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Let’s talk about ‘The Creative’

LET'S TALK ABOUT 'THE CREATIVE'...

Way back, when God was a boy, mobile phones came with a battery the size of a small suitcase, the internet hadn’t been invented and lunch (for some) was measured in bottles, it was a ‘a creative’ and ‘the creative’.

‘A creative’ was either an art director (who did the drawings) or a copywriter (who did the words), they came in pairs and they worked for full-service ad agencies. ‘The creative’ was the idea they had for the client’s ad campaign which – but only very occasionally – bled into the client’s other marketing activities and – even more rarely – into the client’s PR programme.

Nowadays, it seems ‘the creative’ is being used to describe the Big Idea that’s going to drive a campaign across disciplines. The owner of ‘the creative’ is, de facto, the lead agency and everyone wants to be the lead agency – not simply because it puts you in the driver’s seat, but also because it can come with a disproportionate budgetary whack.

Two things here:

  • ‘The creative’ still describes the idea that underpins the ad campaign, and there are creative agencies that exist to deliver it;
  • In its truest sense, ‘the creative’ is designed for, and works best in, paid-for media – it’s rare that a true ‘creative’ translates into earned or social, because what’s a great concept for a paid campaign, generally isn’t very newsworthy or interesting.

Nonetheless, everyone (and when I say ‘everyone’, I’m looking at you, PR and Digital) is using the term ‘the creative’ to add perceived value to their ideas and proposals. But because they’re proponents of speciality disciplines, I’d suggest, it’s difficult for them to deliver a) the creative for an ad campaign, or b) the Big Idea that works for everybody.  Or – more to the point – the Big Idea that everybody wants to work with.

From an earned media PR perspective we’re losing sight of what’s actually important. Let’s be honest, ‘creative’ is sometimes just another word for highly-strung, unpredictable, and off-message – and fixating on ‘the creative’ is, really, just adding another layer to the communication planning process.

What’s important is the ability to tell a story which delivers measurable results – eyeballs, share of voice, propensity to purchase, engagement – in the earned media environment.

Most of the time, those stories aren’t either Big Ideas or ‘the creative’. Those stories are found in the day-to-day operations of a business, in how the organisation interacts with its customers, in the USPs of its products or services, in the challenges it faces, in its purpose, and in the causes it champions.

Finding the stories, making them newsworthy and getting them in front of your audiences – now, that’s creative.

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Making the most of the Big Idea

making the most of the big idea

By JEREMY PROBERT

Recently, I got to listen to Andrew Simon, Global Creative Director of Edelman (a huge US-derived PR conglomerate). The subject matter was ‘The Blending of Earned and Paid Media’, a topic of some interest to us at 4TC as we operate in both spaces.

Why do we operate in both space? Well, because sometimes you can’t get the earned coverage you need and the best way to gain exposure for your message is by paying for it (and don’t start me on advertising vs advertorial). At other times you may want to amplify your earned media and therefore choose to support it with paid-for content.

The talk – and the learnings therein – were very much based on the assumption that your organisation or brand has a ‘big idea’ (a creative concept, a cause to champion, an issue to address) and if not, that it can find one.

Don’t let that put you off – great ideas don’t come in boxes of six and while you’re looking for yours, best to be prepared to exploit it when you find it.

So what are the things to consider when exploiting an idea and the story that you build around it?

What people care about is being rewarded with entertainment or utility. ‘Entertainment’ is not just the funny and the quirky, but stuff they care deeply about. ‘Utility’ is about receiving something of value they can share.

This is JFDI (Just Effing Do It) by another name. Kick off your communication activity and see where it goes, developing it and adding bits to it as you go along. Seize the moment and the opportunity.

Which is a bit weird, but what it means is ‘see it through to its natural conclusion’. Don’t give up halfway, don’t curtail the opportunity. Keep looking at how you can amplify it until you can’t anymore.

What does success look like? What do you want to achieve? Work back from there to see/decide how to make it happen.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. This is really around issues and challenges. Look at the issues and challenges that face your brand – both those that have always been around and any new ones on the horizon and think, well, how can I turn these to my advantage?

