PR Formalities, Helping Or Actually Hurting?

I was very sad to just receive an email from the PR company of a brand I really wanted to feature on my Podcast.

You see, I had actually emailed a specific person at this company, only to have the PR company respond.

Totally didn’t get it.

It’s frustrating because this was actually my least “marketing-tactic” oriented interview request I’ve made. Only to have it squashed by marketing/PR formalities.

This was a brand/individual I that I admire and respect for their VALUES of content, community and branding online. They really seem to care about their audience, and their blog and social profiles have just unheard of levels of commenting and engagement.

THIS is the type of “marketing” I care about and that fascinates me. A brand that actually has the attention of their entire community, especially in a day and age of a real scarcity of attention. THIS is the type of values I realized I want to share on my podcast.

I’m not looking to “get” anything – I really wanted to put their brand on a platform and tell the world how awesome they are!

So to be perfectly honest it’s a frustration because I KNOW the mutual value we’d both receive in doing this interview. It’s something I can feel.

But to have the PR department as an intermediary with formalities, and feeling like they have to protect or shelter their people – that value gets lost in translation. To the PR dept, I’m probably just another guy wanting another interview.

I get it.

I’m sure they get bombarded with emails and snake-oil requests all of the time. So am I wrong to expect I would be treated any differently?

Perhaps the public perception of how the brand seemed to care about their audience didn’t align with the experience I had corresponding with them.

Sometimes the things that end up having the most benefit don’t make sense “on paper” but you have to trust that inner instinct that tells you “I have no idea why this will be beneficial, but I feel it, so I’m going to go with it”.

I feel as if they had “got that” we’d be booking an interview so I could share how awesome this brand is with everyone.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen today.