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.
Securing media coverage is one of the most direct ways to measure success in PR, but placing a compelling story in the right publication is no easy feat. PR professionals must manage their clients’ goals and target a specific audience, while also identifying key elements that may make a newsworthy story.
At Communiqué PR, we have written extensively about the story arc and its essential role in crafting a compelling story. However, after developing a story arc, we as PR professionals must translate that into viable story ideas that will spark media interest. There are certain and very specific questions that the media use to judge the news value of a story. Below are some of the ones we ask as we consider developing a media pitch.
- What is the “today value”? First and foremost the story needs to have “today value.” Why should a reporter write about this today? Is it timely or relevant to their readers? No matter what you are pitching, make sure you can frame it in a way that demands urgency. For example, if you are working to secure coverage surrounding a new summer program for kids, most news agencies would not find this timely during the winter months. However, by providing figures that show the savings in planning summer activities ahead of time, you make the story relevant for today’s readers or viewers. Another option is to provide a preview to a select group of journalists. This gives them incentive to cover the story.
- Why do I care? This is a question that my former news director would constantly ask journalists during meetings. As PR professionals it is essential we answer the very same question. Journalists are looking for stories that impact the viewer. It is critical that you can identify why this journalist should care and who the story impacts. For example, is the new product saving customers or companies money? Is it creating more jobs? Is it disruptive to an established industry? Why should a journalist develop this story?
- What elements can you offer? Providing journalists with the essential elements to create a meaningful story is key. Anticipate this question and have the elements lined up. Interviews are one of the most important elements to a story and providing a compelling spokesperson or a third-party interview is beneficial. Also, offer additional visual opportunities. Providing photos, b-roll, and facts or figures that can be displayed on graphics can all help illustrate for the journalist what they have to work with.
- How is this new? Journalists want a story that is new, innovative or different. Not only is this part of their fiber as journalists, a fresh new story can help drive eyes to their publication’s website and drive buzz on social media platforms such as Twitter. A good story has a new angle and it is helpful if you can create that for the journalist.
A good story is timely, impacts a large audience, contains compelling sound bites or quotes, and resonates with viewers or readers. As you work to develop a pitch, it can help to put yourself in the shoes of the journalist. If you have the right elements and can provide compelling answers to these questions you are more likely to spark interest and develop a meaningful relationship with the journalist. Not only can this help to secure coverage in target publications, it can set your clients’ goals in motion.
While America waited for the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers to kick off on Sunday afternoon for Super Bowl XLV, millions of viewers had already previewed some of the ads that were set to air during the game. Each year, the hype and buzz of the commercials shown during the Super Bowl often garner just as much media attention as the two football teams who headline the premier sporting event. And Super Bowl XLV was no exception.
What has changed in recent years, however, is the advertiser’s strategy in leveraging social media to drive greater awareness and hype of their advertisements before, during and after the game. Take for example Volkswagen’s ‘Darth Vader’ commercial, which the company and its agency openly leaked on YouTube on February 2, 2011 generating more than eight million hits before the commercial aired on national TV Sunday during the Super Bowl.
USA Today Business Reporter Laura Petrecca commented on Monday’s edition of The Today Show that placing this ad on YouTube “was a stroke of advertising genius.” By placing this video on YouTube in advance, Volkswagen created the initial buzz that prompted people at Super Bowl parties to say, “Hey, hey, don’t talk now, watch this ad because it’s getting a lot of buzz, and you’re going to pay attention.”
Still, some companies question if they will see a strong return on their investment of a reported $3 million for a :30 television ad to air during the Super Bowl. Groupon was one of this year’s new entrants to the Super Bowl advertising mix who recently blogged about its internal debate if television ads are worth the money. Groupon’s blogger Andrew stated in his post on Sun., Feb. 6 that the company has depended mostly on word-of-mouth marketing and paid search advertising, but because many people still hadn’t heard of Groupon, they decided to “invade the rest of the world with a proper Super Bowl commercial.”