(This is about campaigning and/or championing the cause of people and groups. It’s not suggesting that if, for example, you’re a mining company which has just buried 24 employees, you should be looking to leverage the positive.)

Simply put, build it and they will come. If you have a great idea and it gains traction, then it’s likely to feed off its own success, breeding further success. It’s the principle of contagion.

If a creative idea takes off, and it’s being pushed out across paid and earned media, with a multi-disciplinary team, then it’s going to get complex and possibly messy. Don’t worry too much about that – trust your instincts, run with what seems right, stop what doesn’t. You won’t have time to do a quick consumer poll to test the water.

Amplify your story in any and all ways. If that means throwing money at it – sponsorship, native content, promoted social – then do it to take the story to its natural conclusion. It’s not over until it’s over – keep it going until it can go no more.

Don’t just waffle on – do something. Raise an issue, combat a problem, challenge an attitude or position. Say/do something that actually means something.

It’s all sound advice – don’t overthink it, seize the day, wring every last drop out of it, accept that there’ll be a certain lack of control and be prepared to expend resource as necessary.

There’s just three final thoughts:

  • An idea of the budget you’ve got to spend, and agreement to spend it, is central to the process
  • This way of working requires you to be able to move fast, get agreement quickly and change direction on a 5 cent piece
  • There’s always an element of risk in this because you cannot – completely – know where it’s going. You can best guess but you can’t guarantee. The more accepting of that risk you are, the better.

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Skip The Word Salad – Get To The Meat Of Your Communication

SKIP THE WORD SALAD – GET TO THE MEAT OF YOUR COMMUNICATION

Probably safe to say that everyone’s familiar with ‘Bullsh*t Bingo’ – it’s a game to be played in meetings, the object of which is to tick off a list of cliches, jargon, acronyms and references to currently fashionable topics and issues.

Ideally you jump up and shout ‘Bingo!’ when you’ve got them all – although I doubt whether anyone’s actually done it in a real, life-or-death meeting scenario. Like when Vladimir Putin is chairing his weekly catch-up, for example. 

Maybe less familiar – you probably need to be a communicator for this – is the concept of ‘word salad’.

A word salad is a whole pile of words thrown at a piece of paper in the hope that they’ll become ‘writing for communication’. (Normally produced by the inexperienced, but don’t worry, we’ll soon have you writing taught, tight, concise and – above all – comprehensible copy, just you stick with us.)

‘Word salad’ also refers to copy which is the written equivalent of ‘Bullsh*t Bingo’. A loosely strung-together collection of cliches, jargon and buzzwords, masquerading as something like a news release, or a mission statement or a corporate position, but somehow failing to communicate anything useful at all.

This type of salad can be so generic that you could put any company name, or strategy, or product into it and it simply wouldn’t matter. Try this on for size:

“(Strategy name) inspires us to become so much more than we’ve ever been. We are expanding our vision, breaking the limits and embracing a new mindset, one that seeks to transform all facets of (industry sector/product category) for the betterment of our families, communities and the societies in which we operate. Powered by our diversity, (company name) leads the way the world moves by delivering innovative, clean, safe, and affordable (industry sector/product category) solutions.”

A properly weaved word Waldorf. Vision, mindset, transformation, family, community, society, diversity, innovation – we’re leaving nothing out, here.

Yet this isn’t made up – it’s a real example from a statement put out by a massive global conglomerate. We’d bet it’s a ‘committee word salad’, where tens of people have all had a go at it and it’s been re-written and re-written again, and then a smattering of senior execs have leant down from on high and have said things like: “I think we should include diversity,” and it’s been re-written again. And again.

No matter. The lesson is that there is no benefit in this type of communication. It says nothing positive about you. In fact, while your aim may have been to show how ethical and involved you are, it actually serves to demonstrate that it’s lip-service you’re paying to all of these things, no more.

Don’t be tempted to try and stuff everything in there – just like a proper salad, sometimes less is more.

If you’re concerned that your communication is more Russian salad than sliced tomato with olive oil and salt – we’d be happy to talk to you.

