Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
You know the old adage, too much to do, too little time. Between driving the kids to school and activities, running errands and keeping up with a demanding workload, many Americans are running on fumes trying to keep up.
The rise of mobile phones has certainly helped make getting things done on the run easier, but what about simplifying common business tasks while on the go? Tablets such as the popular Apple iPad are becoming viable tools for small businesses to tackle common tasks. From classrooms to restaurants, the popular technology is quickly gaining notoriety beyond a content consumption device, and evolving into a full-fledged productivity tool being used by a variety of organizations.
While the iPad and other tablets have been traditionally used for consuming content on the web, watching videos, reading e-books and listening to music, selecting the right tools and apps can easily optimize the iPad for use as a mobile computing platform for business. Industry analysts forecast that 52 million tablets are estimated to be shipped in 2011, with the iPad comprising 75 percent of these shipments.
We recently helped our client, the Omni Group, a leading developer of productivity apps built exclusively for the Mac OSX and iOS platforms with the launch OmniOutliner for iPad, the company’s newest productivity app for the iPad. The iPad edition of the company’s popular note-taking and outlining program offers users the ability to create, collect and organize information in a multitude of ways including creating to-do lists and agendas, managing tasks and expenses, taking notes and planning events.
To create early buzz, the Omni Group developed and posted a teaser video to its corporate blog to let its users know the app was coming. In addition, they seeded an early version of the app with key influential media and reviewers. To help drive awareness and coverage of the new app, we developed and distributed a press release and buddy e-mail focusing on the rise of tablets being used within small businesses. As a result, more than 65 articles and reviews surrounding the app were published including Macworld, Mac Observer, Business Insider, TUAW and AppAdvice.
So whether you want to create a graph, develop a website wire frame, manage your task list or outline information, just remember, there’s an app for that.
Over the past several months, we have been working closely with one of our technology clients, Tecplot, Inc., to unveil its revolutionary new product, Chorus™, to analysts, media and consumers. You may recall reading our previous blog posts in which we shared the results of our strategy including briefings with key industry analysts and best practices for a successful media tour.
For those of you unfamiliar with this Bellevue-based company, Tecplot, Inc. delivers visualization software for engineers and scientists to analyze, discover, and communicate results. If you are not an engineer or scientist, you may be wondering how this new software impacts you directly. It’s simple – look at the world of staggering product innovation around you.
We are surrounded by a world filled with new feature-rich automobiles that can parallel-park themselves, larger and more supremely enabled commercial aircraft, GPS guidance systems, microwave ovens, high-definition televisions, smartphones and tablet PCs that hold your entire media collection of photos, music and videos in one handheld unit. With every nanosecond, the development of these devices grows more complex and data-rich. Leading-edge innovation and understanding new trends to meet consumer demands has become increasingly critical in a competitive marketplace, and time-to-market can absolutely make or break a product’s success.
Tecplot Chorus streamlines the design process for engineers thus decreasing the time to market for new products. This new tool is a parametric computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis solution designed to enable a tighter integration of metadata with the underlying physics of the CFD simulation results. That’s a fancy scientific way to say that this tool will allow researchers to more easily identify, explore and better understand design anomalies in an integrated fashion that will help promote better collaboration among teams of engineers.
After months of planning and preparation, we were excited to officially introduce Tecplot Chorus on Monday, May 16 and the journalists we met with on our press tour and briefed by phone in advance of launch were eager to share news about the company’s new innovative software solution. To date, Tecplot Chorus was featured in industry publications including:
- R&D Magazine, “CFD simulation analytics tool” (May 17, 2011)
- Desktop Engineering, “Tecplot, Inc. Announces CFD Simulation Analytics Tool”( May 18, 2011)
- MacNews.com, “Tecplot Chorus is Mac compatible CFD simulation analytics tool” (May 20, 2011)
- Another Fine Mesh, the Pointwise Blog, “This Week in CFD”(May 20, 2011)
- Product Design & Development, “Tecplot Announces First CFD Simulation Analytics Tool” (May 27, 2011)
While the software is currently in beta testing with a select group of Tecplot, Inc.’s customers, we anticipate additional coverage to appear throughout the year once the product is available for purchase in late summer 2011.
Are you surprised to learn that, only 16 percent of MBA programs “offer a single course in crisis and conflict management, strategic communications, public relations” or reputation management? This week an op-ed in Bloomberg BusinessWeek made the case for change.
If you haven’t read the article, “Master’s of Spin: PR Belongs in B-School Studies,” I recommend you do. Author Anthony D’Angelo articulates how integrated strategic communications is with effective leadership and how reputation influences company performance, “product pricing, stock price, revenue stability and customer loyalty.”
