Good Publicity vs. Bad Publicity (Guess Which Wins)

Happy New Year! The first lesson of 2008 is to remember old lessons. Recently, we were hired by an agency working for the big music industry trade group to distribute and promote what really amounted to a PSA. Tips on how consumers can spot and avoid buying counterfeit cd’s.

Media receptivity was unusually warm, but the story fell flat. We’ve seen just 3 airings to date on local market broadcast outlets.

We “leaked” the video online to LiveLeak (http://tinyurl.com/27uqza) and generated some great coverage on top blogs, including www.arstechnica.com and www.consumerist.com for the client.

But we consider the campaign a failure. (Can’t win them all)

Now, compare this to the coverage the client got for filing suit against an individual who ripped songs from cd’s he bought. In less than one week, we have seen over 150 airings.

Why?

It’s anyone’s guess. My opinion is that the media loves to do negative, damning stories wherever possible, and in this case, the client is an easy target.

When they try to educate people, rather than sue, they get no love from the media. They sue and it’s all over the news.

Go figure.