Why Your Brand Needs Public Relations: Christine Haas - Christine Haas Media

SPEAKER_01 0:04

This is the Beyond the Story Podcast. A show that goes way beyond the story. And now, Sebastian Frost. Christine Haas, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Hi, I'm so grateful to be here. It seems like we we cross paths, but never enough for this show. Your podcast is fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

I really appreciate that. It's great to uh to see you again. And uh we were just chatting about the old days uh before we started recording our traffic and conversions days, uh, which were a treat. That's where we actually first met. So uh this is all digital marketers' fault, this podcast episode.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

That's right. That's right. Ryan Dice, we're gonna have to call him out.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Absolutely, absolutely grateful for that opportunity, that's for sure. But great to see you again. I'm so glad uh that you reached out and asked what was going on with the show. And uh I said, let's let's get you on, chat about it. So grateful. Um, you've been in the world of of public relations. I'm I'm pronouncing words today, I promise, uh, for quite some time now. Um, that world has changed significantly over the past 10 years with the onset of digital marketing and and social media, et cetera. Why does a brand need public relations?

SPEAKER_00 1:25

More than ever right now, especially with auto uh AI, you know, AI right now is taking over the world. And when you look at the way that people need to individualize and brand themselves with a human connection, it's more critical than ever. And really, it's that nature of people learning to trust you and understand what you're all about and the problem that you solve. And if you can't simply and concisely show people how you serve them, a robot will do it soon. And so I think getting out there in the media, getting your brand messaging right is more critical than ever. Uh, and we're seeing that evolve right now.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Seems like everybody's starting a brand these days, though. Like everything that's that that's been preached over the past decade, people are like, okay, let's execute on it now. We're listening.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Ten years later.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

We're listening.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Yes. Well, and it's interesting. You know, I had a long career in media myself, 15 years as a news anchor and investigative reporter, and then left the business to start my own PR firm about seven years ago now. And it's interesting because I think we all have our own opinions of the media these days. And it's sad as a journalist to see what's happened, but there is still a perceived endorsement. So if your competitor is on a local newscast, if you're trying to build your business in a local market or even national, if they're on there and you aren't and you haven't been seen and profiled or featured by the media, it seems to the consumer that you're not as achievable. You haven't achieved as much. And that's um the perceived endorsement of the media, regardless of what you think of it. So I do believe right now, more than ever, uh, given what we're up against with such automation taking over, that it is important to get yourself and your market word out about what you do in the marketplace.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

Yeah, for sure. Wouldn't you say that that getting specifically for what you do, when you when we talk about media placements for your clients, the eyeballs seem to be online these days. So have you found it to be more beneficial to have that media hit for your client be on a popular online outlet versus, you know, news at five on NBC?

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Right. Well, and recently I had a bunch of people uh that when I was speaking, I said, Raise your hand if you sat down and watched the news in the last week, literally sat down and watched TV. And it the hands were maybe two or three. Everybody is consuming everything on their mobile device. And so I tell my clients, it's what you do with your placement that matters. So maybe you get on GMA, maybe you get on CBS, Austin, whatever it is, you have got to put it in front of the where your people or your potential clients are. And that usually is through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, whatever it is. Show that placement uh to the your potential uh clients or followers. And then I always say it makes for a great ad. If you do a lot of digital marketing campaigns or advertisements, it's really important to use those placements as an example of why you should be trusted. And it does breed trust uh for your ideal consumer or client out there. But the other thing to think about too is how do you make sure that in the future you're searchable on Chat GPT and that type of thing? Because everything about the media forever these days has been, are you Googleable? If that's a word, like what does a Google search look like? Yes. And so I always tell my clients, you want to make sure that you rank in Google, not just through SEO, but through actual media placement. And so if it comes up that you were on, you know, earned media, CBS, NBC, uh, whatever it might be, you're gonna rank higher. And I want to take a moment too to talk about something that really bothers me as a PR firm, and that is the amazing amount of pay-to-play PR. It makes our industry look terrible.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

You're getting like it's like you're in my head. I was like, that was that was literally the next I'm like, let's talk about this pay-to-play nonsense. Go ahead, continue.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Yes, there is fake news all over. You pay a certain subscription service and you can get into various outlets. And I will mention a great one. Yeah, a digital marketer who we've never heard of is now somehow on the front page of Forbes. How'd that happen?

