Aha! Magazines DO Favor Advertisers!

My colleagues and I in the PR field have noticed a phenomena over the last few years. It's called the "play for pay" syndrome. I will not call out any of its dirty players in this blog post, except PC World's colossal Apple blunder, which is already front page news.

Here is how "play for pay" works. If I have a client who is paying me to do media relations for them, I might call up a magazine editor and pitch them a story for my client. For sake of this example, let's say the magazine is "Purple Widgets Today," and my client is coming out with a new purple widget kit that is better and different from its competitors. My job is to introduce the people at Purple Widgets Today to my client and to tell them about the purple widget kit.

The editor at Purple Widget Today listens patiently to my pitch, sometimes subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) inquires as to whether my client advertises in his publication. If I say "no" then suddenly the publication becomes much less interested in what I have to say.

Here is the kicker...sometimes the editor actually has the nerve to give my contact information to the advertising sales department and they call me IMMEDIATELY. Sometimes within the hour. Most often they will pitch me an ad, and more often than not, they will mention editorial space as a carrot to get me to buy the ad.

This phenomena is a direct result of declining ad sales. Period. I think its reprehensible behavior and unfair to smaller companies with a great story to tell and a small ad budget. Everyone knows that PR works, but it is getting harder to compete with the big boys.

If you are an editor and have dealt with the type of situation before, I would love to entertain your comments.

Comments

[Mike Sansone]

Are these the same journalists and publishers who say the blogosphere is clouded with unethical behavior, no system of checks/balances, and a lack of trustworthiness?

[c]

A local business publication on the west coast did this a few years ago. It got so bad that the front page article was written by the client who also bought ad space. The publications credibility was shot and all advertising dried up within six months.

[c]

A local business publication on the west coast did this a few years ago. It got so bad that the front page article was written by the client who also bought ad space. The publications credibility was shot and all advertising dried up within six months.

[c]

A local business publication on the west coast did this a few years ago. It got so bad that the front page article was written by the client who also bought ad space. The publications credibility was shot and all advertising dried up within six months.

[c]

A local business publication on the west coast did this a few years ago. It got so bad that the front page article was written by the client who also bought ad space. The publications credibility was shot and all advertising dried up within six months.