When I was a marketing executive for a software company, I decided to let out the stops and launch a big PR campaign for our new product. We usually did all of our marketing in house, but this was a brand new offering that had the potential to make a big splash in the marketplace, so I decided to let the professionals handle it.

I visited three PR firms to get their take on our product. They quoted similar prices for a campaign, each of which was more than enough to blow my whole annual marketing budget.
“Why is this so darn expensive?,” I wondered.

Then I remembered the PR firm offices. They
were awfully nice. Walnut conference tables, great views from the conference room and lots of art on the walls. It suddenly dawned on me that I was being asked to help finance the purchase of all that fine furniture and artwork. I decided that marketing dollars should go into marketing
efforts, so I took the PR effort in house.

We put together a mailing list and a press kit
that included a small box with a pair of pink
socks sticking out. The box was printed with a screen shot of our new software and the title “once you’ve seen [our new product], you'll need these." Included in the box was a CD of the new product, a reviewer's guide and some splashy collateral. We sent our “knock your socks off” package to just under a hundred trade journalists.

The campaign was a huge success. It resulted in three favorable reviews in national magazines. Those reviews generated so many leads that our sales manager complained about not having enough account reps to follow up. That’s a problem I’ll take any day.

The total price tag for the entire campaign was a tiny fraction of what the PR firms had quoted me. Why? Because we didn’t have to pay for walnut conference tables or artwork.

The lesson I learned – you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for quality business communications. When you come to Cork Road, you won’t be asked to pay for my décor. You’ll just get high-quality work for a fair price. What a concept.