Today’s RepMan is by Peppercommer Stefan Prelog.

If you’re a publicist, you’ve most likely had to shepherd clients to meetings and appearances. You are responsible for getting them there, which can be quite challenging. Prepare for the unexpected by equipping yourself with a hodgepodge of media tour essentials.

Here are 12 must-have tools that will turn you into a human Swiss Army Knife.

1. A smartphone.  It can act as your map, restaurant guide, email and even a phone if you need to actually need talk to someone.
2. A cordless charger. You’ll be a savior to a client who may not have charged his and is waiting for an important call.
3. A credit card. Don’t expect your client to pay for the taxi or lunch.
4. Cash is still king, particularly if you’re at a restaurant and need to slip a $20 to the host or maitre d’ to get a quiet table. If you’re in a taxi and the credit card machine isn’t working it will save you a trip to the ATM.
5. Public transportation may be necessary to get to an appointment on time, so make sure you have a fully loaded Metrocard, Oyster Card, CharlieCard, SmarTrip Card or whichever card is used in your city.  And bring an extra card in case you don’t have enough time to wait for your client to figure out how to operate the card vending machine.
6. Uber app. Know your route and make sure the driver is properly licensed.
7. Have an extra bottle of water and some snacks on you. Don’t carry anything that’s too messy or odorous.
8. Mints will stave off stale breath. Always carry a tin of mints and offer one as you take one yourself.
9. A pen is one of the most overlooked items, but I can’t count how many times I’ve needed one.
10. Keep calm and carry a spare umbrella. You never know when the weather will change, particularly if you’re in a city with fickle climate.  Unless your client is a high-fashion model, the wet look will not look so good on your client.
11. I always carry a neutral color spare tie when I’m with male clients.
12. A Tide Pen is very effective at getting out stubborn stains from pasta sauce to subway smudge.

Feel free to respond and let me know about any other items that helped save the day.

First, we learned that Brian Williams, anchorman and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, “conflated” his multiple tales of having been aboard a U.S. Military helicopter that was hit by enemy flak and forced to land.

Now, we have Bill O’Reilly, host of the wildly successful Fox News ‘O’Reilly Factor’ being charged by numerous media outlets of hearing shots that weren’t fired and seeing bodies that weren’t there outside the Argentinian presidential palace during the Falkland’s War.

Unlike Williams, who at least made a graceful, if half-hearted, apology, O’Reilly is taking a different tack. He’s in full pit bull attack mode and firing back hard at anyone questioning his version of the facts.

He issued a statement calling one accuser, retired CBS correspondent, Eric Engberg, ‘Room Service Eric,’ suggesting that Engberg stayed in his hotel during the ‘event’ and didn’t even see the melee O’Reilly claims happened.

It will be interesting to see how O’Reilly fares with his credibility crisis.

Will Fox follow NBC’s lead and announce an internal inquiry to investigate what did, and didn’t, happen in Buenos Aires so long ago? Don’t count on it.

Although Fox claims to provide fair and balanced news, O’Reilly’s program is a nightly barrage on people, places and even things deemed too liberal by The Factor.

I don’t believe the top brass at Fox will do anything. This story may play out for another day or so, but O’Reilly will stay right where he is.

And, poor Walter Cronkite, the epitome of a trusted and objective news anchor, will continue spinning in his grave as one anchorman after another gets caught conflating events or reporting violence and bloodshed that never happened.

And, that’s the way it is, Tuesday, February 24th, 2015.

NBC’s announcement that they’d suspend Brian Williams for six months without pay took too long and did too little.

Williams will never be able to regain his shattered trust and reputation as a news anchor. Never.

And, six months won’t change a thing. Sure, it will remove the crisis from the lead online and offline gossip story of the day. But, the crisis will rise again like a Phoenix when the suspension ends and speculation begins about Brian’s return.

NBC should have severed all ties and moved on with Lester Holt in the anchor’s seat. Period.

As for Brian, he has multiple options for the future:

– the speaking circuit.
– the academic track.
– earning millions with an autobiography.
– creating his own trust and ethics center so others can learn from his mistake
– or, he can do nothing at all.

This six-month Twilight Zone period does nothing to help NBC or Williams repair the damage. It’s time to deep six the Dapper Dan of the night time news circuit and let everyone move on.

Today’s guest post is by Peppercommer and inventor of “Stink-b-Gone” pitch spray, Matt Purdue. 

Imagine you’re at a cocktail party. (I do it all the time. In fact, I’m practicing for one right now.) This guy comes up to you:

“Hi. Can I puh-lease talk to you for a minute? I promise I’m really interesting. In fact, I’m one of the premier providers of cocktail party conversation. So can we talk? Puh-lease?”

Now imagine you’re at another cocktail party. (You sure do attend a lot of cocktail parties. People are starting to wonder about you.) This guy comes up to you:

“Hi. Excuse me, but I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about indie book stores. Aren’t they cool? Don’t you wish they got more love? Well, the other day I found this cool new search engine for ordering books from independent stores. Would you like to check it out on my phone?”

