Transmedia Marketing

CHAPTER 14Media Relations

Influencers are gatekeepers, intermediaries, and tastemakers who influence other audiences. And the media are influencers. Media relations is a subset of Public Relations, which is a broad set of communication activities designed to create and maintain positive relations between an entity and its publics such as audiences, press, industry leaders, partners, employees, stockholders, and government officials. Public relations is credited with making smoking acceptable for women and then, decades later, making smoking uncool for teenagers. Publicity falls into the Promotion “P” of marketing.

Even in an era of peer power through WOM on social media, the press still wields tremendous influence. In entertainment, respected ...