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Author: jeremy@4tc.ie

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Media Relations in PR – a Game With Rules

media relations in pr - a game with rules

We’ve been thinking about media relations recently – the term used to describe the relationship between the communications industry (PR) and the media (the journalists who create the content that fills the digital, print and broadcast space).

There was a time when it also meant individual communicators creating personal relationships with specific journalists – compiling a ‘little black book’ of contacts, armed with which favourable coverage was almost guaranteed.

(This, of course, is hogwash. While favours might be called in on occasion, if your story is a turkey, it’s a turkey and good journalists don’t do turkey.)

Since the advent of digital media, however, much has changed. Advertising revenue is spread much more thinly, all media finds itself under cost pressure and the result is fewer journalists covering much more ground.

A story only gets covered if it’s something people will want to read

Broadly speaking, there is very little time for building personal relationships and a story only gets covered if it’s actually a story, one that people will want to read.

Media relations is, therefore, how communicators and journalists co-exist. It’s our job to tell our client’s stories in a positive way, and make them newsworthy, and it’s the journalist’s job – broadly speaking – to report the news.

That’s not to say – in any way at all – that it is the journalist’s job to report our stories.

No, it’s their job – or their editor’s job – to decide what is news, what their readers will be interested in and, if our story fits the bill, to make use of it in their reporting.

Let us be very clear, however – the PR/media relationship is a transactional one. If a journalist decides to use our story – if we have made it sufficiently newsworthy and value-adding – then we expect a name-check in return.

If we’ve given you a story about a brand new, labour-saving widget that will be a boon to the ordinary householder, then name the company that’s producing it.

There’s little love lost between PR and the media

Trouble is – and it’s the communication industry’s fault – there is little love lost between us and the media.

Our industry doesn’t always get it right. Some of us bother journalists with turkeys. Our industry spams the media. Some of us make unnecessary phone calls at inappropriate times.

This has led to a relationship that sometimes loses sight of what it should be. The media view PR as somehow ‘pulling a fast one’ – and therefore not meriting the give and take of a normal transactional relationship.

Recently, on behalf of a client, we undertook a piece of simple research – perfectly valid, wholly representative, providing watertight results – to generate a few statistics that could be used to help tell our client’s story.

We wrote the story up and we did it in a style that was easily accessible and which could be reproduced without too much editing (we’re good at this – it’s the product of years of experience).

The story received quite a lot of coverage – because it was reasonably newsworthy, fairly amusing, and relevant to almost everyone.

How the media game is – and isn’t – played

One radio station, however, took against it, deciding that it was facile and quite clearly designed, in some way, to take advantage of them.

Well, OK. If that’s what you think.

Remember, we’ve already told you that you don’t have to report this. It’s your choice. If you don’t want to – throw it in the bin.

Thing was – they did report it. They discussed it for three minutes on primetime breakfast show radio. They filled their programme and entertained their listeners with our story – the product of a reasonable amount of work on our part.

And at the end of their discussion, the presenters agreed – between them, live on air – that they weren’t going to mention our client’s name.

Come on lads, that’s not how the media relations game is played, and you know it. At least you should. Makes us not want to send you stuff anymore, which is a shame.

If you’d like to know more about media relations – or any other aspect of the communication mix, or even just which radio station we’re talking about – contact us on info@4tc.ie

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Communication Training Corporate Communication PR

Evaluating Communication – Can You Be More Specific?

Evaluating Communication - can you be more specific?

I’ve been thinking about outcomes and evaluation and measurement recently. This particular train of thought was prompted by a request for information about what the individual elements of a specific campaign might deliver.

Which is an eminently fair question.

However, it’s not like we’re in advertising, or sales promotion, or CRM here – I can’t say that each €xxx spent will deliver xxx eyeballs, a click-through rate of x.x%, and an uplift in sales in x region of xx%.

I just can’t.

Yes, we can agree clear objectives. Yes, we can be clear on what and when and how much and to what end. We provide years of expertise in how best to deliver the activity. But the nature of the game is storytelling and media relations and – this is the first biggy – I cannot guarantee the outcome.

Way back when, in the days when we used to carry press releases up and down Fleet Street in cleft sticks (no – no, we didn’t – get a grip), there was a thing that I will call Queen Mum Syndrome.

This was based on every newspaper and broadcaster in the land already having front pages and programming schedules ready in case today was the day the ageing Queen Mother popped her clogs.

This was in the UK, but the rule applies across all countries – just substitute an elder statesman, or woman, a major celebrity or sporting icon, and think about how the media will react when, god bless them, they pass on.

Suffice to say, no matter how good your story, if you release it on that day you are going to get next to no traction at all. Despite what you might be told in pitch meetings, unless you are paying for coverage, outcomes are not guaranteed – they depend on many factors.

