Pete Muller, a former VOXX manager who opened a Tint World shop, is so skilled at public relations, the Today Show came out to interview him. It didn’t quite work out the way he planned, but he still generates a lot of publicity for the store near Orlando, FL. How does he do it?
To learn how Muller gets the kind of PR that can typically costs thousands per month, we’ll start with a product he sells called NoPhoto, offered by VOXX Electronics. It’s a license plate camera that issues a precisely timed flash that blocks the license plate when a speed or red light camera tries to photograph it. The traffic camera will only “see” a white flash and therefore it can’t generate a traffic ticket. Yes, it’s controversial, but as it turns out, perfectly legal.
First Muller sent a short video of his NoPhoto install with a few story suggestions to the local papers and TV stations. It made the front page of the Orlando Sentinel and the local news ran segments on it. Then NBC stations from around the region picked up the story, and then The Today Show called.
The Today Show filmed a segment on NoPhoto but it turned out they were approaching the story from the angle of consumers trying to weasel out of tickets. Muller let them keep the footage but asked that his name be removed, which The Today Show honored.
Still, Muller continues to publicize products to the local stations and they, in turn, call him when they want to interview an expert on other technology topics.
Two weeks ago a Central Florida TV station ran a segment about summer approaching and the need to tint windows for protection. The station called Muller and interviewed him.
Five minutes after the show aired he received an inquiry from a man in the town of Viera, 90 minutes away. The customer drove all that way to tint his windows at Muller’s shop.
“It creates awareness. I’m still getting calls from that show,” he said.
Maybe you already post videos to social media, but if you are ignoring local media, you’re missing potential customers. 34 million people read a newspaper every day. 20 million watch the local news in the evening, 19 million in the late evening and 13 million in the morning. Over 243 million people over the age of 18 listen to AM/FM radio at least weekly. This compares to the large social media audience of about 211 million people in the US, or about 3/4ths of the population.
One way to promote your store locally is to hold an event that benefits the public and then send out a press release announcing it. Suggested events can include:
- Display a great demo car at a local concert and invite people to hear what superior audio sounds like
- Hold a “Drive Safe” open house that shows people products they can add to their existing car for safer driving
- April is Distracted Driving Awareness month. Send out a press release about the technologies available to help people keep their eyes on the road such as CarPlay or Android Auto.
- October is national crime prevention month. Send out a press release inviting the public to your store to see the latest in auto security.
- Send out an announcement about interesting products—the latest DVRs, 360 camera systems, blind spot detection systems, etc.
- Hold a sale and donate 10 percent of the profits to a local charity, especially around the holidays
- Collect food stuffs for the local food bank during the holidays
- Sponsor a Coats for Kids program
We cited the following tips along with Muller’s strategy in a seminar at KnowledgeFest on good PR co-led by Solomon Daniels, Editor-in-Chief of Mobile Electronics magazine and Amy Gilroy Editor of CEoutlook.
Typical sneaky news stations, twisting words.