Publicity

An activity or program is not worth much unless everyone knows about it!! Here’s the low-down on how to publicize your event, and make your residents say “wow” over your great publicity!

Basic Principles of Publicity
Types of Publicity
Putting it All Together

Basic Principles of Publicity

1. CREATIVITY. Put creativity into your publicity! You can generate more enthusiasm and interest by using unique, fresh, and clever methods of promotion. Developing gimmicks or logos, utilizing pictures and unusual shapes are all ways in which publicity can be made more attractive.

2. VARIETY. If no one type of publicity reaches the entire audience, you must use more than one. More than one medium can also reinforce and intensify your message. Use a variety of techniques that work well together and complement each other.

3. QUANTITY. An advertisement must be seen or heard several times before it has any impact. The more often it is seen or heard, the greater the retention of your message. Thus, you can magnify the impact of your publicity by increasing the frequency with which it is seen or heard.

4. VISIBILITY. Since the frequency with which publicity is seen or heard is crucial to its effectiveness, it makes sense to place your publicity in locations that have high visibility. Areas with the greatest traffic patterns usually have the highest visibility. Good locations include: mailbox areas, cafeteria walls, bathrooms and bathroom stalls, under or on room doors, bulletin boards, etc.

5. LEGIBILITY. How often an advertisement is seen will have little impact if what is seen is not legible. The greater the legibility, the greater the chances that an individual will read all of the information. Greater legibility is ensured by using lower case lettering rather than uppercase. Capitals may be used for emphasis; but to be effective, emphasis must be used sparingly.

6. UNDERSTANDABILITY. Even if your message is readable or can be heard well, it must be understandable to get the message across. You can make your publicity more understandable and more effective by incorporating the following points:
i. Be concise and clear.
ii. Avoid excess verbiage.
iii. Use terminology that the target audience would understand.

7. ADVANCE NOTICE. Publicize well enough in advance. If publicity goes out too late, it does not give people enough time to plan to attend an activity. For optimum exposure, publicity should be out at least one week before your activity is scheduled to take place; however, you may want to issue additional publicity pieces as the event approaches.

An ideal publicized event might work like this:

10 days before Teaser posters in the bathrooms and lounges.
7 days before Ad in personal pages of newspaper.
5 days before Posters and signs in residence halls.
Table tents in study lounges.
3 days before Word of mouth campaign initiated.
1 day before Banner near major entrance/exit way.
The Day A round-up reminder a half-hour before.