NMHP Forum - A fresh slant on old news
Question from Judith:
I represent the House Rabbit Society, and coming up with a "new slant" on an old message (rabbits at Easter, for example) is a real challenge.
A recent response from our CBS affiliate was "don't you have anything new?" Well, no. Impulse buys of rabbits at Easter is still an ongoing problem and one that needs to be communicated to the public. How do I take an "ongoing" issue and put a new slant on it, in order to get more attention?
Also, we've been reliant on a local animal foundation who has an 'in' with local news media, to get our rabbits on a few of the TV stations for adoption promotion. But, it's few and far between, and sometimes we get stuck between the philosophies of this person and their other contacts or former employers. How can we work to get consistent coverage for our rabbits, without having to depend upon a third party who may not always have our best interests in mind?
Response from John Van Zante:
While rabbits don't get the television "face time" that dogs and cats do, so much of the publicity that we generate for our shelters and rescue groups boils down to two things. (My apology in advance for this. I'll probably refer to it several times this week.)
#1: How can we make it easy for the news media to tell our stories?
#2: How can we make them look good for talking about what we do?
The CBS and ABC and NBC and Fox and WB and UPN affiliates all ask us the same questions. "What makes this news worthy? Can you give us something different?" (Translation: Will this be easy for us to cover and will we look good to our viewers for telling your story?)
Before anything else, we have to get their attention. Their news assignment desk is opening a couple hundred news releases every day. What makes our release stick out? Does it have a catchy headline? (Single male looking for long term relationship. Only bunny lovers need apply.)
If you're mailing your release to them, what makes your release stand out above the rest? (A drawing of a rabbit face with some pipe cleaner whiskers attached. No...not a big deal. But they will definitely stop to look at it, increasing the chances that they'll follow up with you.)
If you have the time and the gasoline to hand-deliver a few releases once in a while, bring along a bunny and wrap your news release around a carrot with a bow. Ask to speak directly with someone in the news department. Don't be insulted if they say "No". They'll still take your release with the carrot and some of the people in the office will want to come out to meet your bunny...which will filter back to the news room.
How to secure consistent coverage for your rabbits? Build relationships. Position your group as the rabbit experts. You need to be in the Rolodex of every TV station, Radio station, Newspaper, and Magazine in your area as their number one resource for anything rabbit related. You ARE the rabbit information source. Then make sure that you are available...always...weekends and holidays...5:30 am or 11:00 pm. When they do contact House Rabbit Society, chances are that they need an answer NOW! Tomorrow is too late. This afternoon is too late. Call them now, even if all you can tell them is that you won't have the information for an hour. Be their resource. Make them look good. Make their job easier.
Response from Lynne Ouchida:
Creating a "new slant" on an old message challenges everyone - for profit or not. The national Adopt-a-Rabbit month promotion was refreshing for those who have been through one too many Adopt-A-Cat/Dog months.
One option to reach for is bringing in fresh ideas from your target audience. Poll random people on what they think would be informative or interesting and you will be surprised at the catchy tag-lines people can come up with. If you have been in the field for a few years, ask for a new perspective.
An example of what the Humane Society of Central Oregon did for this year's rabbit promotion included the "Make Mine Chocolate" (www.makeminechocolate.org) campaign. When we did one of our regular radio or television spots we gave the DJ or newscasters a chocolate bunny. This gave them something to talk about and made it 'fresh' and memorable to them. We also used this time to thank a generous donor for creating a rabbit spay/neuter fund and encouraged people to contribute. The donor's current house rabbit was found on the golf course in front of her house.
One of the activities for our new shelter open house in late February included youth demonstrating bunny 'agility' or 'jumps.' It was a huge success with the visitors and intrigued the television station to air footage and an interview on the amazing abilities of rabbits. Anything to promote rabbits as being a fun, integral part of the family beyond housing in a cage.
Send intriguing photos with your releases on how to properly keep a rabbit in the home. A photo of a bunny with diapers on while he was still house training got a lot of attention from our media. I'm sure you know someone who has a fun design for an area for a rabbit to have free roam time. A photo might intrigue the media to send out a reporter. There were nearly 20 rabbits dumped in the forest just outside of town. We took footage with a digital camera and the television station aired it because they were appalled someone could do this. Technology today makes it easy to get compelling images to the media. Be sure to insert the photo into the text of your email, rather than send it as an attachment (which may be misconstrued as a virus and cause your entire email--release and all--to be deleted without review). If the photos are too large to insert, you can send a teaser, thumbnail-sized insert and let them know you can provide a larger, higher resolution file upon request. Or, post the photos on your website and refer them to the link.
Provide quotes from people who have experienced buying a rabbit around Easter for their child and why it did not work for them. Testimonials are often taken with a fresh look versus sounding stale and preachy from the same old animal organization. For my education booth I created a simple flyer with a catchy quote and photos of a baby bunny at the time of purchase, progressing to the full-grown rabbit at the time it was surrendered to the shelter. Most people do not know the reality of rescue organizations.
Create positive relations with your local TV station and ask for air time. If this is not possible, build alliances with shelters who get air time and you also rescue rabbits from their shelter. Hopefully they respect your group for your expertise and you can provide them with the information to repeat on air. During our Santa photo promotions one of our pet of the week TV spots included a rabbit dressed up in a scarf just like the kitten being held next to it. We received phone calls and letters from people saying thank you for including rabbits in the festive occasion. And yes, we did see more rabbits sitting on Santa's lap.
In regards to building relations with your media, provide information/statistics on what you do and the number of rabbits you rescue from other shelters who are overwhelmed. Demonstrate that you provide a service to the community just like the animal shelters who care for the cats and dogs. Find a media personality who has a rabbit (or adopt one to a high profile media personality) and build a strong relationship. If one media outlet starts to talk about rabbits, it will grab the interest of the competition.
Getting your message out via the media and keeping it fresh is on-going work. Your group has a difficult task and you have all my respect.
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Posted on SHARE Yahoo group June 21, 2005