The second biggy is that storytelling is a long game. Yes, you may luck out and your first story goes viral (as the kids would have it) but usually you need to invest time and effort into building momentum and watching results grow. That’s why it’s called ‘campaigning’.

So asking about what individual elements of the campaign will deliver is never going to be met with a specific answer. We can say what they are intended to deliver and what the delivery might look like – but before the fact, we cannot guarantee anything.

After the fact, you get into the realm of evaluation and measurement, which is a nasty mixture of bog and minefield, if ever I’ve seen one.

Again, way back when, the debate around evaluation and measurement in communication (and how, if a solution was reached, communication would immediately become a serious profession like accountancy) was in full swing. It still is.

Fortunately, there’s now an organisation called AMEC which champions proper measurement in communication (with its Integrated Evaluation Framework).

AMEC does battle with the evil that is Advertising Value Equivalent (a calculation that provides a very rough idea of what coverage might have cost, had you bought it).

Most media monitoring agencies still offer an AVE service however, because they’re still asked for it – and you’d have to be stupid (as a business) to say ‘no’ when it’s a) easy and b) a money-spinner.

Why are they still asked for AVE? Because it’s cheap and easy. Look at the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework. Have a think about how much it would cost – in terms of money and time. Then look at your budget, and decide whether you want to spend some arbitrary figure – probably 25% of your total outlay – on evaluating your activity.

There is some good news, however. Evaluation – knowing whether your campaign has achieved against your objectives – can be simple, cheap and obvious.

I’m talking about getting phone calls from potential investors or business partners, or seeing an increase in sales, or outlets wishing to stock your products. Perhaps an increase in productivity, or positive feedback from your employees.

Once upon a time, after a busy day, I repaired to the pub for a restorative pint or two. My day had been spent talking to the media about a story dealing with lifestyle trends and some of my company’s products.

As I stood at the bar, I earwigged on a conversation taking place next to me. Two blokes were having a heated discussion about my story, the one I’d issued that morning, and which they’d clearly heard on the radio, or read in the evening paper.

That, I thought – as I scarfed my pint – is a result.

If you’d like to know more about getting results from your communication, contact us at info@4TC.ie

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Corporate Communication PR

Hello – can you PR this for me?

Hello – can you PR this for me?

No. Neither can I ‘PR the hell out of this one’. (Both things I have actually been asked to do, I should point out.)

Public Relations is a lot of things – but it’s not a verb

At its core – and very simply – PR is telling people things so that they will like you.  And if people like you, they will be happier doing business with you. They’ll be better at doing business for you. They’ll be happier giving you permission to do business.

Of course, there’s lots of different people you might want to build relationships with. Which is why PR is divided up into different areas.

Broadly speaking, those areas are:

In order that they keep buying it, or decide they want to give it a try

Or that are important in the production of their own products and services

Walking the walk as well as talking the talk, authentic, beyond reproach and prepared for the unexpected

Because it’s mandatory, or because the company wants to sell something, to buy something or just wants to raise money

Particularly when it comes to regulation and legislation, by talking up the organisation’s societal and economic benefits

News about performance, strategy, product development, positions on issues, vision, values, culture, purpose, benefits and reward

Letting them know what it’s doing, how it’s doing it and why, and sometimes lending a helping hand, though sponsorship, or donations, or simply doing a bit of work around the place – so that the community feels involved and important

OK – got that – but how’s it done?

By telling stories, mostly. You see, you don’t often get to tell people things on a one-to-one basis. Mostly, you’ll be using media to get your information across – digital, social, print, broadcast and your own channels – social media feeds and your website.

And to get journalists to publish your information, or people to read it on your website, or engage with it via social, it’s got to be interesting.

And that means wrapping it in a story. We can give you guidance on what makes a story – and how to tell it.

Right – but back to what PR is – do I have to do all of it?

No – do the bits that help you with whatever it is you want to achieve.

That might be one element, or it might be two or three – we can make a recommendation as to what bits you should be considering.

How much does it cost?

Nothing.

OK – it costs nothing to have a conversation about public relations and strategic communication.

After that, when you’ve considered what we’ve discussed, and decided what’s right for you, we’ll look at what it might cost.

The cost will comprise the cost of our time (the fee) and any third-party costs – which could include research, photography, videography, design and possibly print.

The fee can be calculated in one of two ways.

The first is as a fee per activity or piece of work, which is based on our day rate. Second, as a ‘retainer’ fee, which is a sum paid monthly that includes the cost of our time to carry out the agreed activity and – importantly – any extra activities (within reason) that we might agree together.

Right then – how do I get my free conversation?

Put your details into one of the (many) contact us forms on our website (www.4TC.ie) and we’ll call you back.

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