In episode one of this three-part series, I told you how I found public relations at the Opéra de Montréal, where I began my career in marketing and communications.
Today’s episode covers phase two in my PR discoveries because, despite my success in spreading the word about Opéra dans la rue and the Opéra 18-35 programme, several years would go by before I moved fully into public relations. My first loves were marketing and communications, and I stayed on that path for a few more years before launching NATA PR.
After four years with the Opéra de Montréal, I made a quick detour into the world of theatre at Espace Go, once again as marketing and communications director. Then I moved back into music with Analekta, one of Canada's top independent classical labels.
As marketing and communications director, I was asked to take special care of the company’s star performer: Angèle Dubeau. She’s a classical violinist who is still a top name in Canada, even today. Angèle knows how to stay accessible to her fans and give them the performances and recordings they want.
So I was still laying the groundwork for the NATA six-step model. Step one, which is figuring out why journalists would talk about Angèle Dubeau, was often a cinch. During those blessed CD years, she would put out a major new release each year.
It didn’t take me long to see that we needed a catchy title, but most importantly, to alert the media. Sending out a press release about a new classical album is one thing, but these weren’t Celine Dion’s latest hits!
So I had to set goals and sometimes do four to ten calls before I got any calls back from reporters. This was a time when there were still journalists who covered nothing but classical music, and a national radio station—CBC/Radio-Canada—that was entirely devoted to it.
The updates and alerts were incredibly effective. At Analekta, I discovered the various points that public relations and sales had in common. Because there too, to attract interest, I had to make a real effort, and do some things repeatedly.
The phone was my best tool. I would prepare my main message and my secondary messages. I always left very short voice mails, repeating my name and phone number twice, very slowly. The voice is a force I liked using, as I’m doing today with the podcast.
It was also at Analekta that I figured out I could get a feature story for a new item or event. Gregorian chant was having a moment, and Analekta’s founder had the brilliant idea of contacting the monks of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, less than two hours outside Montreal, to propose a recording project. It was a first for the monks, and they were eager to do the project. Gregorian chant—as they still practise it today—is sublime. The record brought their musical practice to a lot of people.
When I was wondering who would actually want to talk about this project, I thought about the newscast, and a culture reporter named Paul Toutant. I proposed he do a story on site during the recording. And just as I thought, he was very receptive. However, he requested an exclusive on the piece.
Since it was the major news show and millions of people tuned in every night, it didn’t take me long to realize this was a good idea. Exclusives are a key strategy, and in this case it was very lucrative. It made the album a smash hit.
This award-winning story got a lot of attention––more than eight minutes of a one-hour major news show!
I’m delighted to say once again that my passion for public relations goes back more than 30 years, and that after 10 years of working at many companies as marketing and communications director, I created the NATA PR SCHOOL so I could teach you the ABCs of public relations—which are still the same today—so you can easily integrate them into your marketing plan while combining them with your social media.
Now it’s up to you to include PR in your marketing plan. If you want to discuss it in person with us, get in touch now at www.natapr.com.
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