Editorial - Interviews

Dee Dee Cocheta, an entertainment industry veteran especially in the Hip Hop culture owns her own marketing and PR company, ABC PR & Marketing. She worked with a variety of artists and brands for over a decade. In this inteview we are picking her brain in regards of the current state of the industry from a marketing/pr point of view

Can you give us a brief summary about your history?
I started out in High School promoting hair shows and modeling.  At the time I had no clue what I was doing, just doing what I love and that is 'talking' about what I love.  From there, one of my goals since I was in 6th grade was to start a business, so I did and connected with a HipHop group who was starting a label, setting up tours.  I then decided to work on another goal and went to college to obtain a degree so I could learn marketing while I was doing promotion, becoming a new mother all while assisting my husband in operating a business on the side.  Once I graduated, I worked in the radio industry for 2 and half years and then once I was booted out from Radio One because they were switching stations, new formats over 10 years ago I took my part time hustle and turned it into a full time grind as an entrepreneur of  own my marketing and PR firm - A.B.C. PR & Marketing FIRM (music division is:  A.B.C. Publicity)
 
What made you decide to get into the PR field? 
Actually I didn't, I started out in marketing and my marketing firm focused primarily on promotions in the entertainment industry. It wasn't until one day that an R&B Artist was making a come back album and needed someone strong to handle the campaign. I became Tony Terry's publicist in 2001-02 and increased the sales of his album by doing what I was best known for - online promotion. From that point on, I knew my expertise in marketing combined with media contacts I already established while working in radio, would prove my marketing/PR firm as a great asset for music artists.
 
What are some of your biggest challenges about your career?
Dealing with clients who do not fully understand the intricate details of public relations, publicity and media relations. They know they need it, they don't understand how to get it yet want to see results immediately and as with any campaign, things take time.  Some of the biggest brands and household names didn't become known within months and they grew with their PR team while that campaign ran it's course.  In addition, some don't understand the measurement of the PR efforts and how it applies towards their return on investment. I was very fortunate to work with Jeanine Cooper-Taylor of JCEC PR (one of only 3 entertainment firms in Atlanta at that time that also focused on urban music) who taught me things that I needed to know about being a complete PR Agent in writing reports that summarize the publicity value therefore able to interpret how our resources, time, contacts and media relations enhanced their campaign. On the flip side, is keeping the credibility up among our PR profession because there are tons of 'publicists', especially entertainment publicists, popping up all over, we have to know who really is about our PR profession and not just someone that loves the glitz, glam and money part who cashes the check and never provides results.  That makes PR professionals and specialists, like myself, look bad; who have paid dues and put so much time in our craft, that when we run into potential clients who have been burned, they don't want to pay us what we are worth and expect us to prove what the other PR person didn't do. To combat that situation in Atlanta, we have created an outing for PR PROS to come together, have brunch and share our resources, welcome newcomers and speak on new PR trends. There is also the EPPEC (Entertainment Publicists & Press Event Calendar) that shares the Publicists' client's event so we can all come out and support one another. As with the entertainment industry, in the entertainment PR field, it's detrimental to our existence to raise our standards so by having true PR professionals coming together, we can weed out the publicists who are not serious about this industry along with those type of clients that are opportunistic (jump from one publicist to publicist).
 
Being in the industry for quite some time, how do you see that the business has changed today from 10 years ago, is it a good change or bad change? 
I don't like the fact that you find very few people who are loyal and honest and there are more opportunists.  Yet in business, along with marketing, is dynamic and needs to evolve so I accept change good or bad.  It's an adept person that truly knows how to adapt and make good with what they have. Being in the technology age, we are finding it can be productive, time wise, to use the internet in being able to reach out to your intended audience and market.  The problem, I find in handling things online being more 'socially' advanced thru the typing of words (emails, texts, chat rooms, social networks, etc), we become very sensitive to how things are being "said" and less 'social' communicative because we are not DIRECTLY impacting certain markets or 'touching' the core targeted audience.  So now in business you have to watch what you say, what you put on your social networks and this is where a tried and true PR firm that understands traditional and non-traditional approaches can be able to put together an effective campaign for clients, products and businesses.
 
Record labels blame the internet and piracy as the main downfall of the business. Do you agree with their theory or do you think that it maybe the quality of products that are being pushed right now?
I agree with the later -it's  the quality of products.  With downsizing, there are no real A&R department to build, train and groom quality artists therefore major labels look for a new fly by night or a hot' one hit single artist which saves them money because they are putting forth less marketing, publishing, legal, etc. dollars and making more millions in the end on that particular artist or a single.  If it fails, they can go onto the next one and not have to worry about breaking album contracts or loosing money in extra promotions.  What's creating the downfall, is that they are catering to only one particular demographic - the ADD person or a simple mind that has been constantly programmed and use to microwaved and cookie cutting music. Ok, so that's a little mean to say because eventually that demographic will get sick of being fed that poor quality of music and will search and even pay for something greater.  In turn, the internet becomes the only means to search for good quality music where one goes back to the traditional way of word of mouth being referred to what is great music.

