Four Keys to Promo Success

Yesterday, the New York Yankees were eliminated from play-off baseball. Their biggest loss of the season, however, came two days ago when a series of public relations errors led to a mangled Mariano Rivera Bobblehead Night.

The plan was to give the coveted promotional items to the first 18,000 fans through the gate. The 18,000 fans were there. The gates were there. The only thing missing was the bobbleheads. Delayed by transportation issues, they didn’t arrive until the third inning.

When distribution finally began, lines grew long and tempers grew short. Angry fans took to social media and lambasted the Bombers. Repeatedly. Yesterday, the Yankees announced that fans that can prove they attended Tuesday’s game will get free tickets to a 2014 game. The scenario brings attention to four rules that will help your promotions run smoother.

Have a Plan
Perhaps the most obvious step of any good PR tactic is also the most ignored. Flying by the seat of your pants very rarely works. You never know where you’ll land and once you do, you’ll probably have no pants. And that makes you look silly. Almost as silly as not arranging to have your 18,000 promotional give-a-ways arrive at your location BEFORE the day of your event.

Have a Plan B
How ironic that a team that unexpectedly lost their starting third baseman, shortstop, first baseman, leftfielder, centerfielder, catcher and several pitchers did not have a back-up plan for a promotion. Say it isn’t so!

Be Other-Based
When things go wrong, don’t think about yourself, think about those people most impacted by the situation. Then ask yourself, “How would they like to be treated?” Then do it. This isn’t rocket science. Hint: Keeping the gates locked so fans can’t come in is not being other-based.

Run, Don’t Walk (apologies to Robinson Cano)
Everyone knows “too little, too late” is no good. But guess what? “Just enough, too late” isn’t much better. Every tactic needs to have a mini crisis audit and a back-up plan (see above). List everything that can go wrong, and then figure out what you will do if it happens. The time to prepare for disaster is before things go south. This is why ships carry lifeboats instead of lumber and saws.

So remember, plan and plan some more, put yourself in their shoes, and be proactive. Mariano Rivera Bobblehead Night could have been a great promotion. Instead, it just left people shaking their heads.

One and Done

You could always count on certain things in high school typing class (this predates those fancy word processors). Sticky keys, broken ribbons and two spaces after every period. Now they are all just about obsolete.

Farhad Manjoo writes in Slate that all the major style guides have come to the conclusion that when spaces are concerned, it’s one and done.

Read the full story here.