Unfortunately, Groupon’s ‘spoof’ commercials, which mocked the company and celebrity-endorsed public service announcements, were considered to be in poor taste among many Super Bowl viewers and the backlash has been quickly spreading through social media networking sites and blogs all over the Web. It is uncertain what impact the public’s disdain will have on the company in the long-term. However, Groupon has acted quickly on a communications strategy utilizing social media to respond to the negative backlash and reemphasize the campaign’s focus of “supporting their partnerships with many hallmark community organizations, for whom we’re raising money at SaveTheMoney.org.”
Even if you don’t have $3 million to spend on a Super Bowl ad, what can you take away from these examples?
It is important to remember that social media is another critical tool in the PR toolbox for companies, a subject we have previously discussed in our blog. Social media has forever changed the way that information is being accessed, shared and processed. Whether a campaign is designed to launch as a television commercial, a print advertisement or as a true social media campaign, it has the capability of spreading like wildfire either positively or negatively to millions of people in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.
As PR professionals, we are always looking at how these mediums can help amplify a client’s message to journalist and consumers. Regardless of the channel, the most important rule is to be open and transparent with your audiences when it comes to starting the discussion or influencing the debate, much like what Volkswagen and Groupon have done with their recent Super Bowl ad campaigns.
The “Purpose Motive” is a novel concept that purports that people are not motivated to perform at a higher level by money, but rather that performance is only driven by having a sense of purpose. Dan Pink, the author of four bestseller books on the changing world of business, claims the Profit Motive doesn’t work and that more stock should be placed in the Purpose Motive.
Why is any of this important? With rising costs due to longer learning curves, and larger investment in employees, it becomes critical that those costs can be recovered by the individual’s ability to create value for the company. Without motivation to go beyond the status quo, companies will sit idle. The companies that are thriving are the ones that are building environments that feed off of a common purpose, beyond profit margins. It is vital that managers have the ability to inspire their employees to do challenging and significant work with the potential and goal of mastery.
Dan Pink points out that there is overwhelming evidence that “more and more organizations want a transcendent purpose. It makes coming to work better, and that’s the way to get better talent.” He goes on to say that observed through the research of MIT, several other universities, psychologists and economists, there are three factors that lead to better performance and personal satisfaction:
- Autonomy
- Mastery
- Purpose
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) published an animated video (above) from Dan Pink’s speech, “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.” I originally saw the video in Professor Ruth Huwe’s Management class at the University of Washington. I have now watched it dozens of times and showed it to many people who all have similar reactions, such as, “Wow that is so true” and “That’s exactly right.”
The concise 10-minute video accurately outlines what motivates us as human beings to perform at higher levels. In his talk, Pink debunks the idea of bonuses and raises to encourage or even affect performance levels. He goes against the basics of economics, but it is backed by study after study showing that performance is only driven by money for tasks involving mechanical skill. Once a task involves any level at or above rudimentary, cognitive skill, money no longer can drive performance. If you don’t pay people enough, motivation is decreased, but pay people enough to take the issue of money away, and now the fundamental motivators will determine performance levels.
I was most intrigued by the example given of an Australian software company called Atlassian that gives employees 24 hours of “undiluted autonomy.” Once a quarter this company throws an office party and tells the employees to work on whatever they want for the next 24 hours as long as they show what they have done. The Results: That one day of autonomy produced answers to software dilemmas and innovations that would have never came to be otherwise. Pink explains it this way, “You probably want to do something interesting… let me just get out of your way.”
One of our current technology clients, Tecplot, is preparing for a new product launch later this year, and we’ve been very busy developing and executing our plan. One of our first strategies was to educate the analysts in the new product’s industry, and give them a sneak preview of the new product and gather their feedback.
As we’ve discussed before in this blog, analyst relations can be a huge part of any new product launch, especially in the technology field. Analysts serve as a credible third-party influencer who can attest to the quality and innovation of a company’s product. They are often called upon by the media during a product launch to comment or provide perspective. They also work behind the scenes with potential customers and partners, recommending new software and services.
On behalf of Tecplot, we scheduled five analyst briefings with IDC, Cyon Research, TechNavio, Schnitger Corp. and CIMdata. In preparation, we developed a PowerPoint presentation with background on Tecplot and its new product. We also coordinated GoToMeeting sessions for each analyst and ensured that a working demo of the new software product was available to provide analysts during the call. Services like GoToMeeting are a great way to provide a working demo of a new product without the need to travel across the country to be in the analysts’ offices.
