Seal it with a KISS...

Yesterday, I was in a meeting with a prospective client and I had a 17-year flashback that brought me back to Professor Jack Ryan's journalism class at the University of Southern California. While I was probably multi-tasking during class and jotting down a to-do list for my sorority's beach bash party, the topic of Jack Ryan's lecture stuck with me over a couple of decades. It was all about the "KISS Principle" -- Keep It Simple Stupid. At the time, he was referring to the lead paragraph of press releases, but strongly advised us to keep the acronym "KISS" next to our phones when we landed a PR gig after graduation. He said it would remind us that we should never over-complicate the PR strategies and tactics that we recommend to our bosses or our clients. Simple messages resonate.

Seventeen years later, there are so many more channels of communication and much more competition -- not only in the marketplace, but for time and space in the media. In 1992, no one knew what the Internet was! We barely used email. As communicators, we're constantly challenged with the need to break through the clutter, but that doesn't necessarily mean the bigger or wackier the idea, the better.

I believe the KISS principle still rings true -- and even louder -- in 2009. We need to remind ourselves that often we ARE the consumers we're trying to reach. We just survived the frantic holiday season and we're faced with what news media has described as the most "fearful year" from an economic perspective. With lighter wallets and less time to make purchasing decisions, we need simple, yet influential messages about the brands, products and services we consume!

We actually need to work harder and smarter to keep it simple, stupid. We need to figure out what makes the brands, products and services we're promoting really benefit consumers' daily lives, especially in this economic climate. Then, work backwards from there to come up with a much more impactful PR program. We still need to be creative and put relevant twists on traditional PR campaigns, but if an idea or a media angle takes more than 30 seconds to explain, then it won't stick. So think twice before recommending that crazy stunt or multi-phased launch with a spokesperson, a how-to-guide and an online contest! If we KISS, we're more likely to seal the deal with our current clients, our prospective clients and the media.

Christy Salcido