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Choosing a Communication Partner is not a Bargain Hunt

Choosing a Communication Partner is not a Bargain Hunt

It’s not like pasta shapes – the biggest and cheapest package isn’t the best

Recently 4TC was invited to tender for a piece of business – it doesn’t matter who or what it was, or in what sector, or the specific services that were required – suffice it to say that it required full-service communication counsel.

Ultimately, we weren’t appointed to manage the account – but it’s a competitive marketplace and, to borrow a phrase, you can’t win them all.

However.

A comparison between the scores awarded to the 4TC tender submission and that of the successful tenderer showed that ours had outperformed in all areas related to the delivery of services – understanding the client’s requirements, programme effectiveness, the quality of the proposed team, and account management.

In fact, in every area except day-rate cost 4TC’s submission scored noticeably higher.

Despite an annual budget for fees being provided within which all tenders had to fit, a decision was made to spend on quantity, rather than quality. The implication is that the larger the number of hours provided, the greater the value of the service.

Professional communication services – PR, corporate affairs, public affairs, internal communication, crisis and issues management – are not one-size-fits-all.

All providers and practitioners are not equal.

Communication services are not like own-label dried pasta shapes – the bigger and cheaper the packet, Tesco, Aldi or Lidl, the better.

Choosing a communication partner should be based on a series of factors, before taking cost into consideration. They are:

  • The people running your account, their experience and expertise. What have they done and what can they do?
  • The quality of the team’s thinking and their understanding of the environment in which you operate.
  • The quality of the team’s proposed programme, their ability to deliver on the programme and to work well with you.
  • The team’s ability to add value, as well as their flexibility and commitment.

“This is where the value of communication lies.

Of course, price matters and if all of these factors are taken into account and your potential partners are deemed to be equally competent then – but only then – should day-rate cost become a factor.

But if your potential partners are not equally competent according to these criteria, and yet they are all proposing to work within your overall budget parameters, then day-rate is unimportant.

 Value – not cost – is what drives the decision.”

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What’s the Future for AI and Content Generation?

what does ai mean for content generation?

I’m not very good with source material. I read something and think ‘oooh – that’s interesting, and no mistake’ and it’s only later, when I want to reference it, that I realise I’ve not a scooby where it came from. Example. Recently, I read something on Twitter which, as far as I could see, was about the use of AI in PR. If journalists think that they’re being spammed by PR practitioners now, just wait until Robocommunicator gets here. It struck a chord – and then came the dawning realisation that I had no idea what it was referencing and even a quick root around in Google didn’t throw anything up. But, actually, that’s not a problem. Because I am absolutely certain that AI is being used in communication in one form or another. Whether or not we’ve got to artificially compiled media releases, I don’t know, but I’d bet a million squiddlies against a bent sixpence that we have, or that we’re about to. And my certainty stems from the fact even I have considered whether it’s possible to create an algorithm that could produce – once fed a certain number of facts, premises and parameters – a half-decent media release.

When all’s said and done, there are – as we all know – things that a media release needs to contain to be functional and things that need to be added to make it ‘news’. Just in case anyone’s forgotten what they are:

Needs to be based around the who, what, why, where and the when. And – sometimes – how. It should be three paragraphs long and needs a quotation in the second paragraph.

Contains one or more (preferably more) of a list of things – money, technology, human interest, controversy, celebrity, sex or ‘futurology’ – linked to, or part of, the subject matter.

As I’m briefing an AI, here, I’ll also state the incredibly obvious – it has to be true and backed with evidence.

So – is this the end of the communicator as we know her, him or they? I’d say no – in the medium term – for two reasons.

First, no-one’s been successful (or at least not that we know of) in creating a ‘true’ AI – one that is conscious, one that can think for itself, has its own personality and makes its own decisions.

Second (and see above) writing a media release isn’t rocket science – you’d spend as much time feeding the information into the algorithm as you would simply writing it yourself.

That being said, of course, if you don’t trust your writing skills, and it normally takes five attempts to get approval, then an AI with machine learning capability would probably be more consistent out of the box. And would soon learn to create content in a client’s preferred style.

Maybe you’re right to be concerned.

(This blog was created by 4TC’s new communication composition algorithm, Scribl.)*

 

*No. No, it wasn’t.

