PR Powerhouse Peter Shankman Loves Waffles!
This week the Whisker Report is thrilled to talk to one of our idols, Peter Shankman! We like to call him the godfather of PR. The New York Times has called Peter Shankman “a rock star who knows everything about social media and then some.” A dog dad to a pup named Waffle, he's a six-time best-selling author, entrepreneur and corporate keynote speaker, all while being a serial entrepreneur with four startup launches and three exits under his belt. Shankman is the man behind several popular PR tools and is recognized worldwide for radical thinking. In this week's show, we ask him about advice for pet businesses and animal welfare nonprofits.
Listen to Episode #10 Now:
BIO:
Peter Shankman is a top keynote speaker in marketing, social media, customer service, and neurodiversity in the workplace. The New York Times has called Peter Shankman “a rock star who knows everything about social media and then some.” He is a 6x best selling author, entrepreneur and corporate in-person and virtual keynote speaker, focusing on neurodiversity in the workplace and customer experience. With three startup launches and exits under his belt, Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about the customer experience, social media, PR, marketing, advertising, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and the new Neurodiverse Economy.
In addition to his passion for helping people and companies find success, some of Peter’s highlights also include:
Founder of HARO – Help A Reporter Out, which became the standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources prior to being acquired three years after launch
Faster than Normal – The Internet’s #1 podcast on ADHD, focusing on the superpowers and gifts of having a “faster than normal brain,” which has helped thousands of people all around the world realize that having a neurodiverse brain is actually a gift, not a curse.
The Boy With the Faster Brain – Peter’s latest mission comes by way of his new best-selling children’s book, created to show kids around the world that having a different brain, whether it be ADHD, ADD, EFD, or anything neurodiverse, is the best thing they could hope for. Peter routinely speaks to students and parents across America teaching them about the gifts of neurodiversity.
Peter’s Customer Experience and workplace Neurodiversity clients have included American Express, SAP, Morgan Stanley, Google, Adobe, The US Department of Defense, Royal Bank of Canada, Snapple Beverage Group, Saudi Aramco, Boston University, Foley Hoag LLP, NASA, Haworth, Sheraton, Walt Disney World, Abercrombie and Kent, Taj Hotels, Sheraton, United Airlines, The Ad Council, Discovery Networks, New Frontier Media, Napster, Juno, Harrah’s Hotels, and many, many others.
Peter is a worldwide influencer and/or spokesperson for brands across the globe. Current and past brands include Huawei, Specialized Bicycles, Skratch Labs, Sylvania Lighting, Thule, SCOTTEVEST, and many others.
Finally, Peter is a father, a 2x ironman triathlete, a class B licensed skydiver, and has a pretty serious Peloton addiction. When he’s not traveling around the world keynoting to companies big and small, he’s based in NYC with his ten-year-old daughter and three-year-old rescue dog, both of whom consistently refuse him access to the couch.
Peter is the author of six books: The Boy With the Faster Brain, (2023), Faster Than Normal, Unlocking the Gifts of the ADHD Brain (TarcherPerigee, 2017), Zombie Loyalists:
Using Great Service to Create Rabid Fans (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2015)Nice Companies Finish First: Why Cutthroat Management is Over, and Collaboration is in (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2013), Customer Service: New Rules for a Social Media World (Que Biz-Tech, 2010) and Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work–And Why Your Company Needs Them (Wiley and Sons, 2006)
Peter is a frequent in-person and virtual keynote speaker and workshop presenter at conferences and tradeshows worldwide, including South By Southwest, TEDx, Adobe Summit, BlogWorld, The Public Relations Society of America, CTIA, CES, PMA, OMMA, Mobile Marketing Asia, and the Direct Marketing Association as well as numerous corporate and Fortune 500 clients.
Transcript:
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Announcer: This is Pet Life radio.
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Announcer: Let's talk pets.
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Mary Tan: Welcome to the Whisker Report.
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Mary Tan: We're a new podcast dedicated to helping anyone in the pet industry.
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Mary Tan: Whether you're an animal welfare or a for-profit pet company, get some PR and buzz for your organization.
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Mary Tan: Hello everyone, I'm Mary Tan, one of the hosts of the show, along with Alexane Ricard, a gal who hails from France, but she just moved and she travels the world in the hopes of spaying and neutering stray cats.
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Mary Tan: Bonjour, Alexane.
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Alexane Ricard: Bonjour tout le monde.
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Alexane Ricard: I've just moved to Vancouver, guys, finally.
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Alexane Ricard: Loving it, not loving that it's 7 a.m.
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Alexane Ricard: right now, but you know.
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Alexane Ricard: And today we're here with the producer, Mark Winter of Pet Life Radio, who is the man who gets us to you each and every week.
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Alexane Ricard: Hey, Mark.
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Mark Winter: Hi, how's everyone doing this week?
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Mark Winter: A lot of fun things happening here at Pet Life Radio.
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Mark Winter: We just added some new podcasts.
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Mark Winter: We've got one called Let's Talk About Pets with Nessie and Kat, who are vet techs and they're very funny.
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Mark Winter: And we have another one called Quirky Catnips, which is definitely a quirky new show.
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Mark Winter: Other than that, made it through another hurricane.
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Mark Winter: We're still standing.
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Mark Winter: Still in one piece.
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Mary Tan: Yay.
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Alexane Ricard: That's good.
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Alexane Ricard: Yay.
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Mary Tan: The devastation there is just really hard to watch.
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Mary Tan: So our thoughts are with everyone down there.
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Mark Winter: Yeah, it missed us, so I'm lucky.
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Mary Tan: Well, we're really honored to be part of the Pet Life Radio Network.
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Mary Tan: And you can do PR for yourself.
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Mary Tan: And Alex, Mark and I are going to show you how to do it each and every week.
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Alexane Ricard: And this week, we have a very, very special guest who has truly changed the world of PR.
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Alexane Ricard: Peter Shankman.
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Alexane Ricard: Peter is not only an author and an entrepreneur, he's also the founder of Hero, Help a Reporter Out and SOS Media Queries, which have changed the way businesses and PR professionals connect with the media.
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Alexane Ricard: Hi, Peter.
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Alexane Ricard: Thank you so much for joining us today.
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Peter Shankman: Good to be here.
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Peter Shankman: Thanks for having me.
