PR “It Girl”

Glossary

© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved




PR “IT G IRL”
GLOSSARY
30 Industry Terms to Know

© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved

 Table of Contents

Activation ________________________________________________5
Back of House // Front of House ______________________________5
Boilerplate _______________________________________________5
Calendar Listing ___________________________________________6
Clip _____________________________________________________6
Contributed Content ________________________________________6
Copy ____________________________________________________7
Credit // Credit Check ______________________________________7
Desk Side _______________________________________________7
Disclosure _______________________________________________7
Editorial _________________________________________________8
Editorial Calendar __________________________________________8
Fact Sheet _______________________________________________8
Flats ____________________________________________________9
Glossies ________________________________________________9
Gift Guide _______________________________________________9
Gifting Suite ______________________________________________ 9
In-house ________________________________________________10
Lead Time ______________________________________________10
Lookbook _______________________________________________10
Op-Ed __________________________________________________10

!3
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
Media (Paid, Owned, Earned) _______________________________ 11
Media List ______________________________________________11
Media Coverage _________________________________________11
Pitching ________________________________________________12
Pay to Play (P2P) _________________________________________12
Samples _______________________________________________12
Tracking Sheet __________________________________________12
Trade Media _____________________________________________ 13
Weeklies _______________________________________________13

!4
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
 Terms

Activation
A brand activation refers to an experience-driven, in-person event that aims to
build brand enthusiasm among target audiences (including influencers) through
on-brand, interactive activities.

Back of House // Front of House

Back of House and Front of House are terms taken from the theater world used
during a runway show to describe media-facing and backstage responsibilities.

Back of house refers to the backstage event production, while invitations, seating
charts and press management is handled by “the front of house.” Certain agencies
may only offer back of house or front of house capabilities, and labels will often rely
on two different agencies to handle each aspect.

Boilerplate
Similar to an “about us,” the boilerplate is a short paragraph of carefully-worded
text that communicates key information and attributes of a company. It is used
most often at the end of a press release, but can also be included in a variety of PR,
marketing and company materials.

!5
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
Calendar Listing
Many local news websites, television stations and magazines share local event
information with their readers. PR agencies submit client events for inclusion in
these calendar listings to help get the word out.

Clip
While you might think of a clip as a short video preview, in public relations a clip
refers to any piece of press coverage, video, print or digital. Traditionally, each time
a client is included in a story, photo spread, interview, etc., the article is “clipped”
and put in a clip book.

A clip book can contain physical copies of articles or be kept in digital form.

Contributed Content
With so many different news and subject-matter specific websites and blogs out
there, public relations professionals will often pitch their clients as experts to write
an article or guest post, known as contributed content, which will include an author
byline.

Sometimes the PR person will actually ghost-write this piece (shhh!) or simply help
to shape the article and ensure all pertinent key messages and links are included.

!6
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
Copy
Shorthand for all different kinds of text, from newspaper articles to social media
captions, copy is a term used to refer to pretty much any form of writing in a PR,
marketing and advertising context.

Credit // Credit Check

The copy in a magazine or website that explains where to purchase a product is
known as a credit.

When an item has been confirmed for inclusion, the PR agency will get a call from
the publication to confirm product name, purchase details and price. This is called
a credit check and is always cause for celebration.

Desk Side
A desk side (sometimes written as deskside) is when a publicist meets directly with
an editor to showcase a client - or multiple clients- wares for editorial
consideration. The term comes from the fact that agencies will often visit an editor
at her desk, though the actual meeting may take place elsewhere, like a coffee shop.

Disclosure
The FTC requires influencers to disclose any material connections related to their
media output. Ensuring disclosure of any payment, gifted items, etc is a legally-
required part of working with influencers/bloggers for client coverage. However,
the FTC considers anyone with a social media account a “blogger,” so disclosure

!7
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
extends to agencies and individuals who publish social media content about clients.

Editorial
In public relations, editorial content typically refers to magazine or website content
that is penned by editors (not advertisements). Editorial-style is used to describe a
visual look that is remniscent of print media. Editorial opportunities in a pitch is
code for media coverage that is earned/unpaid.

Editorial Calendar
Most magazines make an annual editorial calendar available for prospective
advertisers. The “ed-cal” outlines each issue’s major themes, an editor contact and
the closing deadline. The idea is that if March is all about shoes, a shoe brand will
want to advertise in that issue.