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Sleep difficulties due to pandemic lockdowns putting physical and mental health at risk

'Sleep difficulties due to pandemic and lockdowns putting physical and mental health at risk’

  • Expert warns of increase in number of people experiencing poor quality sleep
  • Coeliac Awareness Week ‘Sleep Session’ to provide simple, practical, and effective advice

An increasing number of people are experiencing sleep difficulties due to stress, anxiety and changing lifestyle patterns brought on by COVID19 and the pandemic lockdowns.

That’s according to Health Scientist and Sleep Coach Tom Coleman, who says that people experiencing poor quality sleep are putting their physical and mental health at risk.

Mr Coleman will be speaking about the importance of sleep as part of Coeliac Awareness Week 2021, which runs from Monday 10th to Friday 14th May. His ‘Sleep Session’ will focus on the importance of sleep to the physiology of a healthy body and examine how mental wellbeing and emotional stability are regulated by the quality of sleep.

The health scientist and sleep coach will outline the many stress and physical triggers that cause disruption as well as providing simple, practical, and effective advice on how to regulate this most important aspect of living a healthy life.

Mr Coleman said: “Sleep is the ultimate act of self-care. Not a single aspect of physiology or psychology isn’t affected by sleep. When you’re asleep, your immune system is awake, the good bacteria in your gut is active, and your body is repairing the wear and tear of the previous day. These are all vital functions that are required to maintain a healthy body and mind, and they can only be achieved through good quality sleep.

“This is true for everyone but particularly for people suffering from auto-immune conditions such as coeliac disease or severe gluten intolerance. By the nature of their conditions, people with these conditions need to pay particular attention to their body’s ability to regulate their immune function and health in general.”

“Over the past 12 months I have witnessed a significant increase in people experiencing sleeping issues caused by the worry and anxiety of the COVID19 pandemic.

“We all should be spending roughly 36% of our lives asleep. But currently the levels of stress are high due to pandemic concerns, and the ‘always on’ nature of working from home and spending an increased amount of time on screens, particularly at night.

“People need to give themselves the opportunity to bring themselves down form this arousal continuum, to live in the now rather than constantly think about the future.”

Gill Brennan CEO of Coeliac Society Ireland said: “Coeliac Awareness Week will have lots of events focused on helping people take care of their nutritional health and mental wellbeing, as well as various activities that will be fun for all the family – including live cooking demonstrations, a kid’s corner, and a laughter yoga session.

“There are around 50,000 coeliac sufferers in Ireland, but as many as 37,000 are undiagnosed. These people are living with an untreated lifelong autoimmune condition, which can have a massive impact on their health. There are also over 400,000 people who are gluten intolerant.

“That’s why Coeliac Awareness Week is so important – it’s an opportunity for people with unexplained symptoms such as bloating, stomach pains, diarrhoea, constipation, anaemia and fatigue to ask, ‘Could it be gluten?’. The Coeliac Society can provide information about getting tested, diagnosed and start living a gluten free lifestyle.”

Find out more Coeliac Awareness Week, coeliac disease and living gluten free at the Coeliac Society of Ireland.  

Top 10 tips for a good Night's sleep

Trying to stick to a routine when it comes to bed is really important. We should try go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time. When you stick to a regular sleep schedule, the brain learns unwind and relax when it’s time to go to bed.

Light plays a key role in regulating circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock that tells us when we should be awake and when we should sleep. Morning light anchors our circadian rhythm and sets a timer for melatonin release later in the day. It also boosts our “cortisol activation response” which energises us for the day ahead.

Exercising has all round benefits for health. Both aerobic exercise and resistance exercise can improve sleep quality. Physical activity improves sleep quality, reduces wake episodes and shortens “sleep latency” – the time it takes to get to sleep. Remember that exercise can delay sleep, so ensure you leave about 3 hours between exercise and sleep time.

Nutrition is another fundamental role in our health. It is recommended to avoid large meals and spicy foods prior to bed. There are certain foods like whole grain and proteins both of these contain tryptophan which can increase the sleep hormone ‘melatonin’.

