If done properly, publicity campaigns do more than get your name in print, get your issue on the news, or simply sell books or get butts in seats.

You can leverage such efforts as tools for national and local organizing, education, political action and, ultimately, positive change.

We take a holistic approach — leaving dogma aside — and consider the full spectrum of PR and publicity tools (mainstream and social media, for example), making sure efforts align with the rest of your organization (marketing, development, programming, advocacy and the like).

We identify relevant publicity opportunities (media interviews, contributed essays, speaking opportunities, etc.) to help you promote your organization or projects in a smart, realistic, cohesive way, no matter your resources.

This includes media outlets — and we've landed clients in major media of all forms — but also outreach to other thought leaders and groups. We explore different messages and media issues that can provide broader angles and opportunities and bring in allies beyond your immediate arena (advocacy groups, foundations, associations, politicians, high-profile individuals).
 

Outreach

We have a keen understanding of the broad, evolving media landscape, what works and what doesn't, and create outreach campaigns using a variety of messages and tactics for maximum impact.

Like-minded groups and armies of raving fans can be enlisted to help spread the word through their networks and channels. They can also help produce events (readings, screenings, e.g.). Often, this kind of outreach can be more effective at spreading the word and converting to action than the media. It's also important to reach out to relevant luminaries and thought leaders. They can help spread the buzz but also add credibility by association.
 

Book + Film + Event Publicity

There are 3000 books published in the US… each day. Despite this explosion, industry sales have been declining, making sales of individual titles shockingly small, and falling fast. (The average nonfiction book sells less than 250 copies per year and less than 2,000 over its lifetime.) A book has less than a 1% chance of being stocked in an average bookstore. (See this sobering article.)

There are roughly 10,000 films produced each year. And the number of documentaries have mushroomed over the last several years.

We focus on sometimes neglected areas we consider important to getting maximum visibility amongst the cacophony of cultural products and conferences and events produced.

Contact us and let's discuss how we can best help.

Antidotes in Action

Dalai Lama

His Holiness returned to New York in 2003 for a five-day visit, including four days of teachings to a sold-out audience of 3000 at the Beacon Theatre and a public address to 100,000+ in Central Park.

We helped manage the media frenzy surrounding the rare visit. We staged a press conference at the Guggenheim, a couple of photo/TV opportunities at the Beacon, and managed a press area at the Central Park public talk. We've also helped with subsequent visits to NYC and Colorado.

Nearly 500 journalists from all forms of media covered the visit.

Wendell Potter / Deadly Spin

Wendell is the former head of communications for CIGNA, one of the largest health insurers. Facing crises of conscience he left his cushy corporate job and entered public consciousness when he gave widely covered testimony before a US Senate committee during the height (and heat) of the health care reform debate. He has since worked tirelessly as an outspoken critic of unethical corporate PR. He reveals insider secrets and shares his own enlightening evolution in his first book, Deadly Spin from Bloomsbury Press (November 2010).

Working with Wendell and Bloomsbury, we created and implemented a publicity plan to help it garner as much “widespread attention” as possible. We explored several media issues to provide broader angles and opportunities to bring in allies beyond the healthcare arena (advocacy groups, foundations, associations, politicians, high-profile individuals) to help promote the book and advocate for its messages. We supported a 20-plus-city book tour, helping it become a tool for national and local organizing, education, political action and change.

At one point it broke the top 25 of Amazon's Bestsellers Rank.

Our efforts also resulted in the awarding of the distinguished Ridenhour Book Prize, which honors an outstanding work of social significance.

The Mystery of Love

This 2006 PBS special put love on the public agenda, exploring a subject often dominated by one-dimensional and misleading caricatures in popular culture. Hosted by author/playwright/actress Anna Deavere Smith, the two-hour doc was produced by the husband/wife team that brought Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth to PBS. Though it explored important issues, the subjects weren't particularly newsworthy in and of themselves.

So we focused on specific media and editors, writers and producers that would appreciate its relevance and vision. We also produced a screening and discussion in New York and designed and implemented a small advertising and promotion campaign. We got 70+ features, radio interviews, reviews and TV highlights across the country, including the New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Oprah & Friends (XM) and Hollywood Reporter.

Soon after airing, it became one of the top 25 DVDs on the Shop PBS website.