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Alexane Ricard: Oh, we're so excited to have you.
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Alexane Ricard: We're big fans, like Mary said earlier.
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Mary Tan: And his books are amazing, everybody.
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Mary Tan: Go find them on Amazon, right, Peter?
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Peter Shankman: Anywhere, yeah.
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Alexane Ricard: Could you tell us a bit about yourself and just a little introduction of you?
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Alexane Ricard: Sure.
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Peter Shankman: I mean, not much to tell.
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Peter Shankman: I am an entrepreneur.
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Peter Shankman: I've started five companies, I've sold three of them, currently run two of them.
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Peter Shankman: I am a born and raised New York City kid who was told most of his young life as a kid, most of his child life to sit down and stop interrupting the class.
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Peter Shankman: And it wasn't until I got into my mid 30s, early 30s, mid 30s actually, where I was diagnosed with ADHD and realized that all of my success was because of my ADHD, not in spite of it.
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Peter Shankman: From that, I was allowed, I was able to build that and parley that into a larger, I guess, way of living.
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Peter Shankman: I've written several books about neurodiversity, about ADHD, I've written several books on marketing.
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Peter Shankman: I'm a talking head on most of the cable news networks.
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Peter Shankman: I am a single dad of an 11-year-old daughter and four-year-old rescue dog, both of whom have stopped listening to me.
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Peter Shankman: And yeah, I'm just very lucky.
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Peter Shankman: I'm having a really good time and just trying to do my thing.
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Mary Tan: Yeah.
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Mary Tan: So you are very well known for starting HARO, which stands for Helper Reporter Out.
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Mary Tan: And now you started SOS Media Inquiries.
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Mary Tan: And that was just a short time ago, right?
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Peter Shankman: Like a few months ago.
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Peter Shankman: Source of Sources, SOS, launched in April of this year.
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Peter Shankman: And the goal was really I wanted to bring back what I originally started, which was HARO.
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Peter Shankman: HARO was acquired back in 2010.
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Peter Shankman: And I just heard from a lot of people that it wasn't necessarily the same company that I sold.
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Peter Shankman: And you know, look, it's been 14 years, that happens.
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Peter Shankman: So I figured that it was time to maybe go back to basics.
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Peter Shankman: And so Source of Sources is a three times a day email newsletter that connects journalists with sources.
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Peter Shankman: It's totally free.
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Peter Shankman: We send out queries to the media, queries from the media rather, to sources all around the world.
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Peter Shankman: If you are a source and you get these emails, you can simply reply to the reporter looking for the information and you can wind up in getting some free press.
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Peter Shankman: So it's pretty easy.
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Peter Shankman: But yeah, it gets growing.
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Peter Shankman: We're at about 25,000 members now and growing.
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Peter Shankman: And we have about 20 or so queries per email.
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Peter Shankman: So a lot of chances to get some get some free press.
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Mary Tan: Yeah, I was a television reporter for many years.
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Mary Tan: So I used Hero on both ends of the spectrum.
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Mary Tan: And it was it was really amazing.
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Mary Tan: But of course, now we're on SOS.
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Mary Tan: So everybody should move to SOS., right, Peter?
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Peter Shankman: I'm certainly all for that.
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Peter Shankman: Yeah, I like to think that we're like to think that we're helping people and doing it well.
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Mary Tan: OK, but we have to just get back to quick thing.
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Mary Tan: Tell us about your rescue pup.
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Peter Shankman: So Waffle is not listening to me at all.
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Peter Shankman: But Waffle is back there.
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Peter Shankman: And he's the dog that's the cat guy.
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Peter Shankman: I grew up as a cat guy my entire life and constantly had cats.
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Peter Shankman: And then during covid, my I'm a single dad and my daughter.
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Peter Shankman: Daddy, I want a dog.
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Peter Shankman: No, you don't.
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Peter Shankman: Yeah, I want a dog.
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Peter Shankman: Okay.
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Peter Shankman: So I knew that there were really no dogs available during covid.
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Peter Shankman: All the shelters were empty.
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Peter Shankman: So I called my guys at Best Friends where I volunteer.
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Peter Shankman: And I said, hey, look, I know there are no dogs and you have none.
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Peter Shankman: And there are no dogs.
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Peter Shankman: So if you happen to get one, which you won't because there are no dogs available.
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Peter Shankman: And the guy, Peter, don't worry.
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Peter Shankman: Totally gotcha.
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Peter Shankman: I see what you're saying.
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Peter Shankman: It's all good.
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Peter Shankman: Don't worry.
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Peter Shankman: Three days later, this idiot appears and yeah, Waffle has been with us for about four years now.
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Peter Shankman: He's just sitting back there on his little bed and just doing his thing.
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Peter Shankman: He's a good guy.
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Peter Shankman: I love him.
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Peter Shankman: But yeah, cats are a lot easier, man.
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Peter Shankman: You get a cat, you need to go on a trip or something.
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Peter Shankman: The cat's like, good, I didn't want you here anyway.
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Peter Shankman: Dogs like New York City, man, it's no less than a hundred bucks a night to put that thing in.
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Peter Shankman: Cause they don't have like dog boarding.
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Peter Shankman: No, God forbid, this is New York City.
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Peter Shankman: They don't have dog boarding.
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Peter Shankman: They have doggy spa and hotel.
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Peter Shankman: Oh, yeah.
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Peter Shankman: And I refuse to call it that.
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Peter Shankman: So when I have to bring the dog, cause I'm going on a business trip, I'm just like, I'm bringing Waffle to storage.
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Peter Shankman: And that's because I refuse to call it doggy spa and hotel.
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Peter Shankman: It's storage, it's dog storage.
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Peter Shankman: So yeah, that's where we are.
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Mary Tan: Yeah, well, you're in New York City and I can tell you the pet boarding and grooming industry is exploding.
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Peter Shankman: Yeah, unfortunately, it's all because of private equity.
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Peter Shankman: They're buying up all the boarding and grooming places.
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Peter Shankman: They're buying up all the vets.
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Peter Shankman: It's not good, man.
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Peter Shankman: They're buying up all these vets.
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Peter Shankman: I think they put money into veg, they put money into all these, Blue Pearl, all these guys.
