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Harvey Mackay
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SWIM WITH THE SHARKS WITHOUT BEING EATEN ALIVE is regarded
as one of the best-promoted books in U.S. history. Mr. Mackay
approached me during an early recruitment phase as he searched for a
publicist/promoter to represent him in the promotion of his new (and first)
forthcoming book, "Swim With The Sharks." I explained to him that as
a first time unknown author, he would need a high-impact campaign that would
emphasize creative options beyond the conventional approaches normal for a book
tour.
During phase one of the campaign, we set out to establish credibility for Mr. Mackay
within the business community by doing such things as helping to write and
place a by-lined story by him with "Harvard Business Review," a story
entitled "How To Humanize Your Selling Strategy." We also knew that
though the book had been primarily written as a business book, we were
interested in generating as much appeal as possible among the mainstream public
as well. In order to do this, we needed to package, position and select
portions of the book in a way that would focus on "life lessons for
everyone," not just the business community. And...we realized that the
beginning of the campaign needed to focus on print publicity, due to my firm
belief that broadcast often follows print. For this reason we worked with
lead-time magazines six months or more in advance of publication date. We also
needed to approach each of these magazines with a unique and tailored approach
reflecting their different niches and readerships.
As
publication time came around, a full-page story in Newsweek Magazine emerged, a
major feature story in Inc., a national "A-wire" story on the
Associated Press, along with dozens of other magazines.
In
addition, I knew that spouses often purchase self-help business books for their
working husbands (or wives), and we developed a number of little feature
stories that were carried as suburban mats with hundreds of weekly newspapers
across the country.
As
we proceeded to book Mr. Mackay on a 40-city media tour, many other major
newspapers carried major feature stories on him and the book. Ultimately, the
snowball effect of all this publicity led to appearances on "Oprah"
and "Larry King Live."
This
was the perfect merger of a great, dynamic and brilliant author committed to
his book, with a highly committed, creative and energized promotional team.
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