A basic guide to public relations for ASLA's public awareness representatives.

1. CP Knowhow LLC
Jan. 10, 2015

2. Your charge: Public awareness
What channel(s) are best?
What makes the news?
Putting together a pitch
Finding the right place for it
Casting the spell: Bewitching producers &
editors

3. Experienced story teller
• 25 years in journalism and PR
Track record
• Have placed stories and experts on every TV
network & cable news station, every major U.S.
daily and wire service
Insider
• PR for U.S. News & World Report
• Reporter at daily newspapers/wires

5. Furthering ASLA’s broader goals

6. Communication
FellowshipEducation
Advocacy
To advance landscape
architecture through:

7. Position landscape architects as leaders
and advocates for active living,
sustainability and stewardship of the land
Underscore the profession’s pro bono
community service
Showcase landscape architecture as a
career option for young people of all
backgrounds

8. Policy makers – national, state, local
Young people and their parents
considering career options
• Especially Latinos and African Americans
Potential clients for ASLA members
General public

9. The case for media relations

14. Option A: Yell as loud as you can
Option B: Paid advertising
Option C: Media relations

15. Public
relations
Media
relations
Websites
Newsletters
Internal
communi-
cations
Speech
writing
Branding
Special
events
Crisis
comms

16.  “Public relations is a strategic communication process
that builds mutually beneficial
relationships between organizations and their publics.”

17.  “What public relations does is to attract
attention, preferably from news
media, since the media will eventually tell
many more people than the PR person
could reach individually.”
Eliminate Option A.
What about Option B?

19. ADVERTISING MEDIA RELATIONS
$$$ / “paid”
Biased
/subjective
Creative control
Sure thing
Free / “earned”
Credible /
objective
Less control
Gamble with big
payoff

20. “Public relations is possibly the
most organic, central part of
branding, one that will help make
the campaign successful or doom
it to failure.”
Eliminate Option B.

21.  “Public relations is possibly the most organic, central part
of branding, one that will help make the campaign
successful or doom it to failure.”
Raising awareness of the
profession leads to more influence
and respect for landscape
architecture. And more clients.

23. 72% of adults follow local news and
information
1/3 of those said local news sources
give them all the info that matters

24. 32% of local news enthusiasts: A “major
impact” if local newspaper folded
 71% of adults watch local TV news in a
given month
 Over national
• 65% viewing network newscasts
• 38% cable news

25. The audience for local TV
news grew in 2013, according
to Pew Research.
• Up 6% in the morning (5 to 7 a.m.)
• Up 3% in the early evening (5 to 7 p.m.)

26. It’s not called “the olds”

27. Current events, hot off the press, the latest updates

29. Yesterday
HISTORY
Today
TOO LATE
Tomorrow
DEADLINE

30. STORY WHEN TO PITCH
 2015 landscaping trends
 Backyard heater
technology
 Christmas gift ideas
 Special event in your town
 Dead of winter
 The summer solstice
 When Halloween candy
hits CVS shelves
 At least 3 weeks out

31. Sending photos to a news outlet after an
event = throwing them away
ASLA’s PR office may use photos to gear
up for next year, but not for making news
this year
Keep photos from this year’s event to pitch
next year’s

32. Visualize the story, then compile the elements

33. Problem /
solution
Peg
Proof /
data
People:
Professionals
and public
Pictures

34. •What societal need does an LA project meet?
•What crisis is resolved?
•What improves, lessens, increases or stops?
Problem/solution
•What’s the news hook?
•Why air this story now?
•Can we peg to a related national news story or crisis? A ribbon cutting?
Peg
•Visuals make TV. A 2-minute segment needs lots of graphics
•Consider photos, pre-packaged b-roll footage, and live action shots for TV crew to film
•How can we include people in the visuals?
Pictures
•Project manager: Who identified, developed and implemented the solution?
•Professional expert: Who can offer neutral expert opinion?
•Public: Who is affected? How has their situation improved due to the solution?
People
•Data or statistics to quantify the problem’s scope and/or the solution’s effectiveness
•Can be specific to the project or a national study supporting problem/solution concept
•Before and after data are ideal
Proof

35. Lavish gardens sprout up on luxury
penthouse roofs, Wall Street Journal (June
12, 2014)

36. “At its most basic, a green roof consists of a carpet of hard-to-kill plants in a
thin layer of soil. Luxury homeowners, however, are opting for bespoke
greenscapes as carefully curated—and sometimes as costly—as art
collections. With the right design, these eco-chic gardens also add
insulation, absorb storm water runoff and deflect heat from the sun.”

37. Public: “Thirty-five stories above New York Harbor, Fred
Rich can stroll through his groves of Japanese maple, spruce
and pine trees or sit under a pergola hung with grape vines,
where wild strawberries and thyme grow between the paving
stones.”
 Pullout quote: I like nature and the presence of nature—I
don't like a sterile wood deck. —Homeowner Michael
Gerstner
Professional: “With landscape architect Mark Morrison and a
team of engineers, fabricators and organic farmers, Mr. Rich has
created a 2,000-square-foot garden …”

38. “Residential demand for
planted rooftops has grown
between 15% to 20% each year
over the past decade, according to
Ed Jarger, general sales and
marketing manager for American
Hydrotech, a manufacturer of green-
roofing systems.”