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Peter Shankman: And you gotta find the guys that are still private and you gotta support them because nothing good comes out of private equity.
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Peter Shankman: And I know that for a fact, Harrow, the company that acquired Harrow was acquired by private equity.
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Peter Shankman: And so nothing comes out of private equity, man.
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Peter Shankman: Red Lobster didn't die because too many people, they didn't go bankrupt because too many people were eating shrimp.
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Peter Shankman: They died and went bankrupt because they were acquired by private equity.
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Peter Shankman: Same thing with malls.
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Mary Tan: I know.
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Mary Tan: Malls were nice, weren't they?
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Mary Tan: Oh, my gosh.
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Peter Shankman: Well, playing arcade, go play a little Donkey Kong.
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Peter Shankman: You girls don't know what I'm talking about.
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Peter Shankman: You might in the corner, Mark, you might not be old enough to remember going to an arcade and playing Donkey Kong.
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Mark Winter: Oh, yeah, for sure.
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Mark Winter: I'm from the mall in the 80s.
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Peter Shankman: Yeah, put a quarter up there to say you had an occasion.
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Mary Tan: Well, when we come back, we've got to pay for the show as you know, Peter.
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Mary Tan: So we're going to be right back with Peter who's going to give us more tips and tricks when it comes to Pet PDR.
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Announcer: Here's Daryl Michelson, owner of Purniture Cat Furniture.
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Daryl Michelson: Back in 1990, I was in the market for some cat furniture.
00:08:01.561 --> 00:08:07.041
Daryl Michelson: And as looking at the cat furniture available, I realized that most of it is basically overpriced junk.
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Daryl Michelson: The big difference between our furniture and other cat furniture is the fact that we use plywood and all other cat furniture is made with some sort of a particle board.
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Announcer: You can see the Purniture Difference online at purniture.com.
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Announcer: That's P-U-R-R-N-I-T-U-R-E.
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Announcer: Take a bite out of your competition.
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Announcer: There is no other pet-related media that is as large and reaches more pet parents and pet lovers than Pet Life Radio.
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Announcer: With over 7 million monthly listeners, Pet Life Radio podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms.
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Announcer: For more information on how you can advertise on the number one pet podcast and radio network, visit petliferadio.com/advertise today.
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Alexane Ricard: And we're back with Peter Shankman, the PR expert.
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Alexane Ricard: Peter, what is one thing you see PR professionals or businesses doing wrong when it comes to pitching their story?
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Alexane Ricard: And do you have any tips on how they can correct it?
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Peter Shankman: I think one of the things that you need to understand about journalists is that your job is not to get yourself pressed, your job is to help a journalist.
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Peter Shankman: If you can help a journalist do their job better, you are guaranteed to get pressed.
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Peter Shankman: And I think too many people don't realize that, too many people go in and they're like, you know, here's my story and here's why I'm great, and here's not thinking about the fact the journalist is on deadline has a job to do.
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Peter Shankman: So the first thing I suggest is that you think about going into your story and going into your job with the realization that you want to help a journalist get the story they need and give you the exposure you need.
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Peter Shankman: So, you know, that means figuring out sort of where the best and how the best way to pitch that journalist is.
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Peter Shankman: Are they on deadline?
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Peter Shankman: Do they have time?
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Peter Shankman: Do they need a short blurb?
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Peter Shankman: Do they need a longer hit?
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Peter Shankman: Whatever it is, figure that out and give that to them.
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Peter Shankman: Your job, again, make their life easier.
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Peter Shankman: Do that and everything will be simple.
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Mary Tan: So, the people listening to this predominantly are small animal rescues and small pet brands, a lot of startups.
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Mary Tan: And they're trying everything to get some buzz for their organizations.
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Mary Tan: And you have some easy suggestions on how they can do it when you basically don't have any money.
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Peter Shankman: Well, obviously the key is use source of source.
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Peter Shankman: I mean, the whole purpose of the service is to help small businesses that don't have any money to get press.
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Peter Shankman: That goes without saying.
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Peter Shankman: So, that's number one.
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Peter Shankman: But I'd say number two, make sure you have a story that you can share, that the journalist can utilize.
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Peter Shankman: So, know what the journalist wants.
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Peter Shankman: Know the information that they're looking for, right?
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Peter Shankman: Give them exactly what they need.
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Peter Shankman: And figure out a way to make it better to help them.
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Peter Shankman: Because again, they're there to do a job.
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Peter Shankman: If you can give them that information and help them do that job better, your life is going to become so much easier.
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Peter Shankman: And as is theirs.
00:11:18.980 --> 00:11:27.140
Peter Shankman: So if you can figure out a way to do that, have a pre-planned pitch prepared and send it when it is the right time.
00:11:27.140 --> 00:11:29.400
Peter Shankman: Send it when it's exactly what they want, right?
00:11:29.400 --> 00:11:33.900
Peter Shankman: Figure out, you know, how can you send this in three paragraphs and tell them exactly what they want?
00:11:33.900 --> 00:11:41.060
Mary Tan: I often will see press releases, especially when I was a TV news reporter, two, three pages long.
00:11:41.060 --> 00:11:41.500
Peter Shankman: Yep.
00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:43.740
Mary Tan: And I'm like, I'm not going to read this.
00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:48.040
Mary Tan: I usually would just read the headline and that's what I would decide it on.
00:11:48.040 --> 00:11:48.200
Peter Shankman: 100%.
00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:55.860
Peter Shankman: So can you create a story, a headline, whatever, that tells exactly what they need and gives them exactly what they need?
00:11:55.860 --> 00:11:59.740
Peter Shankman: If that's the case, they will call you back and they will give you, you will get the press that you want.
00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:03.880
Peter Shankman: It's really about being fast, getting to the right point exactly.
00:12:04.040 --> 00:12:05.000
Peter Shankman: That's it.
00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:14.480
Alexane Ricard: And Peter, for those nonprofit and small pet businesses who are trying to do their own PR, do you recommend them to use AI at all when like writing their press releases or?
00:12:15.180 --> 00:12:15.660
Peter Shankman: No, I don't.
00:12:15.660 --> 00:12:18.260
Peter Shankman: And the reason being is that the journalists will know.
00:12:18.260 --> 00:12:19.080
Alexane Ricard: Okay.
00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.660
Peter Shankman: AI still has its very own style.
