Beware of broadcast media coverage scams
I got a call today from one of our client CMO’s. He had spoken with someone who asked him several questions for a “television program he was producing.” He had a catchy name for the program.After talking awhile, the TV person said his organization would like to “interview” the CMO’s company for the program. He talked-up the excellent national broadcast visibility it would generate.
It sounded intriguing until our CMO started asking a few simple questions, including:
- tell me more about your company
- tell me more about this show
- who interviews us
- what’s the story angle that interests you about us
- when and where will the story appear
Basic stuff, but the TV show rep stumbled and couldn’t answer any of them with credibility. Our CMO friend didn’t like the vibe; he said “the guy got all squishy on me.”
That’s when he picked up the phone and called me.
The instant he described the encounter I knew what it was; the latest version of a scam where a video infomercial production company passes itself off as a legitimate broadcast editorial opportunity. I’ve seen it many times over the past two decades.
Aside from the unethical behavior and misrepresentation, the heart of the scam is money. After hooking the unsuspecting prospect with dreams of broadcast coverage, they tell you it’s going to cost money to pull it all together. In this particular case, it was in the $20K+ range.
Sadly, some companies fall for it. Here are some of the broadcast scams in business today: http://bit.ly/9Q0Ujz and http://bit.ly/bevDP6.If you’re ever contacted by someone who rather quickly promises to get your company broadcast media coverage, ask one simple question: is this going to cost my company any money? If the rep stammers, delays, gets “squishy” or says “yes,” run for the hills.
Real media coverage is earned, not paid for.
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