Many company managers and executives find themselves in charge of PR and are expected to know what to do without any real coaching or education. After recognizing most executives are promoted to leadership roles where they were overseeing communication, but did not understand how to approach PR in a strategic manner, my business partner and I wrote the book Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR. Strategic Public Relations provides company leaders (and PR practitioners) with a high-level road map on how to utilize PR effectively to advance their organizations’ most important business objectives.
Today’s business leaders need to understand the connection between PR and organizational success. A seismic shift in the marketing landscape over the past several years has pushed public relations to a new level of importance. Reaching customers is a lot more complicated than it used to be when everyone was watching TV or reading their regional daily newspaper. The marketing landscape is increasingly crowded and consumers are exposed to more information making it difficult to establish strong awareness. And with the explosion of social media and user generated content, it is possible for information about a company to spread rapidly, making companies and their reputations increasingly susceptible. Additionally, consumers are quick to spot what they perceive as spin. No longer can companies take a tactical approach to public relations.
Integrating courses on public relations, strategic communication and/or crisis communication into MBA programs is a smart move that will enable future company executives to utilize communications strategically to accomplish the company’s core business objectives.
Last week Ragan.com wrote about a new poll that revealed, among other things, PR firms are still the number one source for journalists. I anticipate other agency-side PR professionals were not surprised to see the results, which indicated 62 percent of journalists rely on PR agencies for sources.
Part of our job is to build relationships with the media and, given we typically have multiple clients across different industries, we tend to have connections and information that can be valuable to a reporter. For example, I have relationships with reporters who will call on deadline looking for a very specific source (i.e. a company who can speak to trend XYZ) and I make every effort to connect them with the right resources.
In other cases we field inquiries from reporters looking for story ideas. I recently walked a reporter through a few ideas we developed on behalf of our clients, but also shared a story idea that we were still vetting internally and was able to secure her reaction. The result? The reporter got off the phone with a couple ideas that were of interest and I gathered additional insight into what we would need to sell our future story to that reporter.
These relationships are a core part of my role as a PR professional and are not reserved just for media. I welcome an opportunity to connect other business colleagues when I anticipate the connection could be of mutual benefit.
PR professionals embrace these relationships and work to deliver value for those contacts. Here are a few tips to consider when building meaningful relationships with media:
- Respond in a timely manner. When a reporter is contacting me they are usually on deadline. Be responsive. Let them know if you can help within their deadline. If not, connect them with a colleague.
- Share relevant information. Gather enough information to know what the reporter is looking for and offer sources or ideas that can address their need. Don’t force an idea or a contact if it is not relevant. Be sure to offer supporting information or ideas beyond your client spokesperson. For example relevant data or analyst reports, photos, blogs, etc. Solicit input from your colleagues.
- Be transparent and honest. I always disclose the relationship I have with a source: Is the source a client, is it friend or did I just hear about the company/product at a cocktail party the night before. Likewise, if we have upcoming news that might be of interest, I might let the reporter know we have something in development, if it’s relevant to the timing and story idea.
- Know where your role ends. Sometimes it makes sense to facilitate the conversations and set up interviews; and sometimes you need to step aside for the reporter. If I connect a reporter with a client, I will stay involved throughout the process. Or if the person is more challenging for the reporter to connect with, I will offer to help. However, if the source is not a client, oftentimes I will facilitate the connection via email and then step out of the process.
Most agency-side PR professionals have these types of relationship with a variety of media (which is one of the benefits of working with a PR firm versus having an in-house team). Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter Out (HARO) was built on this premise and has been a huge success. He provided a platform for media and PR folks to connect. The rules he established reinforce the value of those relationships and prevent misuse of the system.
Successful PR practitioners know it is important to develop on-going relationships with media and not just focus on pitching today’s story.
Effective communicators know the importance of utilizing non-verbal communication when delivering a message. It is a critical vehicle for capturing attention and communicating. Non-verbal communication includes eye contact, posture, gestures, voice and tone quality and helps ensure that your audience receives your message effectively.
Mastering non-verbal communication is essential not only in media interviews, crisis communication and management, but in everyday communication.
At Communiqué PR we prepare our clients for media interviews through media training, stressing the importance of body language, because what you don’t say is just as important as what you do say.
Consider the following:
- Sit up straight. Good posture conveys confidence, power and engagement. It will help someone understand that you are serious and know what you are talking about. Sloughing appears sloppy and can be construed as disrespectful.