00:12:21.660 --> 00:12:26.260
Peter Shankman: The problem is, AI is not going to make, if you're a good writer, AI will help make you a better writer.
00:12:26.260 --> 00:12:29.460
Peter Shankman: But if you're a lazy writer or a bad writer, it's not going to make you a good writer.
00:12:29.460 --> 00:12:36.560
Peter Shankman: So your key is what you can do is you could write a great pitch, run it through AI and tell it to tighten it up or clean it up, make it stronger.
00:12:36.560 --> 00:12:37.540
Peter Shankman: That's a good idea.
00:12:37.540 --> 00:12:42.700
Peter Shankman: But in terms of creating a pitch entirely AI generated, I don't recommend that at all.
00:12:43.140 --> 00:12:44.740
Alexane Ricard: Yeah, that's what we would come as well.
00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:45.740
Alexane Ricard: Okay, perfect.
00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:52.900
Mary Tan: Do you think though that that's changing and it's going to get better and then the future of PR agencies is going to go away?
00:12:52.900 --> 00:13:00.600
Peter Shankman: No, because until AI understands sentiment better than humans, there's always a better way to do it.
00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:01.620
Mary Tan: Got it.
00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:12.060
Mary Tan: So you're also known for your insights on customer experience and loyalty, and you wrote a book called Zombie Loyalists, using great service to create rabid fans.
00:13:12.820 --> 00:13:21.280
Mary Tan: How can pet businesses use these concepts to stand out and build stronger relationships with their customers or supporters?
00:13:21.280 --> 00:13:26.680
Peter Shankman: My best advice by this is to follow what chewy.com does.
00:13:26.680 --> 00:13:32.300
Peter Shankman: Chewy, when NASA passed away, NASA was my 21-year-old rescue cap.
00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:44.260
Peter Shankman: When NASA passed away back in 2021, I had a shipment on order with them and it arrived, and I just forgot to cancel it.
00:13:44.260 --> 00:13:46.880
Peter Shankman: Of course, it was cat food and I get the cap.
00:13:46.880 --> 00:13:48.680
Peter Shankman: I'm like, oh man, it broke my heart.
00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:53.140
Peter Shankman: And I called them and I got someone on their tech team.
00:13:53.140 --> 00:13:54.840
Peter Shankman: I'm like, guys, look, you need to send this back.
00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:56.380
Peter Shankman: NASA passed away last month.
00:13:56.380 --> 00:14:02.660
Peter Shankman: And they told me not only not send it back, to donate it to a rescue organization in my neighborhood.
00:14:03.140 --> 00:14:06.160
Peter Shankman: And then they sent me a card remembering NASA.
00:14:06.700 --> 00:14:08.540
Peter Shankman: It chokes me up even talking about it now.
00:14:08.540 --> 00:14:11.680
Peter Shankman: And this is a huge million dollar company, right?
00:14:11.680 --> 00:14:13.720
Peter Shankman: multi-million dollar company.
00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:21.380
Peter Shankman: If they can do that, what can you do to make your customers happier and connect with you?
00:14:21.380 --> 00:14:23.240
Peter Shankman: You don't need to redefine Pi.
00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:29.360
Peter Shankman: The thing about it is customer service and customer experience is so bad all over the place that I don't need to be awesome.
00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.440
Peter Shankman: I need to just suck slightly less than everyone else.
00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:36.760
Peter Shankman: If you can suck slightly less than everyone else, you're going to win everything and you laugh.
00:14:36.760 --> 00:14:39.740
Peter Shankman: But think about the last time you went on a flight, right?
00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:41.160
Peter Shankman: Was your last flight good?
00:14:41.160 --> 00:14:42.360
Mary Tan: I just came back.
00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:44.720
Mary Tan: The flight was good, but the hotel was horrible.
00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:45.120
Peter Shankman: Okay.
00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:46.520
Peter Shankman: What made the flight good?
00:14:46.520 --> 00:14:48.040
Mary Tan: Customer service.
00:14:48.040 --> 00:14:48.300
Peter Shankman: Why?
00:14:48.300 --> 00:14:49.200
Mary Tan: Hands down.
00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:52.340
Mary Tan: They offered me food and drinks.
00:14:52.420 --> 00:14:54.960
Mary Tan: Well, they were really in a water.
00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:56.880
Peter Shankman: For future reference, Mary, that's not a good flight.
00:14:56.880 --> 00:14:59.280
Peter Shankman: That's actually just called a flight, a regular flight.
00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:00.680
Peter Shankman: They did exactly what they promised you.
00:15:00.680 --> 00:15:03.260
Peter Shankman: They flew you somewhere, they gave you a seat, and they flew you back.
00:15:03.260 --> 00:15:05.500
Peter Shankman: They didn't let you fly the plane, right?
00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:11.400
Peter Shankman: The fact that you took off on time, landed on time, and didn't crash into the side of a mountain, and you're there like, it was a great flight, customer service.
00:15:11.400 --> 00:15:13.300
Peter Shankman: No, that's just a flight.
00:15:13.300 --> 00:15:18.100
Peter Shankman: Because what you expected was to get to the airport, everyone gets through the TSA except you.
00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:20.440
Peter Shankman: You get pulled to the anal probe, okay?
00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:25.260
Peter Shankman: Now you come out of this room, you're like 20 minutes to get to your gate, but don't worry, it's gate four, it's right there.
00:15:25.260 --> 00:15:26.920
Peter Shankman: Except no, they moved it without telling you.
00:15:27.020 --> 00:15:32.240
Peter Shankman: Now it's gate 427, and that's seven airports in four states that way.
00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:41.560
Peter Shankman: Now you're running across the airport, half your clothes are falling out of your bag, you had four mini strokes, you get to the gate, don't worry, your plane's still there, you're going to make it, but you weren't there 30 minutes in advance.
00:15:41.560 --> 00:15:43.540
Peter Shankman: So now you were in seat 4B.
00:15:43.540 --> 00:15:45.840
Peter Shankman: No, now you're in seat 39 bathroom.
00:15:46.040 --> 00:15:47.760
Peter Shankman: That's what you expect.
00:15:47.760 --> 00:15:56.220
Peter Shankman: The fact that they'd simply took off on time, landed on time, and did exactly what they said they'd do and nothing more and you're over the moon, means I don't need you to be great and you just suck slightly less than everyone expects you to.