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Well, for just $3,000, you too can be a council member. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Yes, that's right, exactly. Um, and so it really bothers me because I see people trying to brand themselves and put that out there and they understand the power, but a lot of people, I can't even tell you how many high-level executives don't realize that they're being given pay-to-play placement. They don't understand it. It's not real news. And when you are consistently on earned media, that really does do substantial work for your SEO. It's different than being a pay-for-play. If you're on NBC, in fact, I have a lawyer client who is consistently on NBC in Dallas all the time. And his placements after his interviews are usually on their website. You can only imagine the traction that that gets and boosts his name online because it's real. It's on the NBC website. It is not pay-for-play. And so I really like to educate people to understand that so many of these packages, and I see it all the time in my industry. I see my so-called competitors who have never been in the media themselves advertising about, oh, we're going to get this placement, that package. And I know what the placements are. They're paid placements. So if it does bother me as a former journalist because it's not genuine and it's not authentic.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

I think it's always been that way though, because yeah, pay to play has always been frowned upon in the world of PR. And I just I don't even see the point of it, other than the SEO purposes when someone's Googling something and you're and they're seeing that content showing up, which in my opinion is the only reason that those pay to play opportunities exist, is because hey, listen, we've got the traffic. You can pay us and be part of this traffic if you'd like on here. So aesthetically, you look awesome. I mean, it's like we will pay to play and then we'll give you some fake followers. How's that sound?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Yeah, and they want the logos on the website. And I understand it, it is the brand new.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Those are old too.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

I know, I know, but it's I click away.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

I'm like, as seen on, I'm like, oh, here we go again. I know, I know. You know, as as people are, you know, rushing to catch up, if you will, and build the brand and create the content. I'm gonna be a speaker and I'm gonna write a book and wait, wait, wait, don't tell me. Start a YouTube channel or a podcast. Um I I think people are in a rush to like what is it, spray and pray? And I I gotta I gotta do it all. Yes. I people come to me a lot with that. Well, I want to start a podcast, I just want to do I okay, time out. Let's get really, really, really, really, really, really, really good at a podcast. And then you can start swinging for the fences. And I think that as with anything, Christine, the tide's gonna go out. Whoever is legitimately in the game for the right reasons will stay. And the other ones will just go get a job.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Yes, that's right. Yes. Well, I always say the cream rises to the top, right? Or at least we hope so, you know, and uh it really is essential, though, to really protect your brand by not damaging it with some of that stuff. You know, I had a doctor come to me recently. In fact, he's gonna start with us in a couple of weeks, and he was all excited. He is fantastic at what he does, but he had gotten one placement from a marketing company and sent it to me, and he had no idea it was one of those pay-for-play morning shows. And then I helped him understand it. And he's like, Oh, I didn't know. And I said, But you know, being earned media expert and consistently being called back because many of these people who are high uh profile or just solid experts, you know how it is. When they deliver the great sound bite and they're a great interview, they get called back. The media is not that hard to get placed on if you're good and available and have your pitch down. And that's what we work on. So that way ultimately our clients don't really need us long term. They just need to get that rhythm going, connect with the reporters and writers that they have and keep it going. And that honestly is the best compliment that we could ever receive is to let people, you know, have that and then push it forward and no longer need us.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

That's great. I love that. That's a great model, actually. It's very transparent and it's not the traditional, well, you're gonna need us forever because we're your PR company type deal. Yeah. Um, I with all these actors on strike, Hollywood's on strike right now. I hear that is an incredible, incredible opportunity to get placed with local and news media these days. Have you read that? I read it yesterday or over the weekend or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Well, how so? Because of this?

