Cleverly
written, a single opinion piece does much of the heavy lifting when it comes to
reputation management:
- It can be placed
as is in a print publication, most of which welcome quality writing that
doesn’t stretch an already over-stretched newsroom;
- It can be
'content aggregated' on a variety of different web-based publications;
- It can be used on
the client’s website and other owned media; and
- It can be
re-packaged as social media content.
Instant,
happy client, just add good writing. After all, in PR we always aim to please.
But there’s
a new kid in town that I think just might be even cleverer, and that’s the open
letter.
A
controversial open letter, addressed to a controversial person, can do so much
more heavy lifting. Take, for instance, the recent letter from reformed 'baddie'
Gayton McKenzie to EFF leader Julius Malema, titled Thug to Thug.
It was
published, then re-published numerous times by columnists who analysed,
interpreted, speculated on and discussed the contents in detail. Twitter was
abuzz, Facebook sharing intensified and, all in all, McKenzie’s message
travelled far wider than most opinion pieces would have.
I think this
is a wide-open opportunity waiting to be exploited. Imagine the following open
letters:
- Karoo inhabitants
to Shell on the subject of fracking;
- South Africa to
the IMF;
- Zimbabweans
living in South Africa to Home Affairs;
- Kaizer Chiefs to
Orlando Pirates; and
- Tshediso Matona
to Brian Molefe.
When you
create talkability, you have done your job – and open letters create
talkability. A clever
marketing and PR person can make the open letter sing – I can’t wait to hear
its melody.
For more information, visit the Flow Communications website.