00:15:56.520 --> 00:15:57.980
Mary Tan: That is so true.
00:15:57.980 --> 00:15:59.260
Mary Tan: Oh my gosh.
00:16:01.040 --> 00:16:05.500
Peter Shankman: So that's number one rule for customer service, be slightly better than everyone else and you will win all the things.
00:16:05.500 --> 00:16:06.440
Peter Shankman: You don't need to spend billions.
00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:07.380
Peter Shankman: You don't need to do all that.
00:16:07.380 --> 00:16:08.260
Mary Tan: That's true.
00:16:08.260 --> 00:16:09.740
Mary Tan: That is so true.
00:16:09.740 --> 00:16:12.280
Mary Tan: So what's your perceptions of the pet industry?
00:16:12.280 --> 00:16:13.820
Peter Shankman: Well, twofold.
00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:15.700
Peter Shankman: I had a vet named Dr.
00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:24.800
Peter Shankman: Peter Soboroff, who runs New York Cat Hospital up on 70th Street and West End Avenue, and he is the most wonderful, caring, kindest vet I've ever had in my life.
00:16:25.020 --> 00:16:28.140
Peter Shankman: I brought both my cats to him over the course of 20 years.
00:16:28.140 --> 00:16:32.200
Peter Shankman: I have no doubt that Karma, my cat, put one of his kids through college.
00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:35.020
Peter Shankman: That cat was in that hospital weekly.
00:16:35.020 --> 00:16:39.460
Peter Shankman: I found that cat in the street and that cat had more problems, but that cat had to be radiated, I remember.
00:16:39.460 --> 00:16:43.600
Peter Shankman: But that being said, he was the kindest and most wonderful doctor I've ever had in my life.
00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:48.600
Peter Shankman: He still exists and they're still there, but now I have a dog and Waffle can't go to the cat doctor.
00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:52.760
Peter Shankman: So I take Waffle to a vet around here, which is very nice.
00:16:52.760 --> 00:16:53.800
Peter Shankman: Jess, I mentioned your name.
00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:55.980
Peter Shankman: That doesn't mean you have to get up.
00:16:55.980 --> 00:16:58.900
Peter Shankman: But just because, but here's the thing, they're not a one-off vet.
00:16:58.900 --> 00:17:03.800
Peter Shankman: They're owned by, like I said earlier, they're owned by, they're required by private equity.
00:17:03.800 --> 00:17:09.760
Peter Shankman: While the doctors are very nice, they have to operate in the constraints at which are being given to them by private equity, and you can see it.
00:17:09.760 --> 00:17:10.800
Peter Shankman: So it's not that great.
00:17:10.800 --> 00:17:21.920
Peter Shankman: They're perfectly fine in terms of taking care of Waffle and its health and everything, but that same level of care, we really do care about your animals, is visible, but not as strong as it was.
00:17:22.100 --> 00:17:25.900
Peter Shankman: And so, yeah, therein lies the problem, right?
00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:28.860
Peter Shankman: Everyone wants to build their company, sell it and get rich.
00:17:28.860 --> 00:17:29.580
Peter Shankman: What happens when they do?
00:17:29.580 --> 00:17:35.500
Peter Shankman: The whole reason I relaunched, I relaunched that I started Sources of Sources is because Aero got acquired and it wasn't what I built.
00:17:35.500 --> 00:17:36.480
Peter Shankman: It wasn't the same thing.
00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:38.160
Peter Shankman: And everyone kept telling me that, so.
00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:49.120
Mary Tan: Yeah, we worked with a few pet startup companies and who got sold to the big guys, and the original owners and founders that we worked with now hate the product.
00:17:49.120 --> 00:17:51.240
Peter Shankman: Yeah, and look, you know, I get it.
00:17:51.560 --> 00:17:52.800
Peter Shankman: It's sort of the nature of the beast.
00:17:52.800 --> 00:17:59.420
Peter Shankman: I live in a gorgeous apartment on the 56th floor of a high-rise in New York City with a view of the entire city, and that wouldn't happen if I hadn't sold my company, right?
00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:01.820
Peter Shankman: So you have that middle ground there.
00:18:01.820 --> 00:18:03.200
Peter Shankman: But yeah, I get it.
00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:08.360
Mary Tan: So they always say that the pet industry is recession proof, especially when it comes to pet food.
00:18:08.360 --> 00:18:17.380
Mary Tan: And the American Pet Products association actually warned the industry last year at Global Pet Expo, which is one of the big trade shows.
00:18:17.660 --> 00:18:29.200
Mary Tan: And they said that the pet industry as a whole is increasing in terms of billions of dollars spent, but there's fewer pets because people are not adopting due to inflation and the costs of having a pet.
00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:35.100
Mary Tan: And they warned that pet food companies, especially, should stop raising the prices.
00:18:35.100 --> 00:18:41.700
Peter Shankman: You know, it's funny, in the US., everyone's talking about inflation and, oh my God, look at what the president's currently doing about inflation.
00:18:42.060 --> 00:18:48.120
Peter Shankman: And the price of milk is so much higher than it was five years ago and the price of my TV is so much higher.
00:18:48.120 --> 00:18:49.340
Peter Shankman: That has nothing to do with inflation.
00:18:49.340 --> 00:18:53.640
Peter Shankman: That has to do with greedy companies raising their prices to increase their stock.
00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:59.700
Peter Shankman: If General Mills wanted to lower the prices of cereal, they could absolutely 100% do that.
00:18:59.700 --> 00:19:01.400
Peter Shankman: That has nothing to do with inflation.
00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:06.600
Peter Shankman: If pet companies, or pet food companies, wanted to lower the price of their pet food, they absolutely could.
00:19:06.600 --> 00:19:08.360
Peter Shankman: It has nothing to do with inflation.
00:19:08.360 --> 00:19:13.220
Peter Shankman: They don't, because if they do, their stock price suffers and their board kicks out the CEO.
00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:21.140
Peter Shankman: It's a horrible cycle, one that's been going on for 100 years, but it is rarely the fault of inflation that prices are going up.
00:19:21.140 --> 00:19:30.240
Peter Shankman: You look at a company, I believe the country, I forget which country in Africa, and there are photos of people having to bring wheelbarrows worth of money of cash to buy a loaf of bread, right, because of hyperinflation.