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Uh I said, yeah, exactly. As a result of it, there's a lack of uh, I don't know if it's talent, I don't know if it's sources or whatever the case may be, but I did read that yesterday and I remembered having the other show today. I'm like, I'm gonna ask her if she's seen that too.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Um, I think it's a great angle if you are able to talk about what that's gonna do in your specific niche or industry, if there's an impact. I don't know of many news um organizations that are impacted specifically by this. However, I have seen the power of influencers. They say that influencers will now have opportunities that they've never really had before because of the lack of actors or you know, spokespeople out there. I could see influencers, yes. But news uh really isn't impacted by this.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Well, I thought no, just a lack of uh of having not what they would struggle, but like finding sources and people to be able to do it. So pitching the media, your odds are a little bit higher now because Hollywood's on strike and they don't have every single choice that they would actually have.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Again, I'm not in that world, but um it's it's interesting, fascinating, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 11:00

It is. I'll have to find the uh post and send it to you.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

So let's talk about your your agency and what you do and how you hope how you help people and how PR really how you help people unpack PR, get them placed, and kind of your whole um you know, of what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Yeah, I mean it's multifaceted, but really what we do is help people achieve the right story pitch, learn the pitch, pitch the media, and then use that media exposure to build your own brand and get more clients. And so, in most cases, that's our bread and butter. I also have um in the people that I work with on my team are former journalists. So we all come at it from a perspective of we were consulted by newsrooms in the past, or I should say PR firms in the past, because most PR firms don't really understand what the media needs and how to get in that rhythm. And so ultimately, what we try to do is help people understand the right pitch for media and then go from there. Then we also do a lot of crisis management and media training as well. So if a company has a crisis or a lawsuit, that type of thing, damage control per se. Yeah. And how the investigative reporter in me um works to try to make sure that we hopefully keep them out of the media or minimize the damage.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

I love it. So, and these are all important things, especially for for larger brands, successful brands um that have a notable name, um, maybe have a notable name part of the company as well. I mean, for really any brand on here, I don't know that PR is for everybody, but there are some, you know, majority of large, just like you said, crisis management's a whole nother animal in and of itself.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Something Oh, that is for sure. And that's high, higher level executives typically. But think about it, any business can have a crisis. I mean, these days with social media and somebody on your team accidentally accidentally gets into a political fight online, and now your brand is connected to that. Or, you know, we see what flies out on Twitter all the time of just live video of something happening. You know, we had a um a company right here in Austin, Texas recently, and I won't specify exactly the niche, but it you would have never thought that they were going to be some part of a crisis. But somebody walked into their um organization with a gun, and it is legal here in Texas, but they had a specific sign, no guns allowed. And so that was caught by another customer on camera and it went viral. So these types of things happen even to organizations that you're not aware of. So we do some preventative training too for teams to understand okay, these are the rules that your company wants to have enforced. And you got to protect those rules if you want to continue to be associated with that brand.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Sure. Love it. It's always great to see you. And I appreciate you taking some time out of your busy day to hang out for a few minutes. Um, I love I love you. You got a couple statues lined up there behind you.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Ah, yeah, unfortunate. Yes. For the TV days, yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Yes, amazing. Well, those are timeless, though. You see those and talk about um, you know, you uh differentiating. Like when you see specific wards and and accolades on there, you you look at the individual completely different. You're like, wow, this isn't the the the norm of this isn't any PR firm out there, ladies and gentlemen.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Well, I just I I still am a true journalist at heart and I miss the old journalism. I don't want to date myself, but honestly, it's sad to see what's happened to it. But again, we use it now to help people get their brand out there and their message out there, but protect them as much as possible too.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Yeah, no, I know. I mean, you parlayed your experience into what you love to do right now, and you're helping, you know, correct that as much as possible with what you don't like and saying, hey, there's a better way. This is the way to be able to do it, and then executing on it through the work you get to do with your clients. So, well, I appreciate you hanging out with me for a few minutes here. How can how can folks uh find you um online and learn more about what you do?

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Christinehaas.com or pitchwithperfection.com. Uh, either one of those, pitch with perfection, but I'll I'll send that over to you so you can have that link.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Absolutely. I'll that information will be in the show notes of this uh podcast episode. That's the description of this podcast episode if you're wondering what in the world a show note is. Christine Haas, always great to see you, my friend. Thank you so much again for taking some time out uh to hang out and we'll have to do it again sometime soon.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Yeah, absolutely. I'm grateful. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Thank you. Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story Podcast. Be sure to appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Signing off from the podcast, launchlab.com studios. We'll talk to you next time.