Granted, this guy seems a bit dorky to be so into indie book stores, but I’m trying to make a point here. Which guy do you think is more likely to be invited to join the conversation?

Unfortunately for our profession, too many of us are like the first guy when we write media pitches. We let our clients convince us that they are so fascinating that of course the media will fawn all over them at the mere mention of their name. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

As a former journalist, I’m all too aware of the stresses and challenges facing today’s reporters and producers. If you want to engage them, here are four tips to improve your pitching:

1. Listen. Listen to (and read about) what your media targets are writing about and – just as important – what their audiences care about.
2. When you sit down to write your pitch, lead with this news, not your client. Reporters are trained and paid to sniff out stories, not promote spokespeople.
3. Better yet, lead with the problem(s) that are challenging your media target’s audiences. A reporter doesn’t care that your client just published a new fat-free cookbook. Your reporter cares that her readers hate fat-free food because it’s bland and lifeless.
4. Moreover, lead with today’s news – or, better yet, what’s going to happen tomorrow. Sadly, I see too many pitches that offer up a spokesperson to talk about a general subject but forget to mention why the reporter should talk to this person right now.
5. Bring in stats and third-party support. Many clients are loath to let you mention another organization or thought leader in a media pitch because they don’t want to share the spotlight. But to a journalist, facts and trends are gold. Don’t hesitate to mention survey data or another leading voice that supports your angle – as long as they don’t come from a competitor, natch.

In short, if you want to write more effective media pitches, start thinking less like a marketer and more like a journalist.

I was pleasantly surprised to read that, when it came to year-end bonus time, GM decided not to penalize factory workers for the mega mistakes made over the past 10 years by top executives, engineers and lawyers. In fact, since the workers were not at fault for any of the 30 million vehicles that have been recalled in recent years, CEO Mary Barra actually gave the 48,000-strong union workers a bonus greater than their contract called for. And, how often does that happen?

The bonuses were also a smart business decision considering GM and union leaders begin contract negotiations later this summer.

The bonuses also provided a much-needed image and reputation boost for the beleaguered brand. Thanks to the oversized bonuses, GM now has a great feel-good story to tell, both internally and externally.

Barra’s decision is rare among the ranks of CEOs running large, midsized and small companies. Case in point, I once reported to the CEO of a midsized integrated agency who was notoriously tight-fisted. At the end of one year, he called the CFO and yours truly into his office, shut the door, and said: “Look, our numbers are really crummy so let’s just the three of us take year-end bonuses, OK? We’ll tell everyone else they’ll get coal in their stockings.” And, then he laughed. I must admit I was too intimidated by the guy to speak up at the time. But, I learned a valuable lesson that has served us well at Peppercomm. Beginning on day one, Ed and I always rewarded the best employees, regardless of how good or bad our financial performance had been. And, we’ve also been the first ones to step up and not take a bonus or, if necessary, put some of our own money back into the business.

Like Ms. Barra, we see it as doing good by paying right.

Did you know that a tiny, albeit well-funded start-up named uCool.com paid a cool $2.25 million to air a 15-second spot in the fourth quarter of yesterday’s Super Bowl extravaganza! According to The New York Times, uCool was one of 15 first-time advertisers in Super Bowl XLIX, the most since the good old dotcom days.

Some of the other newbies included Loctite, Jublia, Wix.com and Mophie. Do you remember a single one? I sure don’t. And, if I hadn’t been looking for it, I would have missed the uCool spot entirely.

I did, however, notice the totally bizarre Carnival Cruise Line spot with a voice over from the late John F. Kennedy (since when does one mix the gravitas of a slain president with the fun of a cruise?). I also watched the Nationwide Insurance spot which was ill-advised to say the least. Talking about death and dying in the midst of the worldwide festival that is the Super Bowl is in such poor taste. And the McDonald’s Valentine’s Day promotion that’s supposed to bring us all together through peace, love and hamburgers was pure hokum.

But, I digress. Back to the start-ups and their huge gamble in plunking down millions of dollars in the hopes that a 15- or 30-second commercial will suddenly make them a household name. Apparently it works every once in a while. The Times cited Chobani Yogurt as one example.

But, in my mind the odds remain ridiculously high. And, you tell me, is it wise to risk one-fourth or one-half of your entire marketing budget on one 15- or 30-second spot? That’s riverboat gambling at its best. And, woe betide the marketing officers who rolled the dice and came up with craps. Their tenure may be even shorter than their 15-second spots.

In my mind there are far better, and smarter ways, to spend $2.25 million through a blended strategy that includes earned, owned and paid media. Why through a desperate Hail Mary pass when it is so unnecessary? I’ve had it. In fact, in my self-appointed role as PR referee, I’m throwing a flag at all the newbie Super Bowl advertisers and penalizing them 15-yards for unnecessary riskiness.