00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:32.060
Peter Shankman: It's just like 40 years ago, whatever.
00:19:32.060 --> 00:19:33.420
Peter Shankman: That's not what's happening here.
00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:39.160
Peter Shankman: The dollar doesn't stretch as much because the CEOs of the companies realize they can charge more.
00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:42.680
Peter Shankman: If you look at the pricing during the pandemic, oh, we have to raise our prices because of supply chain issues.
00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:43.760
Peter Shankman: Well, it's been three years.
00:19:43.760 --> 00:19:44.840
Peter Shankman: Supply chain issues have gone back down.
00:19:44.840 --> 00:19:45.880
Peter Shankman: Why haven't the prices?
00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:47.620
Peter Shankman: That's not an economic issue.
00:19:47.620 --> 00:19:48.780
Peter Shankman: That's simply greed.
00:19:48.780 --> 00:19:52.300
Peter Shankman: I live in a city that cost me about 500 bucks to wake up every day.
00:19:54.940 --> 00:19:58.880
Peter Shankman: Dealing with things like that, you have to ask yourself, where does it end?
00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:01.120
Peter Shankman: Usually, it goes back to the manufacturers.
00:20:01.120 --> 00:20:06.720
Peter Shankman: My soda, my bottle of soda, which I paid 75 cents for back in 1989, now cost me $3.
00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:07.880
Mary Tan: That's insane.
00:20:08.280 --> 00:20:12.140
Mary Tan: Do you believe that the pet industry, they always say it's recession proof?
00:20:12.140 --> 00:20:13.300
Mary Tan: Have you found that to be true?
00:20:13.300 --> 00:20:14.140
Peter Shankman: I do believe it is.
00:20:14.140 --> 00:20:14.360
Peter Shankman: Yeah.
00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:19.300
Peter Shankman: I believe that it's recession proof in the same way that funeral industry is recession proof.
00:20:19.300 --> 00:20:20.320
Peter Shankman: People are going to die.
00:20:20.320 --> 00:20:21.700
Peter Shankman: People are hungry.
00:20:21.700 --> 00:20:30.520
Peter Shankman: But the question becomes, things are recession proof until the companies do enough stupid things that they become a victim of their own success.
00:20:30.520 --> 00:20:36.300
Peter Shankman: Being recession proof doesn't mean that you can raise prices by 40 percent in one year.
00:20:36.300 --> 00:20:36.840
Peter Shankman: Doesn't work that way.
00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:38.680
Mary Tan: Right.
00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:40.120
Mary Tan: Alex?
00:20:40.120 --> 00:20:41.420
Alexane Ricard: Yeah, that's so interesting.
00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:44.000
Alexane Ricard: I never thought of inflation like that.
00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.520
Alexane Ricard: So that's good insights actually.
00:20:46.520 --> 00:20:48.800
Alexane Ricard: A little last question, Peter.
00:20:48.800 --> 00:20:55.860
Alexane Ricard: For all the small pet businesses and nonprofits, it's harder to stand out in the crowd lately.
00:20:55.860 --> 00:21:06.500
Alexane Ricard: I know you said you just need to make the job of the journalist easier, but is there anything else that you can give them on like, how can they stand out in the PR world or in the marketing world?
00:21:07.340 --> 00:21:16.860
Peter Shankman: Yeah, I mean, one of the best things you can do is to, instead of pitching yourself, come up with a story about a trend in the industry.
00:21:16.860 --> 00:21:28.480
Peter Shankman: If you sell pet food and there are four other companies, your small business, you have a small pet store, and there are four other small pet stores in your neighborhood or in your state or whatever, talk to them.
00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:29.720
Peter Shankman: See if you guys just get into it.
00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:31.360
Peter Shankman: Oh, I don't want to talk to them, they're a competitor.
00:21:31.360 --> 00:21:32.840
Peter Shankman: I'm not saying you have to compete with them.
00:21:32.840 --> 00:21:38.260
Peter Shankman: I'm saying talk to them and find out if all of you are noticing any interesting things in the industry, right?
00:21:38.260 --> 00:21:49.680
Peter Shankman: For some, you know, we're noticing that 40% of our customers are asking for non-GMO dog food, whatever, cat food or, you know, or preferring dry to wet, whatever.
00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:53.360
Peter Shankman: A trend is much more likely to be covered than an individual story.
00:21:53.360 --> 00:21:58.980
Peter Shankman: A trend allows for a bigger angle on the same story, right?
00:21:58.980 --> 00:22:06.640
Peter Shankman: Joe's house of dog food is selling more vegetarian dog food is not as exciting as industry sees shift to vegetarian dog food.
00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:09.820
Peter Shankman: So figure out what kind of trends are happening in the industry.
00:22:09.820 --> 00:22:12.240
Mary Tan: What do you think about the humanization of pets?
00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:14.220
Mary Tan: That's, you know, it's so all over.
00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:26.540
Mary Tan: You look at all the pet marketing, whether it's a shelter or a rescue or a small pet business, you know, everybody showcasing animals like they are, you know, a human child.
00:22:26.540 --> 00:22:28.480
Mary Tan: How can they capitalize on that?
00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:33.280
Peter Shankman: I've seen, I always go back to the two best ads I ever saw for shelter pets.
00:22:33.420 --> 00:22:36.440
Peter Shankman: The first one was in the middle of everything going on.
00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:51.900
Peter Shankman: Someone took out an ad, took out a classified ad in the newspaper, looking for companionship, very excitable, love trying new things, always up for sports or games or just greeting you at home wearing nothing but a smile.
00:22:51.900 --> 00:22:53.100
Peter Shankman: Call me anytime.
00:22:53.100 --> 00:22:56.600
Peter Shankman: Or I think they said FaceTime me anytime.
00:22:56.600 --> 00:22:58.880
Peter Shankman: And they put a number up and people FaceTime.
00:22:58.880 --> 00:23:02.740
Peter Shankman: And it was an iPad in a cage at a rescue shelter.
00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:05.480
Peter Shankman: And there was a dog in the rescue shelter.
00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:09.160
Peter Shankman: And I think they got like over 30 adoptions of other animals from that.
