How to get on the Today Show 4th Hour with Kathie Lee & Hoda

How do you get your product on the Today Show?  Practice, practice, practice!  Wait sorry, that was how you get to Carnegie Hall.....instead, replace practice with the word pitch, and you should be good to go!

That said, the Today Show fourth hour has become quite a showcase for interesting, unique or must-have products.  Nearly daily, Kathie  Lee & Hoda place different products from indie brands to creations from international corporations on their table, and during their hour long segment they periodically pick one up, show it off, talk about what it is and where to buy it.  This, my friends, is often product placement gold!  The Today Show has a large, loyal audience and getting a plug by either of these two women can bring you instant validation (not to mention a spike in sales). 

So how do you get your product on this morning newscast?  As with everything in public relations, because it's not advertising nothing is ever guaranteed.  However, after placing products there, as well as talking (just this past week) to the producer of the 4th hour segment, we have a few tips that will make the road to Today Show fame a little less bumpy:

* Have a unique or interesting product that their viewing demographic will enjoy:  Let's start at the most basic.  Though press like Daily Candy requires that your product be virtually undiscovered, brand new and quirky/cute/different/unique all at the same time, the Today Show is a bit more lax on the "must be brand new" product requirements.  That said you still must be something that makes for good conversation and a good visual.  You must also be something that their viewers could relate to and may be interested in.  We've seen the pair promote everything from a humanitarian fashion brand with t-shirts that donate a portion of their sales to Africa to a hidden wine pouch you can wear in your bra (oh yes, really...and you're welcome) to razors that dispense shaving cream upon contact with your legs.  Some of our own Collective-E members including Fretzels, Gemma Redux, Magnolia PR's client Right Bank Babies, and fashion expert Kathryn Finney have also found themselves on the program in the past couple years - so don't give up - it is an attainable goal!  As you can see, they cover a large range of products and genres, but all have something special about them.

I find it's often best to familiarize with not only the types of products a show covers, but how they cover them and what their show's "formula" or style is on a daily basis.  To figure out the formula for the Today Show, check out their daily blog (a must in my opinion if you want to be on it - you must KNOW what you are pitching) which is found here.  Not only will you figure out the formula, but because the producers are often the ones writing these blogs, you'll get to know who they are, what they like to cover and their style.

* Three pitches and you're out:  Getting to Carnegie Hall, they say, takes practice (practice, practice) and in my opinion, pitching is actually made up of the "three strikes rule".  In other words, no matter who you are pitching, or how (phone, email, fax, carrier pigeon) after giving it a go three times and sending you best pitch to them, if you still haven't received a response, move on, at least for a month or two or until you have new information, products or a new story angle.  Otherwise you run the risk of being seen as a pest, and this could hurt your chances of future placement with the outlet. 

In the case of the Today Show, I'd stick to email pitches.  Today Show producers are much too busy to chat with you about your product (just imagine if every small business or entrepreneur called them about their breakthrough product, nothing would ever get done).  Instead, craft a brief, to the point, and captivating email that introduces you and your product, links to a photo of it or your website online, explains what it does briefly and how it could benefit their viewers (great if you can put these in bullets), gives the price and where to buy, says thank you and ends.  This should all be done in at most, a short paragraph and bullets.  If you can't explain why your product rocks in less than that space, it's time to sign up for some pr coaching and to work on your elevator pitch.

For example:

Hi Terrence Today Show Producer,

This is Katie Danziger from nomie baby, how are you?  I just wanted to share the nomie baby car seat cover with you for consideration on the 4th hour with Kathie Lee & Hoda, which you can find at www.nomiebaby.com.  Nomie is every mother's savior!  It's a  removable, washable car seat cover that is the cure for carsickness, leaking diapers, spills and crumbs in your car seat.  Some more info about Nomie Baby?

* Price
* Where to Buy
* Unique Selling Point
* Reason it's a must-have
* Quick Testimonial

Thanks Terrence, we'd love to make travel and life better for moms and dads on the go!  Would love to send you a sample or more information.  Here's to Happy-mess!

Best,

Katie Danziger

See how short that was?  Yes everything is covered and the producers can quickly find out everything they need to know in order to make a decision.

Also - in this pitch, don't attach anything to the email unless they are expecting an attachment.  Otherwise they may delete it as spam.

