is probably overwork­ed anyway.

2. Contact regional and national media editors. Ask for the appropriate address and contact name at the publication. Also ask which of the above material the publication would be interested in.

    The key concepts here are to find a hard-working publicity person and for that person to become a valuable assistant to his or her contact at each publication. Do a little homework so you have an idea what an editor will want. By the way, nothing is more persuasive than a comment or two that leaves no doubt you are a regular reader of the editor’s publication. Ask for deadlines. Make up an address list. Keep looking for new publications that might be receptive.

3.         Send your regular newsletter to any media people, or friends who know media people, who are re­motely responsive/interested. The extra cost of the paper and printing is minimal compared to the po­tential benefit. Enclose short cover letters (if appropriate) to point out topics that might convert to articles or be worthy of some editorial mention.

4.         One other small but important point: Be clear with editors you speak to if you are submitting identical stories to multiple publications. They’ll tell you how they feel about that and what, if any, they’d like to do in terms of altering your stories.

Developing a steady relationship with an editorial staff­er can work quite well for a class publicity effort. The class pub chairman should keep in mind a few contradictory facts of life about editors. First, he or she has 100 other classes to think about and wants to be fair to everyone. It’s his or her journalistic duty. However, because an editor’s time is usually quite limited, he or she often has no choice but to go with the best material they have at deadline time even if they had hoped to be “fairer” to another class.

Think of it this way: With a good publicity chairman pumping good material to an editor on a timely basis, your class will be in the same position as a boat that makes a tight mark rounding inside a boat ahead that is swinging wide: You aren’t breaking any rules, you are simply putting yourself in a position to do what’s best for your class’s competitive effort.

Unfortunately, there are some realities in dealing with editors that will be frustrating at times. Editors forget things, and make mistakes. Close to a deadline, space in the race reporting section may run short and your story must be left out no matter how good it was or how many promises were made. This is where the relationship with the editor can pay off, and the pub chairperson must keep the big picture in mind: Be good-natured and understanding if there’s been a problem. The editor will feel guilty, particularly if your relationship is a friendly one, and you can count on getting extra support for your next story. Keep supplying good material and count on the law of averages to work in your favor in the long run. Remember that the long run is what counts for your class.

 Make the Basics Work for You

1.  Calendar dates – Publications always have longer lead times than you think. And calendars are often produced early, extending lead times further. Find out the lead times for the publications on your media list and make note accordingly. Submit dates as far in advance as possible.

2. Advance Notice of Regattas should also point out why this event is indeed going to be exceptional and therefore newsworthy.

3. The writing style you adopt in your regatta reporting depends a great deal upon the specific publication your story is written for. For a local paper, the results should be simplified (but don’t forget crew names) and the story kept general. Highlight local people, organizations to give the local fleet and club a boost. Whether it’s a newspaper or regional and national magazines devoted to sailing, include the following particulars: Name of event, host club, number of boats, sailing conditions, winner, and results.

    OK, now what will make your story stand out? First of all, it should be neatly typed and grammatically in order. But better neatly handwritten and original in content than neatly typed and extremely boring. How do you make your report lively? Start by talking to the winner and finding out why he or she thinks their team won the regatta. Let them say in their own words how they won the pivotal race. What was the turning point of the regatta for them? Ask about their equipment or boat developments and how that fits into the class’s tradition of development.

    But just as important as who won and how is what is unique about the regatta that you can put in your report. What really makes it a unique event? Were there unusual courses or special awards? What happened that was out of the ordinary? Does this regatta have special traditions, and how were they observed this year? Did someone besides the winner, say the 40th place finisher, have an unusual story to tell?

    Tell the basic story, but look for the extraordinary. This sort of report appeals to editors, and the worst that can happen is that they won’t have room for the whole thing and will cut it back to the basics of results and who won and how. Even if the story is cut to its barest bones, your effort need not be wasted. Run a long version of the same story in your class newsletter. And every now and then, you’ll be astonished to find that your entire story has been printed with hardly an editing change.

    What about photos? It’s sometimes difficult to judge what kind of a reception photos will receive at a publication. But if you can offer good photos for free, or for the publication’s usually nominal space rate, and the quality is up to par for the publication, the effort may be well worth it. Probably the best way to determine if the kind of photos your class can generate will be acceptable is to have some taken by the best person you have available and send them to the publications for their honest appraisal. Ask them, and they will level with you. Publications typically need 35mm quality photos (i.e., sharp), either color slides or black and white prints. One approach that may hold pro­mise is to invite your local newspaper to send a photographer to an event, and then put that photographer in touch with a regional or national publication.

4. Gaining editorial mention in a magazine can be as simple as pointing out to the right editor something that you’ve already written in your class newsletter. Placing a feature story on the class, an event, a top class sailor, a fleet or a class development takes luck and persistence. Keep your favorite editors in­form­ed, keep sending them ideas, but don’t hit them over the head every Monday. Otherwise they’ll start avoiding you, which won’t help your class. Here’s where reading the publication regularly and trying to relate other stories they have run to interesting stories you can conceive of that might, just coincidentally, relate to your class is a sensible exercise.

5. If a member of your class can write well and authoritatively, he ought to be encouraged to write for your class newsletter, and, once published, nom­inated to write for a sailing magazine. An author typically receives a “bio” that identifies his class affiliation. Better still, if the subject matter requires any demonstrations, class members and/or boats should be used.

6. Publications receive surprisingly few well written letters to the editor. The class Publicity Chairperson, and all class members at large, should be encouraged to write such a letter whenever they have an opinion relating to a story or report in a certain publication. Particularly when it relates to the class, as well. Letter writers should not forget to identify their class; class officers should note their office. Many people think about writing letters; only those who get around to writing ever have the chance to get a letter published.

7. Have outstanding photos of boats in your class? You can’t tell how or when a publication might use them, and you’ve got nothing to lose by letting the publications have a look. Just be sure to call before sending.

This is a pretty basic outline, to which your class can add a great deal over the years. The publicity chairman should keep a log of class efforts to gain editorial as a source of inspiration.

John Burnham is the editor of Cruising World magazine.

 
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