I’ll admit it. I just don’t get it. You see, in my years as a marketer, I’ve learned that the fundamental principle behind just about every human interaction is that if you can make someone’s job easier, it makes it easy to get what you want. For instance, if you wanna get ink, write a story with a compelling angle and pitch it to an editor. If it hits the mark, they’ll take it – they get a free story and you get the publicity you need. So when all the brouhaha about Detroit’s Big Three hit the headlines, I realized that there was an opportunity there for a friend of mine. What I didn’t realize, is how difficult it is proving to turn that opportunity into a success story.

Robert Farago is a talented automotive writer and chief scribe of thethruthaboutcars.com – an automotive blog with an attitude. 180 degrees away from the Car and Driver-esque blogs that feature opinions that are virtually indistinguishable from the manufacturers’ press releases, TTAC offers reviews, commentary, and analysis that is cutting edge, fearless, opinionated, fresh, and in-your-face. In short, it’s everything you’d expect from a bunch of fanboys who write about cars, not because they want to, but because they have to. [Full disclosure - I have written a number of articles for TTAC, although I've been too busy to write anything lately.]

Now you’d think that somebody that once described the Buick brand as “God’s waiting room on wheels” would be much in demand as an expert on the 24-hour news channels. And you’d be right – I think – if only the 24-news networks knew about Farago. Problem is, they don’t.

Did you ever wonder how the “industry experts” get on Fox/CNN/MSNBC/et cetera? I have. Within all of these organizations are people who’s job it is to ferret out experts, determine if they are good on camera, and then get them on the air, to talk about that day’s headlines that pertain to their particular area of expertise. Some call them “bookers,” some call them “producers,” and others call them “guest wranglers.” Frankly, I don’t care what they are called – as long as I can call them. And that’s where the problem lies.

I’ve been trying, for the better part of a week, to reach somebody – ANYbody – at Fox News or the Fox Business Network. With no luck. They have an automated attendant answering system that rivals Fort Knox on the impregnability scale. Corporate networks would be so lucky to be able to repel hackers the way Fox News repels callers. The odd part is, I’m trying to do Fox a favor, as well as one for Farago. They would both benefit from having him on TV. But until and unless I can get to a booker/producer/wrangler on Fox, I’m forced to wonder why they make it so bloody difficult to reach the very people who’s jobs depend on communicating with people like Robert Farago.

So, campers – here’s a question for all your marketers out there…how do YOU get to the bookers? Is there some top-secret phone number you’d be willing to share? Some secret handshake or password I need to get to the right people? If so, please share. This is not for me – I won’t make a dime off of this. I just want to see Fox News get Robert on the air, to talk about the Big Three and the bailout.

So let me know what you think. Operators are standing by…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 12:06 am and is filed under marketing.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.