39. Pictures
• Still shots
• Video footage of rooftop gardens

41. Environment
Low/no impact
Mitigate cities’
impact/pollution
Resiliency,
disaster
mitigation
Protect ecology
Health
Active living
Reduce stress
Enhance
treatment or
therapy
“Community”
Society/population
Foster well-
being,
Ease
transportation
Undo social
inequality
Residential
Eco-friendly
Cost-efficiency
Outdoor kitchen,
lifestyle
Raises property
value
Career
Art & science
Outdoors

42. Trends (45%)
• Lavish gardens sprout up on luxury penthouse
roofs, WSJ
• Community garden mixes beauty with
conservation, Houston Chronicle
• Green space is sparse amid boom in Uptown,
Dallas Morning News

43. Soft “how-to” features
(30%)
• Going on vacation?
Prepare your garden first,
Associated Press
• Building a pool is just the
beginning of elaborate
backyard transformations,
Washington Post

44. Surveys and rankings (10%)
• ASLA with AARP: Pedestrian
safety, “Dangerous by Design
2014.”
• National: EPA’s ranking of top
energy star cities
• Sasaki: “What makes a city great?”
Summer 2014

45. Top-10 lists (5%)
• 10 ways to make an
outdoor space that your
friends will envy, Business
Insider
• 10 top outdoor design
trends for 2014, San
Antonio Express-News

46. Events, business news, job (5%)
• Austin architecture firm makes Dallas deal;
local firms angle for market share, Austin
Business Journal
Miscellaneous (5%)
• When at the Versailles palace, don’t miss
Trianon, San Antonio Express-News
• Book Lover’s Corner: The Gravity of Birds,
WTNH News 8 (New Haven, CT)

47. Landscape Architecture in the News
LA projects / trends
How-to
Surveys
Top 10 lists
Events, job posting, biz
news
Miscellaneous

48. Where does your story belong?

50. There's a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us…
There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us

51. Breaking news vs. features
Hard vs. soft news
Expert for comment
Issues, public affairs, taxpayer concerns
Peg your story to national news
Make your own news
• Special events
• Surveys

52. Guest columns
Op-eds and letters to the editor
“How-to” stories (living, style)
Top-10 lists
From Patch.com to Huffington Post

53. On-air experts on talk shows
Issues, public affairs, taxpayer concerns
(Inter)national news
• Climate change accord, US-China (Nov ‘14)
• California drought (Summer ‘14)
National ranking or survey
• Energy Star rankings every April

54. EPA’s rankings of cities with Energy Star
buildings
Thursday, April 9, 2015?
Top 10, Top 25
Top small, Top mid-sized
Biggest change or “for Nth year in a row”
PEG = ranking
OFFER: People, proof, pictures, problem
(solution)

55. Community newspapers
Online hyperlocal news sites
Broadcast newscasts & talk shows
Business paper
Associated Press bureau
College newspapers

57. Time to bewitch producers & editors

60. Short staffed
24/7 news cycle
Advertising
revenues diluted
Inundated with PR
pitch emails
Jack of all topics

61. Reporter
or
producer
Timing: News
cycle & producer
schedule
Media savvy
expert who is
available
Pictures: People
to film, still
photos, animated
renderings
Peg: News hook
Project:
Problem/solution
Geographically
convenient for
camera crew

62. SUBJECT LINE
Makes or breaks a pitch
Be brief or key words will trail off the
screen (e.g., smartphone)
GREETING
Get the name(s) right!
Identify yourself
Get to the point quickly

64. CLEAR OPENER
Open with a short & informative hook
1 to 2 sentences
The 5 Ws
Why relevant to this journalist’s audience?
Entice the reader to continue
Details follow…

65. ALL RELEVANT DETAILS
Use bullets
• The eye = the only body part that loves bullets
Customize bullets for each pitch
• TV? Visuals.
• Call-in radio talk show? Why listeners would want
to voice their opinion.

66. A call of action: Close with what should
happen next
• “I would love to set up a phone call”
• “I will follow up early next week”
Contact info: So important!
• Your phone number should be up top
• Then put details down below

67. Follow up
Do what you said
you would do
Journalists get
thousands of emails
Move quickly if
interest
Be Wayne Gretzky

68.  “What is a lobby
boy? A lobby boy
is completely
invisible, yet
always in sight. A
lobby boy
remembers what
people hate. A
lobby boy
anticipates the
client's needs
before the needs
are needed.”
-- M. Gustave

70. Twitter, Facebook
Alert ASLA PR
Connect to reporter on social media
Write an old-fashioned “thank you”
note
Be a resource

71. “Be well, do good work, keep in touch.”
ASLA PR offers resources:
http://www.asla.org/ChapterOutreac
h.aspx
Thank you!