* This isn't the best place for services or experts: " Wait a minute", you're saying, "I see experts and service segments on with Kathie Lee & Hoda from time to time...."  Sure you do, but here's the thing:  if a  real live person is on with the women they are usually famous, or their expertise is well recognized and they're a national personality.... OR they have a really well crafted and timed tip or bit of expert advice that fits into the segment.  Nevertheless this segment is more often than not packed with hot topics, news of the day, gossip, celebrity or well known guests, or products.  Sure if you have a great segment idea you're free to pitch away as an expert, but if you do, be sure you have done press before (national), have a reel, a headshot, a well planned out/timed/seasonal topic and that you recognize you're going to be up against national authors, experts, magazine editors and others who they often rely on for tips, and so forth.

As the producer told us (and he's a good person to trust) your best bet is products here!

* So I have THE product for Kathie Lee & Hoda, and I have my pitch, but how do I get it to someone over at NBC?  Personally, I hate when people tell you how and what to pitch, and then you're left thinking:  great, I have the pitch done, the great product, and samples ready to go, but unless the producer and I perfect mental telepathy in the next couple days, it's going to be hard to get it on air, so how do I figure out who to pitch?

First, let's talk about what won't work:

 - sending packages blindly into NBC.  Again this is a no-no.  Producers are inundated with products, media kits and other packages weekly - some they requested and some they didn't.  The last thing you need to do is send unrequested items to them.  Not only is this a way to guarantee you won't be getting samples back, but it's not doing the producer any favors, it's just cluttering their workspace.  If they want something, they will ask for it.

 - Calling the Today Show assignment desk or main studio lines and asking for "the producer who works in on the 4th hour".  The chances of this working these days are slim to none.  They'll most likey ask for a name at the least and an extention number if they're being especially guarded.  Because this entire process is a waste of your valuable time, here are ways that WILL help you track down that producer:

1. Do your homework!  Don't think that knowing in your heart and your head that you belong on the Today Show is going to be enough to get you there!  It's your responsibility to research the outlet, figure out who runs what segments, how they run and even figure out what the "email equation" is for NBC (or any outlet you're pitching.  This means, how do the staffers construct their emails.  (why does this matter?  If you can figure out what producer covers your beat and their first and last name, you can then construct their email and shoot them a quick, professional pitch).  For instance, if you were emailing a Conde Nast publication the writer or editors email would be:  first name_last name@condenast.com.  NBC, for those of you who are still paying attention, is first name.last name@nbcuni.com.

Doing your homework when it comes to the Today Show means: watching the show, checking the credits at the end of the program, following the Today Show blog (hint: most producers blog about their segment following the show, a great way to figure out who does what and what types of stories they cover on a daily basis), using the magic of Google search, and another powerful one many don't go for right away - just asking around!  Whether it's a friend, colleague, Facebook or you asking a contact who works in another division of NBC for some help. 

2. Let us help you at Collective-E!  We love to to help the media as much as we love to help you, and this means bringing them the latest, greatest and most unique finds.  This is especially true with the Today Show.  Members are invited via our rolling PR Leads submission form as well as prleads@collective-e.com to submit their products and stories to this specific show, and we'll do one of two things:  if you're comfortable (and capable) and a great fit, we'll let you take the reins and direct you to the correct person to pitch, which you may do on your own in order to establish that valuable media relationship.  If this doesn't seem like the best idea for you at the time, we'll act as the go-between and share your unique product with the Today Show team ourselves!

There is still one more highly effective way to get your brand, product, expertise or company in front of not only the Today Show, but several other top local and national outlets, but it's rarely discussed....no I'm not talking about getting a publicist (though this will probably help, it won't guarantee a spot on the show)...instead I'm talking about the last recommendation I have to help with your quest for not only the Today Show:  focusing on getting your brand's story out to other outlets whether they be local or national that don't compete with the Today Show.  The logic behind this is twofold:  first, it reminds you not to spend all of your valuable pr campaign time focused solely on the Today Show - there are several other fish out there in the media sea.  Second, it's important to keep in mind that the producers of the Today Show and other national television outlets find many of their stories via other newspapers, television programs, local news stories and these days, over social media.  The more you build buzz in places like these, the more likely someone from the Today Show, Oprah, CNBC - you name it - will hear about you and consider you for their own programming. 

The Today Show is not as far away from you as you may think - especially if your product is a great fit!  Just think - for five days a week these women need interesting finds to talk about, chances are yours could be the one!  Especially if you follow these tips! 

Keep us posted on your trials and your successes, and we'll look forward to seeing your product soon at 10 am on NBC!

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