Hello Mortals,
You should get used to me calling you mortals, buhahaha *laughing to Cumical’s face, you blady twitter infidel*
So, the heat of Muna & Mode 9 passed yesterday. This post is about that rather its about how RMG handled it, I dint write this as I am not a P.R person but @olubela did. She actually studied P.R in school, so here is her take on the whole palava.
Hope you see reasons with her
__
I wasn’t going to address the issue as e no concern me. However, I got a tweet asking me to comment on the issue. Now, I must confess that my comment isn’t about whether or not Muna should have gotten into an altercation with Modenine, or whether Modenine should release a diss track but more about Ayo Shonaiya’s response to the issue. I am tired of Nigerian publicists/PR professionals, whether self-appointed or those who actually know what they’re doing, believing that press release is the only way to communicate with the public. There are other options like using your company’s or artiste’s website to address conflicts and to engage with consumers.
It’s no secret that public relations professionals work to obtain free publicity for their clients and traditionally, this it is done by sending press releases to journalists containing information needed to write a positive story about the client. However, you are only allowed to issue a press release in order to showcase why your client’s product, service or personal history is important. A press release isn’t some article or letter, but a compelling news worthy story that a journalist would be interested in covering. You shouldn’t send a press release for the sake of just sending one, but because you wish to educate your audience about a product or service.
Then, you have to heed to general format of a press release which includes: date instructions or date line, contact information, headline, a sentence or short paragraph summarizing the information (called a lede), body, about us (boiler plate) and ### on a blank line at the end of the release to end it.
Things obviously wrong with Ayo’s “release:”
It’s in first person: Are you kidding me? The first rule of press releases is always use third person. The only place where you’re allowed to use 1st person is in quotes.
It’s a self-righteous rant: I have to say that a press release doesn’t equal to an apology or admission to some wrong. However RMG should have come out with a release explaining the situation and is being or would be done about the situation without unnecessary emotions. I say that Ayo’s response isn’t a press release but a letter to an editor i.e. it’s an editorial piece. Which is fine if it had been called exactly that.
There is no point to the press release: why was it released? Was it to clear Muna’s name or to heap more coal into the fire? I read the letter and all I can think of is “so what?” The article is filled with flowery language, redundant expressions and unnecessary adjectives. Why hype Muna? Am I the only one who was like “are you serious?” after reading the article. If your release is written with embellishments, you will very quickly lose credibility. It’s nice to keep in mind that this loss of credibility will carry over to future releases.
So next time before sending that email or dubbing a written work as a press release, please think about its purpose and whether your channel serves the purpose. It wouldn’t hurt to consult a public relations professional. But most importantly, take a big chill. Yes, we advocate timely and proactive response to crisis but we frown at mistakes.
This post has already been read 2154 times!