00:23:09.160 --> 00:23:10.280
Peter Shankman: So that was number one.
00:23:10.280 --> 00:23:18.560
Peter Shankman: And the second one was a guy who gets stopped at a red stop from I think speeding and the traffic cop comes over and says, you know how fast you're going?
00:23:18.560 --> 00:23:21.520
Peter Shankman: Says you're going 65 miles an hour and you just looked so cool doing it.
00:23:21.520 --> 00:23:22.560
Peter Shankman: Let me see your license.
00:23:22.560 --> 00:23:23.620
Peter Shankman: God, that's a cool picture.
00:23:23.620 --> 00:23:25.320
Peter Shankman: You're just, you're just so awesome.
00:23:25.320 --> 00:23:25.860
Peter Shankman: Sign this.
00:23:25.860 --> 00:23:26.520
Peter Shankman: No, it's not a ticket.
00:23:26.520 --> 00:23:27.320
Peter Shankman: I just want your signature.
00:23:27.320 --> 00:23:27.520
Peter Shankman: Yeah.
00:23:27.520 --> 00:23:28.300
Peter Shankman: You're just amazing.
00:23:28.300 --> 00:23:29.760
Peter Shankman: You have a great day.
00:23:29.760 --> 00:23:38.380
Peter Shankman: And the guy's sitting in the car and he's like totally confused and he looks over and he sees his dog sitting in the passenger seat looking at the guy and it fades to black.
00:23:38.380 --> 00:23:42.840
Peter Shankman: And the caption goes, be the kind of person your dog thinks you are.
00:23:42.840 --> 00:23:43.780
Peter Shankman: Just such cool.
00:23:43.780 --> 00:23:49.620
Peter Shankman: So, you know, it's not about, hey, we have a dog, come rescue it or hey, we have an overpopulation, come help us.
00:23:49.620 --> 00:23:53.700
Peter Shankman: Figure out other ways to make the pet look cool, right?
00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:59.480
Peter Shankman: What else can you do to drive traffic to your rescue organization, your shelter, whatever?
00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:02.140
Mary Tan: Okay, so now I have another question related to that.
00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:06.600
Mary Tan: So I'm sure you've seen the ASPCA Sarah McLaughlin commercial.
00:24:07.660 --> 00:24:08.320
Mary Tan: Yes.
00:24:08.320 --> 00:24:10.600
Mary Tan: So people actually hate it.
00:24:10.600 --> 00:24:11.940
Peter Shankman: That ruined that song for me.
00:24:11.940 --> 00:24:12.340
Mary Tan: Yeah.
00:24:12.340 --> 00:24:14.460
Mary Tan: And so what happened there?
00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:16.800
Mary Tan: So they raised millions off of that.
00:24:16.800 --> 00:24:19.100
Mary Tan: But then I feel like they got a revolt.
00:24:19.100 --> 00:24:19.500
Peter Shankman: They did.
00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:20.320
Peter Shankman: It's a one-time thing.
00:24:20.460 --> 00:24:25.580
Peter Shankman: You know, you better raise as much freaking money as possible because when you ruin a song, no one's going to go back to you.
00:24:25.580 --> 00:24:26.100
Peter Shankman: Right?
00:24:26.100 --> 00:24:27.640
Peter Shankman: It's the Sally Struthers effect.
00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:29.520
Peter Shankman: Sally Struthers was a great actress.
00:24:29.800 --> 00:24:30.900
Peter Shankman: We loved her and all the family.
00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:35.220
Peter Shankman: And then all of a sudden, you don't think of Sally Struthers, nothing of starving kids in Africa.
00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:35.700
Peter Shankman: Right?
00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:42.240
Peter Shankman: I actually made a video of Waffle sitting on the couch, staring at me with the Sarah McLachlan song.
00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:42.540
Peter Shankman: Right?
00:24:42.540 --> 00:24:48.140
Peter Shankman: And it said, won't you please help Waffle who didn't get attention for 15 whole minutes while his dad was doing a TV interview.
00:24:48.600 --> 00:24:53.860
Peter Shankman: You know, it's the, yeah, follow my Instagram is mostly me and the dog.
00:24:53.860 --> 00:24:55.760
Peter Shankman: It's it's at Peter Shankman.
00:24:55.760 --> 00:24:58.200
Peter Shankman: But yeah, and then of course it's at Peter's dog Waffle.
00:24:58.200 --> 00:25:03.960
Peter Shankman: But yeah, it's the premise that when you ruin a song like that, you better be prepared for the backlash.
00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:04.700
Mary Tan: Yeah.
00:25:04.700 --> 00:25:11.280
Peter Shankman: Even South Park did an episode, did an episode where, you know, the song goes and Carmen was, I can't hear that now.
00:25:13.940 --> 00:25:18.740
Mary Tan: So I wondered, is that song now ruined for that singer, celebrity?
00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:19.320
Peter Shankman: Absolutely.
00:25:19.320 --> 00:25:20.640
Peter Shankman: And look, it's great.
00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:22.400
Peter Shankman: It's great that it raised millions of dollars.
00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:24.480
Peter Shankman: But yeah, no one plays that song, right?
00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:29.240
Peter Shankman: You got to wonder how much, how much wealthy she lost in Musac because no one's, you're not going to hear that song in an elevator.
00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:33.200
Mary Tan: Well, another follow up question I just thought of.
00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:36.220
Mary Tan: So we work a lot with shelters and rescues as well.
00:25:37.080 --> 00:25:53.940
Mary Tan: And there's always this big debate if when you're promoting an animal, it should be sad and talk about the animals, you know, like it's a three legged blind deaf dog, or should you just talk about how cute it is and the attributes?
00:25:53.940 --> 00:25:58.680
Peter Shankman: I love the, I mean, I always love ads that, that, that play on themselves and make fun of themselves.
00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:07.460
Peter Shankman: You know, the, the joke being for adoption, blind dog, one dog, blind, deaf, missing a leg, half an ear, answers to the name of Lucky.
00:26:07.460 --> 00:26:10.420
Peter Shankman: You know, I love, I love the dog.
00:26:10.420 --> 00:26:12.580
Peter Shankman: But I err on the side of humor.
00:26:12.580 --> 00:26:14.560
Peter Shankman: I think humor is the best seller in the world.