What do you believe are some of the main skill sets that someone needs to be successful in your profession?
One skill set that is priceless is having contacts and by which you maintain those contacts.  As a service oriented business over half of my clients are referred and the other work with me are based on the results they have seen.  A majority of my clients rave that they are with me mainly because of my resources and powerful contacts.  I always say as a PR firm, our bloodline is our media relations and contacts, of course without them we can not start the buzz, get the exposure or help brand our client's company or product.  It is definitely a skill to be able to brand yourself, creating highly reputable respect, integrity and results that wherever you go and whenever your name/brand is mention - they always have something good to say.  Now that's garnering good PR; which is what the client wants.

What type of schooling do you need and how much can you take up in the field? 
You can go to a four year college and major in Public Relations Management, Mass Communications, Marketing or Journalism that will develop your writing skills and understanding of the media.  However, having hands-on-training with the concepts is best
so I recommend internships, volunteering with large PR agencies and boutiques niche specific (entertainment, health, non-profit, etc.) that one may be interested in.
 
There are  a lot of Publicists out there, what and how would you as a new comer distinguish a good Publicist from a bad one?
Checking resume is one thing but how can someone protect themselves from just dishing out money?  What I have found is that with the growing trend of entertainment, gossip, celebrity sites and new bloggers, as it has become in the PR industry a trend to become a 'publicist' because indie artists are becoming 'hollywood' and want to walk red carpets, be on all on-line sites, etc. and seek someone to be their 'publicist'. Kind of makes you feel special until you dished out the money and get no results.  A good Publicist knows how to put together a thorough campaign and can explain why each tactic is needed and it's not just about walking red carpets and being seen in magazine articles. It's always best to check references and with that go beyond who the publicist has referred you to and ask someone else in that company if they know of their work or check with another business/person that they may have worked with that they didn't refer to you (do your research and make sure they have a website, not a myspace page or a blog).  Additionally, check the validity of their business,  if they are a company registered or licensed, perhaps check with the Better Business Bureau for any mentions. If you are dealing with indie freelance publicists who basically have yet to start their company and are soliciting business based on their name, you may want to check and see if they are registered with PR organizations such as the EPPS (Entertainment Publicist Professional Society) or PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) all of which shows the publicist takes their craft seriously.  Lastly and highly encouraged is to ask for examples of their work (beyond the clippings and tear sheets, i.e. magazine articles/features of their clients) requesting case studies of a campaign.  Once you have narrowed your search down to 2-3 publicists/PR agencies you want to work with, request a proposal giving them as much needed information about your campaign and they should all be able to produce objectives, strategies, media contacts they can establish, etc. for you to compare which PR company/professional would be a perfect fit for you.

If there is one main thing that you could change about the business, to make your job easier, what would it be? 
I can't think of one thing I would change about PR, with growing trends we constantly have new ways and approaches to help develop, bring forth and maintain a good image of our client to the public.  I do wish people would be a little more knowledgeable about business...after all we are in the info age where knowledge is right at your fingertips. 

In working with your clients what are some of the Pros and Cons that you run into, what would you tell someone before they hire a publicist they need to have in place?  
As I mentioned before, one of my main cons with clients is they want to see things happen over night and start questioning your work and what you are doing.  Yet if they had to question what you are doing, why did they need and come to you in the first place.  In addition, to not understanding that growing with you can lead to even more for them further down the road.  The Pros of a client are the one's who know exactly what they want, know your worth, give you their goals and let you do your job.  Before hiring a publicist, have goals set, a team (doesn't have to be big in the entertainment industry could be just your manager), finances and somewhat of a buzz created for you or the product. 
 
What would you tell someone that want to pursue a career in PR but let's say has only friends in the business but never had any formal training or hands on experience and thinks they are ready for the big league? 
As I mentioned earlier, I would still suggest they pay their dues and work under a PR professional to learn because if they think they are ready, THINK being the word here, they are not ready.  You have to know, understand the business, terminology, lingo, trends, factors, facts, history, who is who and definitely CONTACTS before they step into the big league.  Find me anyone that started in the big league without some kind of training, practice, established contacts (not friends in the business) or someone in that field that helped them out while they were getting started and I bet they didn't last long. Even when I started out doing marketing and promotion, I was establishing my media contacts, networking, finding PR mentors, knowing who was the first entertainment PR pros in ATL before I stepped out and when I did, I was volunteering, paying my dues and taking on pro-bono work so I could start building my PR portfolio of clients.

You can find more about dee dee M. cocheta at:  www.abc-aef.com or find her on Twitter & Facebook under ABCPublicity

 

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