Monitoring and limiting your caffeine intake is important. Stimulants like coffee can have a negative impact on your sleep maintenance and quality. Alcohol is a sedative which sends signals to the brain and can also interfere with sleep quality and restoration. You should not drink coffee after 2pm and you should stop drinking alcohol 4 hours before bedtime.

While lowering sleep pressure can help with exhaustion, it can also make it difficult to fall asleep at night. People who have trouble falling or staying asleep at night should avoid naps. If napping is necessary, it is recommended that the nap length is 20 to 30 minutes and earlier on in the day, to avoid sleep disruption at bedtime.

Using electronic devices which give off blue light at night can disturb both the quantity and quality of sleep. This blue light emitted by technology devices impacts the natural production of the sleep hormone, melatonin, and can throw off circadian rhythm. By putting your phone down an hour to 40 minutes before going to bed can help improve sleep quality.

The temperature in your bedroom has a big impact on how well you sleep. The recommended temperature for your bedroom is 18-20 degrees Celsius. In the evening, our bodies are conditioned to feel a small drop in core temperature. Turning the thermostat down at night will help regulate your body’s temperature and signal that it is time to sleep.

Having a good night’s sleep depends on your bedroom environment. Creating a sleep-friendly bedroom atmosphere is an essential aspect of sleep hygiene that will help you get quality rest night after night. A decluttered bedroom with warm and appealing colours with an appealing layout can improve sleep quality.

Sleep problems are often caused by stress and anxiety. The stress response can be turned off by activating relaxation responses such as breathing techniques and visualization exercises, according to studies. By partaking in these it can help calm the mind and help ourselves drift off to natural sleep. Writing or keeping journals can help declutter and our mind and help us destress.

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Thinking about authenticity? Authentic communication is a good start

Thinking about Authenticity? Authentic communication is a good start

You can’t go anywhere these days – in marketing and communication, anyway – without someone getting all authentic on you. Authenticity is a business imperative.

As such, authenticity needs measuring and tracking – and where better to start that with your communication? After all, if your communication strategies and activities aren’t seen as authentic, then how can you be?

Based on decades of communication and journalism experience, 4TC has developed a self-assessment tool – it’s part of the Authentic8 | Communication Authenticity & Effectiveness Audit.

The Authentic8 Self-Assessment module is based around a simple, thought-provoking questionnaire. It will provide you with a clear indication of where you are on your communication authenticity journey – and the things you might consider to help you go further, faster. Click here or below to give it a go.

Take the Authentic8™ Self-Assessment

It’s probably worth reminding ourselves why authenticity is important, what it means and how it manifests in communication.

  • 90% of people use authenticity to decide which brands they like[1]
  • 83% of marketers consider authenticity to be important to their brand
  • 57% of consumers believe that less than half of brands communicate authenticity
  • Authenticity (in leadership) is the strongest single driver of work happiness and job satisfaction – two key factors in employee engagement

Authenticity is a key factor in business success – but (and in case you’re wondering) what is authenticity? We came up with a definition (based on our decades of communication experience) which no-one (so far) has disagreed with.

Authenticity is:

  • Honest – representing something as it actually is
  • Targeted and Personal – talking to the right people, through the right channels in the right language
  • Professional – transparent in response, able to admit fault and apologise
  • Inclusive – bringing the team along on the journey
  • Not a ‘Tick in the Box’ – false impressions, inconsistency, greenwashing, avoidance

[1] Stackla Research – 2017/19

The 4TC Authentic8 Self-Assessment is based on the eight pillars of communication that underpin the entire Authentic8 audit process.

Language is about the way you speak or write, the flow or words and your choice of words.

Tone is about the overall sense of what you are communicating and what that says about you. How does it make someone feel towards the subject/brand/organisation?

Is your communication structured – beyond language and tone – to contain clear messaging that is important to your target audience?

What does your communication consist of – does the content you choose to communicate add value, does it serve a purpose, and does it benefit your audience?

The accessibility of your communication is as important to your authenticity score as is language, tone, messaging, and content. It speaks to the clarity and visibility of your communication.

Tolerance for inauthenticity may be higher amongst some audience groups than amongst others. Communication should be viewed in the context of who will be receiving it.

How does you communication reach its intended audience? Are you using the right channels – e.g. web, email, social media, news media, internal platforms – and are you executing a strategic approach to delivery?

