Ayelet Noff is the Founder and CEO of SlicedBrand, a global PR agency headquartered in Berlin. In two decades she has led PR activities for over a thousand technology companies across AI, blockchain, mobile, cybersecurity, and fintech. Noff has been named one of Forbes' five female rock stars leading the crypto scene in 2018 and one of Business Insider's 50 best PR people in tech. This Q&A was published in late October 2020 — focused on how PR firms should approach the 2020 US presidential election week.
The Interview: PR Strategy Through the 2020 Election
Q: Will the US election impact the PR industry?
A: Of course. No matter where you do business in the world, you will be affected by the U.S. Presidential election on November 3rd. This election year is unlike any other — ugly, brutal, noisy, and chaotic. It would be a really, REALLY bad week to launch a product or pitch more or less anything.
Q: Is this year an outlier?
A: In the past, election day was never a good day to launch, but this year, due to all the chaos, everything is blown out of proportion. The political upheaval of the past four years, topped with a deadly global pandemic, has led up to what could possibly be the most momentous election in years. Holidays like Independence Day, Christmas and New Year's weeks, Apple announcement days, and Amazon Prime Day all distract journalists and consumers worldwide. With active voter suppression and interference, the attention of consumers will be elsewhere for much longer than a single day. This runs straight into Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, nearly negating the entire month of November.
Q: How should PR professionals navigate?
A: Recommending to clients that we simply push a Tuesday release to Wednesday is a lazy approach to a complex geopolitical issue that affects the entire world. Even if your client is technology-based, the news cycle will not allow for anything other than election news for at least a week following the election.
Q: Exceptions to this strategy?
A: If there's a way to tie your clients or brand to the election, some targeted outreach could be in order. Perhaps it's an app that helps with finding voting locations or detects when someone is lying during a debate (the latter we literally did during the last election). But tread carefully — stretching the functionality of a product to come up with a cheeky pitch with no real connection to the election can leave a bad taste in journalists' inboxes.
Q: When will things settle down?
A: The first week of December should be a bit more relaxed. Journalists, exhausted by the political cycle, will be hunting their inboxes for stories of new apps or products.
Q: What should PR professionals be doing meanwhile?
A: Take this time to tighten up releases and build out long-term strategies, or work on your own website or client materials. Use the time between election day and the sweet spot between Thanksgiving and Christmas to do some housekeeping. Communicate frequently with your clients. Strategize and brainstorm together for the upcoming months, taking into consideration all possible scenarios.
Q: Final thoughts?
A: Our main responsibility is to our clients and making sure their projects get the attention they deserve. There will always be something going on in the world that distracts journalists and consumers. We can't always plan for chaos, but we can plan around it.
Ayelet Noff is the Founder and CEO of SlicedBrand , a global PR agency headquartered in Berlin . In two decades she has led PR activities for over a thousand technology companies across AI, blockchain, mobile, cybersecurity, and fintech. Noff has been named one of Forbes' five female rock stars leading the crypto scene in 2018 and one of Business Insider's 50 best PR people in tech . This Q&A was published in late October 2020 — focused on how PR firms should approach the 2020 US presidential election week. The Interview: PR Strategy Through the 2020 Election Q: Will the US election impact the PR industry?
A: Of course. No matter where you do business in the world, you will be affected by the U.S. Presidential election on November 3rd. This election year is unlike any other — ugly, brutal, noisy, and chaotic. It would be a really, REALLY bad week to launch a product or pitch more or less anything.
Q: Is this year an outlier?
A: In the past, election day was never a good day to launch, but this year, due to all the chaos, everything is blown out of proportion. The political upheaval of the past four years, topped with a deadly global pandemic, has led up to what could possibly be the most momentous election in years. Holidays like Independence Day, Christmas and New Year's weeks, Apple announcement days, and Amazon Prime Day all distract journalists and consumers worldwide. With active voter suppression and interference, the attention of consumers will be elsewhere for much longer than a single day. This runs straight into Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, nearly negating the entire month of November.
Q: How should PR professionals navigate?
A: Recommending to clients that we simply push a Tuesday release to Wednesday is a lazy approach to a complex geopolitical issue that affects the entire world. Even if your client is technology-based, the news cycle will not allow for anything other than election news for at least a week following the election.
Q: Exceptions to this strategy?
A: If there's a way to tie your clients or brand to the election, some targeted outreach could be in order. Perhaps it's an app that helps with finding voting locations or detects when someone is lying during a debate (the latter we literally did during the last election). But tread carefully — stretching the functionality of a product to come up with a cheeky pitch with no real connection to the election can leave a bad taste in journalists' inboxes.
Q: When will things settle down?
A: The first week of December should be a bit more relaxed. Journalists, exhausted by the political cycle, will be hunting their inboxes for stories of new apps or products.
Q: What should PR professionals be doing meanwhile?
A: Take this time to tighten up releases and build out long-term strategies, or work on your own website or client materials. Use the time between election day and the sweet spot between Thanksgiving and Christmas to do some housekeeping. Communicate frequently with your clients. Strategize and brainstorm together for the upcoming months, taking into consideration all possible scenarios.
Q: Final thoughts?
A: Our main responsibility is to our clients and making sure their projects get the attention they deserve. There will always be something going on in the world that distracts journalists and consumers. We can't always plan for chaos, but we can plan around it.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
