| How the 'Happy Hooker' helped with publicity |
| Written by Brian James | |
|
Sometimes when looking to attract the media to your 'product', it pays to examine the people who come across your path. 
Take Warren Wills, one of the world's great musical directors, but little known in Australia.Warren was a piano prodigy in Melbourne and left for the UK over 20 years ago in his teens to follow his huge dreams on the world stage. The multi talented performer/composer/director and raconteur has since carved out a successful career in Europe, the US, and Asia, but rarely comes home. However Warren wants to stage a solo show in Melbourne mid 2008. The challenge? How to raise his profile in Australia. The solution; find something or someone who has a higher profile who came across Warren's path - even better if they are controversial - and use that connection to grab the media's attention. That's where the famous and notorious 'Happy Hooker' Xaviera Hollander comes into it! When approaching the media, your headline on the media release or even in a letter, must be compelling. You know that whomever reads your communication will have about three seconds to decide to read on and make contact with you and feature what you are doing. So, back to the 'Happy Hooker'. When young Warren was in Amsterdam early in his career he was invited to a party hosted by Xaviera Hollander who had become notorious in New York as a Madam arranging prostitutes for the rich and famous. She eventually fell foul of the law and ended up in jail before relocating to Europe. (Her story is told in her autobiography The Happy Hooker) Young Warren had two meetings with Xaviera and one led to a big break, recording his first album Serendipity on the famous Blue Note jazz label. There's another story about Warren and Xaviera's magic mushrooms, but that's another story, as they say! Because we wanted national coverage for Warren, a national radio program was approached with this headline... EU based Aussie Music genius returns briefly to Melbourne after triumphs on Broadway, the West End, Canada, the Middle East, as well as turning troubled teens on to King Lear through rap and meeting up in Spain with an old friend - the infamous ‘Happy Hooker'! The remainder of the media release outlines Warren's achievements, but the headline was sufficient to grab the attention of the program's producer and request an interview and mini recital. The inclusion of the 'Happy Hooker' as part of the headline helped start the process of securing media coverage and lifting Warren's profile for his mid year concert. The lesson? Sometimes it's the quirky which will interest the media. They often search for something or someone who has a good story and a point of difference. Do you? You will discover it if you look for it. Sit down and do a story audit; list the people and events which may spike a journalist's interest. Go for it, it can make a HUGE difference to your success or your product's. |
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