How to take advantage of publicity, even when you’re cast in bad light

http://www.inventorsdigest.com/4_09/lights.aspx 

Lights. Camera. Action!
Don’t Goof When the Spotlight Hits
How to take advantage of publicity, even when you’re cast in bad light

 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno was featuring products from the company’s inaugural inventors trade show, held last October.

In his “Pitch to America: New Inventions” segment, Leno allows the audience to offer gladiator-style “sold or not-sold” votes on various products his crew filmed at the InventBay show and other venues.

“I actually went outta my way to watch this segment of the show and thought it was an absolute joke!” wrote an inventor who goes by the online handle Sir Edward. “It was no different than Leno’s ‘Stuff We Found on eBay,’ which is nothing more than an audience participation bit, showing some of the most obscure/wacky items being auctioned on eBay. Leno’s ‘Pitch to America’ was, sadly, no different!”

Others quickly weighed in.

“After seeing it was all a mockery I want no part of it,” wrote New Jersey inventor Ron Komorowski. He went on to ask: “When will people cover more inventors more seriously?”

The dustup raised intriguing questions: What does this say about the old saw that any publicity is good publicity? And since when is appearing on Leno bad publicity? 

The answer, according to InventBay CEO Keith Hammack, is never. He’s dismayed that inventors would dismiss an opportunity to appear on a major network television show, even if it means the potential for ridicule.

(Full disclosure alert: Edison Nation is a partner with Inventors Digest. Komorowski is a regular on Edison Nation and has volunteered for Inventors Digest. And Hammack is an ID advertiser.)

“Leno’s going out there with a different motivation than what the inventors want,” Hammack says. “But the inventors are getting the exposure. It’s in the best interest of the inventor. Even if you have a rowdy late-night crowd going ‘No, I wouldn’t buy it,’ millions of people saw that invention. 

“Go ahead,” Hammack adds, “and roast me all you want.”

If the saga of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich teaches us anything, it’s that you can attempt to spin even negative publicity in your favor.

As the New York Times noted, it’s not easy to upstage one’s own impeachment trial, but Blagojevich appeared to be doing just that. In January he eschewed attending his impeachment trial for alleged influence peddling and opted for spots on The Viewand Larry King Live. By doing so, he was trying to rewrite his own narrative to potential jurors and the public, observers said.

As for inventors appearing on Leno, the other lesson is that while you should take your product and business seriously, maybe you shouldn’t take yourself so seriously.

“As long as one’s ego isn’t too involved and you can be objective and realize that this is an excellent opportunity to both build brand awareness and gain feedback about the product,” says Hal Bringman, founder of Los Angeles-based consultancy NVPR, “it’s almost like a free focus group on a large scale.” 

Well executed publicity is “an engine that drives business development,” Bringman says. “So I believe any publicity is, in fact, good publicity when it is managed well.

“Publicity that turns ‘bad,’” Bringman adds, “occurs mostly when a company or person tries to be disingenuous.”

Continued here: http://www.inventorsdigest.com/4_09/lights.aspx