00:26:14.560 --> 00:26:16.120
Peter Shankman: I think you could sell anything with humor.
00:26:16.120 --> 00:26:21.520
Peter Shankman: Again, you know, a depressing Sarah McLachlan ad might help in the short term, but a joke lives forever.
00:26:21.520 --> 00:26:21.900
Mary Tan: That's true.
00:26:21.900 --> 00:26:40.920
Peter Shankman: There was another, I remember there was an anti-drug driving campaign that showed a dog at home and it showed him looking out the window and just very sad, his owner wasn't there and the whole thing, and kept looking, kept looking, kept looking, and the tagline just said, don't drive drunk, your dog will never understand why you didn't come back.
00:26:42.220 --> 00:26:44.280
Peter Shankman: Oh, but it works.
00:26:44.280 --> 00:26:47.440
Peter Shankman: On the flip side, there are brilliant cat commercials out there.
00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:49.300
Peter Shankman: I think what's the treats?
00:26:49.300 --> 00:26:50.640
Mary Tan: temptations?
00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:51.060
Peter Shankman: Friskies.
00:26:51.060 --> 00:26:51.960
Peter Shankman: Friskies.
00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:55.700
Peter Shankman: Go Google Frisky's Christmas commercial.
00:26:55.700 --> 00:27:07.420
Peter Shankman: This amazing thing where they set up a whole Christmas room with beautiful glass ornaments and Christmas trees and candles and flowers, and beautiful hundreds of thousands of dollars.
00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:11.740
Peter Shankman: And then they released 30 cats into the room that just destroyed.
00:27:13.600 --> 00:27:16.160
Peter Shankman: And we're just knocking everything down.
00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:24.220
Peter Shankman: And then in the corner outside or whatever, someone shakes the Frisky's bag and they run out.
00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:28.440
Peter Shankman: And the place is still a mess, but it showed the power of Frisky's.
00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:29.240
Peter Shankman: Merry Christmas.
00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:29.880
Peter Shankman: Brilliant.
00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:30.940
Mary Tan: That is so awesome.
00:27:30.940 --> 00:27:34.040
Mary Tan: So, Peter, we think we're kind of cat ladies too.
00:27:34.040 --> 00:27:35.820
Mary Tan: Well, we're bi-petual too.
00:27:35.820 --> 00:27:37.460
Mary Tan: I mean, we represent.
00:27:38.540 --> 00:27:39.720
Mary Tan: We have more.
00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:43.220
Mary Tan: We actually have more dog clients because dogs pay the bills.
00:27:43.220 --> 00:27:43.560
Peter Shankman: Yeah.
00:27:43.560 --> 00:27:48.100
Mary Tan: But Alex, I don't know if he runs a cat rescue in Greece.
00:27:48.100 --> 00:27:50.880
Mary Tan: And she always has cats that need homes.
00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:53.040
Mary Tan: And so this is like subtle pressure.
00:27:53.460 --> 00:27:56.600
Mary Tan: Waffles needs a sibling or two.
00:27:58.500 --> 00:27:59.480
Peter Shankman: We're good for now.
00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:01.220
Peter Shankman: I'm sure at some point there'll be another cat in the house.
00:28:01.220 --> 00:28:04.640
Peter Shankman: But right now, Waffle is four years old and still thinks he's six months.
00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:06.780
Peter Shankman: So I need him to lose the puppy phase first.
00:28:06.780 --> 00:28:07.740
Alexane Ricard: Oh, yeah.
00:28:07.740 --> 00:28:08.800
Alexane Ricard: Yeah.
00:28:08.800 --> 00:28:14.140
Mary Tan: Well, when you're ready, you reach out to us because we can supply you with any kind of animal you want.
00:28:14.140 --> 00:28:21.780
Peter Shankman: Oh, well, it's funny because on the on the front page of Source of Sources, just like it was on Harrow, it says, hey, if you found success using Source of Sources, we are free.
00:28:22.260 --> 00:28:24.440
Peter Shankman: But feel free to donate a few bucks to Best Friends.
00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:27.840
Peter Shankman: So I've always had Best Friends as well as the New York City Mayor's Alliance on Animals.
00:28:27.840 --> 00:28:29.580
Peter Shankman: That's just always been my two go-tos.
00:28:29.700 --> 00:28:31.540
Mary Tan: That's so awesome.
00:28:31.540 --> 00:28:32.620
Mary Tan: Well, cool.
00:28:32.620 --> 00:28:36.500
Mary Tan: Alex, do you have any other questions for the great PR wizard?
00:28:36.500 --> 00:28:39.140
Alexane Ricard: I think you gave us so much insight.
00:28:39.140 --> 00:28:40.660
Alexane Ricard: I'm so glad you joined us.
00:28:40.660 --> 00:28:41.820
Peter Shankman: I'm happy to be here anytime.
00:28:42.100 --> 00:28:42.960
Alexane Ricard: Okay.
00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:56.400
Mary Tan: Well, Peter, do you have any final thoughts to tell all our listeners who are just working really hard every day, doing everything they can to get animals adopted or pet products sold?
00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:57.620
Peter Shankman: Life is too short.
00:28:57.620 --> 00:29:00.020
Peter Shankman: Have fun with what you're doing and do it because you believe in it.
00:29:00.020 --> 00:29:02.600
Peter Shankman: I think that, and I don't think I need to tell you guys that.
00:29:02.600 --> 00:29:04.940
Peter Shankman: At the end of the day, we don't really have a lot of time here.
00:29:04.940 --> 00:29:07.400
Peter Shankman: So just do the best you can to make life better for someone else.
00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:07.880
Mary Tan: All right.
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:09.520
Mary Tan: Well, thank you so much.
00:29:09.520 --> 00:29:11.120
Mary Tan: That's a wrap for this show.
00:29:11.360 --> 00:29:17.860
Mary Tan: We're so excited to be doing this for all of you out there who are making life better for animals.
00:29:17.860 --> 00:29:20.020
Mary Tan: And do you have a question you want us to answer?
00:29:20.020 --> 00:29:31.480
Mary Tan: Reach out to us on Instagram or Facebook under The Whisker Report, and we'll try to answer it in a future podcast episode, as we always say, bark loud and purr smart.
00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:33.380
Mary Tan: Thanks so much, everybody.
00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:35.980
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