- Look them in the eye. Eye contact is a critical piece of communication. This helps establish credibility and honesty and helps to deliver your message authentically. For example, if you need a minute to think about an answer to a question, briefly looking away gives the impression that you are collecting your thoughts and thinking.
- Gesture sparingly. Many people rely heavily on hand gestures to communicate. While this can be helpful to illustrate a point, it can also be distracting. We encourage you to gesture, when necessary, but don’t overdo it. This is especially important when doing an on-camera interview. You want the focus to be on your words. If the gesture helps make your point, it is ok, but you don’t want to detract from your message. A good example of this can be found in an interview with President Obama on ABC.
- Use your voice as a tool. Your words are important, but so is how you speak. Your tone should align with the message you’re a delivering. For example, when answering a question, raising your pitch at the end of a sentence can be confusing and communicate that you are unsure.
Mastering body language as an effective communication tool can be a challenge, but to get started it is helpful to pay attention to the non-verbal cues that you pick up on from your next conversation.
Do you have an example to share about how non-verbal communication has helped you deliver a strong message or caused confusion? We would love to hear about it. Please feel free to comment below.
Let’s just get the cat out of the bag. For most company executives or spokespeople, speaking with media can be a daunting task – no matter how seasoned you are. As soon as you receive the request for an interview, your mind may race wondering what will you say? What if the reporter asks a tough question? What if I don’t know the answer?
Media interviews are a critical opportunity to make a first impression, build brand awareness, establish a company or spokesperson as a thought leader and can shape perceptions. We have seen countless examples of interviews where the spokesperson’s comments have damaged either their personal or corporate reputation. No one wants to be in that situation – ever.
However, the experience does not need to be intimidating, stressful or uncomfortable, and can actually be fun if you take the necessary steps to prepare in advance. Plus, if you succeed in your interview, you build credibility as a valuable resource to that journalist and could be contacted again for future stories.
Before your next interview – whether it is for a broadcast segment, phone briefing or in-person meeting with a journalist, consider these tips to help you do your best:
- Study Up. It’s important to have a clear understanding of the story and what type of information the reporter is looking for you to provide. Make time to review the media briefing materials your PR colleague(s) have developed to help you prepare for the interview. At Communiqué PR, we provide our clients a sense of the questions we anticipate the reporter will ask during the interview (if the reporter does not provide questions in advance), as well as information on the intended angle of the story and insight on whom else the reporter has or plans to speak with for the article. We also include background information about the journalist, the media outlet and its audience. This information will help you to better communicate with the journalist and enables you to relate the information to the outlet’s audience.
- Get Grounded in Your Messages. Know what you want to say and deliver the messages effectively. Revisit the key messages your PR or marketing team has developed. If it is helpful, create a simple list of bullet points to help organize the key points you want to make. You don’t need to repeat the key messages verbatim, but by investing the time and effort to know your key messages, you will become more comfortable in delivering them in your own voice.
- Practice. Practice. Practice. Remember, this is your one chance to make a first impression. Never assume you are a ‘natural’ in media interviews simply because you are immersed in your company’s day-to-day operations. If someone from your in-house communications team or PR agency offers a media training session, take it. The practice will only help you to become more confident and poised in your communications.
- Set Your Own Agenda. Don’t rely on the reporter to ask the ‘good’ questions. You’re not speaking with them to simply answer their questions. Take advantage of the opportunity to deliver the messages you want to convey. One technique to try is to ‘flag’ your top three key messages by reiterating them throughout the conversation. Most reporters will end the interview with, “is there anything else you would like to add?” This is a great opportunity to summarize those messages.
- Be Concise. Most reporters deal in sound bites and usable quotes. Consider our previous blog post on “Mastering the Nine Second Sound Bite?” In the interview, focus on using conversational, straightforward language that conveys your company’s message clearly. And if you don’t have an answer to a question, be honest that you don’t and offer to check with an appropriate source to provide additional information. By providing inaccurate information or speculation, you’re likely to damage your credibility. It’s also a good idea to stop and check in every now and then to ask if they understand the information you’re presenting. This helps get a temperature read and opens the door to clarify any information.
- Be Positively Authentic. Believe in what you are saying and speak in your own style. You have a great story to tell and this interview is a great opportunity to be able to tell it. Also, by developing a positive attitude toward the interview, your enthusiasm and interest will be contagious.
We hope these tips are helpful as you prepare for your next interview. Remember, no one is born a media star overnight. It takes a lot of practice and the more you do it, the more confident and successful you will become.
Do you have any other best practices to share? Leave us a comment.