Engagement is the culmination of language, tone, messaging, content, accessibility, and delivery. It is the ultimate barometer of the effectiveness, and therefore authenticity, of your communication.

Evaluating your communication in the context of each of these elements provides insight into your communication’s authenticity and therefore its effectiveness in communicating your business or organisation’s stories and truths.

If you would like to know more about anything you’ve read here, or would like to discuss the Authentic8 Communication Authenticity and Effectiveness Audit, please get in touch with us at info@4TC.ie

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Should you – Can you – Measure Authenticity?

Should you - can you - measure authenticity?

We’ll start from the premise that authenticity is a good thing. A 2019 survey found that 90% of consumers believe authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support – up from 86% in 2017 – and 83% of marketers agree saying authenticity is very important to their brands.

Authenticity is, of course, not just about brands, it’s also about businesses and organisations, and about workforces, and about individuals. However you look at it, Authenticity is an important thing.

There’s power in using your authentic voice

Former US First Lady Michelle Obama wrote: “There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice.”

Employee perception of authentic leadership is one the strongest single predictors of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and work happiness – all factors in a high employee engagement score.

According to Gallup, the most engaged teams in its (sizeable) database – when compared with the least engaged teams – experience an average of 44% less absenteeism, 10% higher customer scores and 21% higher profitability.

So, authenticity is key to trust, to belief, to propensity to engage and to propensity to purchase. Authenticity is a business imperative, however, you cannot (as a brand, as an organisation, as a leader) be perceived as authentic unless you communicate your authenticity.

Communication strategy is linked to authenticity

Emmanuelle Probst, SVP of Brand Health Tracking at IPSOS, in his 2018 article What Makes a Brand Authentic suggests finding your authenticity in stories about your brand or organisation, and developing those stories to communicate it. Most importantly, he says that the stories have to ring true.

Your communication strategy is inextricably linked to how authentic you are seen to be. Unless you communicate your authenticity, none of your audiences are going to know about it, or understand it, or engage with it in a positive manner.

But the story you’re telling – your communication strategy – has to ring true. If your communication is inauthentic, you will not be perceived as having that quality.

If, therefore, we’re measuring authenticity, then surely a good place to start is to measure the authenticity of a brand or organisation’s communication strategy, direction, activity, and the materials that support them.

There are eight elements that contribute to authenticity in communication and against which communication activity and content can be measured:

The written and spoken words your organisation uses, as well as the choice and flow of those words

The overall sense of what you are communicating and what that says about your organisation and its character

The structure of your communication, containing clear messages that are important to your brand or business

The content you choose to communicate should add value, serve a purpose, and benefit your audience

The clarity and visibility of your communication – as important to your authenticity as language, tone, messaging, and content

The context of who will be receiving your communication – authenticity of communication matters more to some audience groups than others 

The strategic approach to delivery across the most appropriate channels and platforms 

The culmination of language, tone, messaging, content, accessibility, audience identification and delivery and the ultimate barometer of the effectiveness, and therefore authenticity, of your communication

An organisation’s communication (external and internal) can, and should, be benchmarked against each one. This will provide an indicator of how authentic – and, therefore, how effective – communication is, in terms of overall strategy as well as individual programme elements.

Certainty and consistency

Getting communication right and embedding it as a process – a ‘how we do things around here’ – provides certainty and consistency. It enables all your stakeholders to understand and engage with the story of your authenticity, your beliefs, your behaviours and your way of doing business.

 

4TC has developed its proprietary Authentic8 Communication (Authenticity and Effectiveness) Audit to enable businesses and brands to assess their communication strategies and activities for authenticity and, therefore, for effectiveness.

Authentic8 is borne of many decades of PR, corporate communication and journalistic experience. It blends independent assessment with self-assessment and examines communication strategy, content and tactics both from an external and an internal point of view.

4TC’s Authentic8 tool can be tailored to the specific needs of individual businesses and provides an analysis of communication authenticity and effectiveness, accompanied by recommendations on actions that might be taken to enhance your performance.

For further information, contact us at info@4tc.ie

Photo by Mariah Solomon on Unsplash

 

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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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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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