This is an archived blog from when I ran Conscious Public Relations Inc. from 2008-2018. Excuse the potential outdated-ness!
It’s a boy!
Photo credit TheFashionSpot.com
There are things we can learn in terms of Public Relations when it comes to the royal baby birth.
Yesterday I saw this tweet by Mat Wilcox that read: “Twitter will dominate the news later. Not sure why media feel the need to hang around for 98 hours when Twitter can tell them what happens.”
She raises a very valid point that it is not necessary to have your full camera crew in front of the London hospital to find out whether the baby will be a boy or girl. Twitter makes it very easy for that.
Nonetheless, they – including Londoners and tourists alike – are happy to camp out and wait. And wait some more, like 18-30 year olds in line to buy the new Jordans.
Takeaways
1. Some news is worth talking about early, to build anticipation. “Mid-July” was enough to get media prepared for the frenzy.
2. When the news arrives, announce it fast. It’s a boy, and this is how much it weighs. We got that. In real time.
3. Be available for questions, and be camera-ready. No doubt Kate (and perhaps even William) had her style team with her so she would be looking like a Princess coming out of the hospital. Dress, full makeup, and hair flowing in the wind. Made for a great shot. That is the shot media want, so give it to them.
They were also available to answer media questions. It would have been much less exciting if they had just smiled for pictures and then gotten into a car and driven off.
Unfortunately, the news will not die down so fast. Traditional media will drag it on for as long as possible – until we learn of the name of the baby at least – while there is plenty of other news they could be reporting on. But such is the nature of how things are in media.
