Stretching the boundaries of Media Relations: How far can you go?

When we were first told that we had to go to Miami the next day for a DIRECTV event, Cynthia and I looked at ourselves already reviewing everything that needed to be done…but on top of that we had to take care of some other client work while we were in the area. As part of CRESTOR’s unbranded campaign we had set goals to conduct media briefings on cholesterol. But who would agree to have lunch or just meet us in such short notice?

I almost instantly recalled my favorite media contacts with whom I’d had the opportunity to work with on some occasions. I chose Enrique Flor, an editor from El Sentinel, one of Miami’s largest Spanish language newspapers. (I even remember the # of impressions: 650,000!) I first contacted Enrique because DTV was conducting the soccer tournament Copa Panamericana and offered him interviews with the team’s players and coaches. He had expressed interest in an interview and we made it happen…not only that, as we were finalizing details on when the piece would run, I started pitching ‘the importance of cholesterol education to generate awareness in the Hispanic community’. By the time I realized what I was doing, he was already on board to interview a specialist on diets and cholesterol management. – So far so good!

So, we’re back at the office, running around to get ready for the event, and I’m emailing Enrique to gauge his interest to finally meet in person and talk about his editorial plans for 2008 and how we can help. Like most editors do, he didn’t reply, but fortunately he did pick up the phone! He wanted to meet! So now the question was: when?

We were running on a tight schedule. Lots of things to get done, and little time to do them. We had determined that we’d be better off doing the briefing the day after the event, after taking down the booth, dealing with the vendors, coordinating the delivery of the prizes, etc. As it turned out, Enrique lived far away from Miami Beach. Approximately 45 minutes by car. The newspaper’s office was further away. So, we started juggling.

Enrique would call me while were at the event venue to tell me that he was a little closer to where we were and that we could meet in the next half hour. I’d have to say “no, there’s no way I can make it there on time.” After approximately 6 calls, Enrique decided to go back to his house and offered to meet us there when we were done with everything. He had been so nice every single time that I spoke to him, that we thought it would be okay.

After meeting Dr. Gervasio Lamas, from the Mount Sinai Medical Center, and securing his interest in conducting interviews about atherosclerosis and participating in the Artery Explorer tour in Miami, we were ready to go.

It is now 4.30PM and we are heading out to Enrique’s house. We didn’t anticipate there’d be traffic. So, the trip that was supposed to take 45 minutes at the most, actually took like an hour and a half. That’s when the second thoughts started to cross our minds. Aren’t we going a little far to make a media briefing happen? Isn’t it invasive that we’re dropping at his house at 6PM to talk about work?? Should we really be bothering him? This is an editor!

These questions needed answers. Even though we were only 15 minutes away, I had to call and make sure he was really okay with us going. He had mentioned that one of his daughters was not feeling well and would be joining us, so maybe we were being invasive.

Of course, he was totally fine with it. Since he knew I am Argentinean, he explained that his Argentinean friends were cool and relaxed, and that’s how we should feel. We were very much invited. “Well, great! …Because we’ll be there in 15.”
It was 6PM when we rang his doorbell. We almost played rock, paper, scissors, to decide who was walking in first.

The briefing went beautifully. We got to know Enrique not only as an editor, but also as a family man with his projects and passions. He took interest in the work that we were doing and what was coming up. He gave us an overview of the Hispanic media in Miami and told us who the key contacts were (fortunately we knew them all by heart).

Did we go far? Yes, we did! We traveled the distance and we took media relationships to another level. We feel he’s our friend now. As a wise person always says “people want to work with their friends.” And guess what? A few days after we got back I received an email from his wife, also a reporter for El Sentinel, to coordinate an interview with a DTV representative. On the other hand, Enrique had the opportunity to interview Dr. Lamas and is currently working on a special piece on CRESTOR’s Artery Explorer tour in Haileah.

All in all…You can go as far as they let you. If you smile and are polite (or Argentinean) you will probably go farther.