In public relations, we use the ed-cal to identify story opportunities that align with
a monthly theme, like sending over information about an eco-friendly designer for
an upcoming green issue.

Fact Sheet
Often included as part of a press kit or included in an email pitch to a journalist, a
fact sheet (also known as a one-sheet) is a single-page document that acts as a
brand or event overview. It lists all key information in an easy-to-read and
consolidated format so that media/potential sponsors and partners can quickly
scan for key details.

!8
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
Flats
Not to be confused with a flat lay, a flat refers to a hi-resolution image of a product
shot by itself against a white background. Flats are used by editors and bloggers as
an alternative to being sent a physical sample for to be photographed.

Glossies
Glossies are shorthand for any of the popular magazines, often used to refer to the
big guns like Vogue, InStyle, etc. You may also hear these referred to as monthlies
or long-lead pubs (short for publications) or simply, the books.

Gift Guide
Gift guides are recurring product features that editors and blogger put together
around a specific season or event where gift-giving is common. The most well-
known (and coveted) of these is the holiday gift guide (HGGs for short).

Gifting Suite
Gifting suites are a type of event that often takes place before an award show.
Representatives of multiple brands eager to converse and push product on
celebrities.

!9
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
In-house
In public relations (or any communications field) individuals typically either work
internally, or in-house for a brand or, externally on the agency-side.

In-house can also refer to work that is not outsourced to an agency. A brand might
do their social media “in-house” but work with an agency for email marketing, for
instance.

Lead Time
Lead time refers to how far out a publication works on future issues (and therefore
determines when a PR agency will pitch a client for a particular issue). Traditional
print publications are long-leads (usually working 4-6 months in advance), whereas
websites, blogs and weekly magazines are known as short-leads (working anywhere
from 1 day to 6 weeks in advance).

Lookbook
Each season, fashion brands release a lookbook showcasing different pieces from
their latest collection. Sometimes the lookbook will have a strong concept theme
and look a bit like a magazine or art book, while other times it is simply a model
wearing each garment against a white background.

Op-Ed
An op-ed refers to a personal opinion-style article written by somebody other than
the journalist staff.

!10
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
In traditional public relations, practitioners will pitch clients to write op-eds in the
newspaper, for example.

Media (Paid, Owned, Earned)

Paid Media: Money was exchanged for the resulting coverage (like advertising)
Owned Media: Brand-operated channels (company newsletter, website, social
media accounts)

Earned Media: Media coverage/company mentions that are often the result of PR
outreach (unpaid, editorial coverage)

Media List
A media list is a spreadsheet of media contact information used by PR professionals
when pitching a particular story idea or event. PR agencies might “pull a list” from a
media database or pull a targeted list of names from a master list for a specific pitch
opportunity. Or, you may be tasked with compiling a list and finding email
addresses for a particular location (style bloggers in Austin, for example).

Media Coverage
Also known as editorial coverage, press coverage, “a press hit,” or simply “a hit”,
media coverage is any mention of a client in the media, most often secured as the
result of targeted PR outreach.

!11
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
Pitching
Broadly, pitching is the process PR professionals use to persuade an editor to
include a client in an upcoming story. We also “pitch” prospective clients for their
PR business, and “pitch” event concepts and brand activations to potential
sponsors. While some old-school PR professionals still pitch via the phone, most
editors prefer to be pitched via email, so we do!

Pay to Play (P2P)

Pay-to-Play (or P2P) refers to paid media opportunities. For example, a suntan
lotion company might pay a fee to be included in a “Sumer Essentials” product
roundup on a morning TV show, or a fashion blogger might charge for an Instagram
post of her using the suntan lotion.

Samples
Samples refer to product samples or actual garments/accessories available for
media or stylists to review, photograph or pull for editorial or celebrity
consideration. When working with media and stylists, designers can most often
expect that the samples will be returned, however influencers often require non-
returnable samples which means the item is gifted.

Tracking Sheet
Sometimes included as part of a media list, the
tracking sheet notes when initial pitches, follow-ups, pending, and secured media
coverage occurs.

!12
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
Trade Media
Also called trade press, trade media are publications that cater to a business-to-
business (B2B) audience (like Women’s Wear Daily or Business of Fashion) as
opposed to consumer-facing media
like Marie Claire or Who What Wear.

Weeklies
Publications like US Weekly that publish on a weekly basis, also referred to as short
leads.

!13
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
NOW YOU’RE ALL
#PRepped!
© 2017 - PR Couture All rights reserved
prcouture.com