How to Claw your way to the Top
in the Ocean of Competing News
by
Tom Ciesielka from TC Public Relations

Vacations are a time for relaxation; a time to forget about work and focus on enjoying life. But after coming across the following story while visiting Seaside, Oregon, I couldn't resist thinking about public relations.

My fiancée and I were wandering through the Seaside Aquarium, one of the oldest aquariums on the West Coast, when we ran into Victor. Victor was a lobster. Well, he still is a lobster, just the post-taxidermy version. This was no ordinary lobster, though. This was a three-foot-long, 28-pound hunk of seafood that was more than 85 years old.

However, what was probably most impressive to me was that all around Victor's display case was a plethora of press clippings from local newspapers and magazines about Victor's life. This got me thinking: What is it about Victor that got him all this attention?

What can Victor (God rest his salt-water soul) teach us about attracting media attention?

Stand out. Be big.

Victor pretty much blew the competition out of the water in terms of size. I wouldn't mess around with twenty-eight pounds worth of lobster tail and claws, unless there was a fork and knife nearby. So what any person or company should do is be big. This doesn't necessarily mean having a huge company with thousands of employees and offices all over the world. It really means being big in action and differentiating yourself from others through the work you do. Regardless of size, always be big in principle, because integrity in today's culture can definitely be newsworthy.

Establish yourself, and get the locals to love you.

Victor had been lobstering around in Seaside for a long time and was able to strengthen his relationship with locals and visitors. Establishing yourself can have a chain reaction effect. As you increase your credibility, more people start to respect you. As you earn more respect, more people start spreading the good word. More likely than not, the good word will spread right into the lap of the media and Eureka! A story is born.

Make problems positive.

One of the articles by Victor's display case was about how he was kidnapped in 1994. The story reports that as the crustacean crook was running out of the aquarium, he was seen by folks nearby, panicked and dropped Victor, creating a crack in Victor's shell. The poor lobster died a few days later.

While this was very unfortunate news and a problem for Seaside Aquarium, the story gave Victor additional publicity, which attracted more people to the aquarium. Sure, it's not ideal to attract media attention because of a problem or dilemma. If this happens though, it is the perfect opportunity to impress the public by handling the problem assertively, or even looking at it in a positive light. In Victor's case, news of his death turned into a celebration and remembrance of his life.

Victor has been stuffed and slumbering peacefully now for 13 years, but these lessons are timeless and will be helpful when thinking about ways to attract media attention. It goes to show you never know who you'll meet or what you'll learn on vacation. Even if it is from a lobster.