Each of the calls went extremely well. The analysts were all willing to provide feedback on the messages we presented, which served as a good “trial-run” for our spokesperson. After the call, we discussed the messages which were well-received and which should be adjusted.
Since Tecplot’s product isn’t going to be announced publicly until later this spring, we asked each of the analysts to honor an embargo. If you are going to enlist a similar analyst strategy for your new product or service, we recommend knowing the difference between an “embargo” and a “non-disclosure agreement (NDA)” for your discussion with the analysts. NDAs are a legal contract between yourself and the analyst/reporter. News under embargo, on the other hand, are often a time-limited disclosure of information, normally based on the honor system.
While there have been instances of people breaking embargoes in the past, and several prominent media sites refuse to honor them, the team at Communiqué PR has never had an analyst break our trust in this manner.
Have you had any great experiences with analysts? Do you have any other tips to share with regards to working with analysts? Join the discussion by commenting below.
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend Macworld 2011 in San Francisco with one of our newest clients, the Omni Group. Given this was only the second year the conference was held without Apple, there was much speculation and discussion on whether the show would be as exciting and well attended as in years past with Apple’s presence. Well the verdict is in and I can safely say the show was a hit. Not only was the expo floor packed, but I heard from many exhibitors that they were running low on products they were selling, as well as marketing information, half way through the show.
The Omni Group, a leading developer of productivity apps built exclusively for the Mac OSX and iOS platforms, leverages Macworld each year to reconnect with their customers, foster relationships with industry influentials and showcase upcoming apps. We were tasked with securing briefings with media and analysts to showcase the 2011 product roadmap and discuss the impact of the new Mac App Store.
As a result of our outreach, we secured more than 18 briefings with influential technology reporters and Apple-focused media and analysts including ZDNet, PC World, Macworld, Ars Technica, Technologizer, InformationWeek, Mac User, Seattle Times, Gartner, Forrester and more. These meetings have already resulted in 23 pieces of coverage to date from outlets such as Mac Observer, AOL/TUAW and Macworld. In addition, the Omni Group’s booth was consistently packed with visitors anxious to learn more about the company’s apps and meet the creators behind the popular productivity apps.
Macworld 2011 reminded me how vibrant the Mac community is. In every corner of Moscone West there were conversations and buzz on everything from apps to new programs to iPad cases. Clearly Macworld has evolved but it hasn’t deterred a passionate community from coming together to celebrate innovation around Apple’s platforms.
Recently I had the opportunity to do some in-depth research on how to launch a promotion on Facebook to help one of our clients meet its business and communications objectives. As I was discovering the various intricacies, guidelines and best practices, I thought it would be useful to develop and share a check list that can be used by any organization who is considering launching a promotion on Facebook. At a minimum, here is what you should know:
- Know the Rules. Facebook has strict guidelines about implementing contests on its platform. For more details, visit http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php.
- Determine your Goals and the Definition of Success. Are you looking to drive more engagement with your brand? Do you want to stimulate sales? Or do you want to gather information about your customers? Once you know what you’re trying to achieve and how you’ll measure ROI, you’ll be able to develop the right type of promotion.
- Consider Wildfire Interactive. You can only administer a promotion on Facebook through an application. Wildfire Interactive has an online software application that enables businesses and organizations of all sizes to easily create their own attractive, branded interactive campaigns (e.g. sweepstakes, contests, give-aways, incentive-based surveys, etc.) and to simultaneously publish them in multiple social networks and their websites. You can learn more about these applications by visiting the Wildfire website or call them directly to chat with a customer service representative.
- Find a Developer Versed in Facebook Markup Language (FBML). If you are using Wildfire Interactive’s lower-end service, you may want to make modifications to your landing page or maybe link a couple of promotions together to create a single promotional campaign. If this is the case, you’re likely to need a developer familiar with FBML and Cascading Style Sheets. Alternatively if you have the budget of $15,000 to $25,000, Wildfire Interactive’s team will happily create a white label promotion taking care of all the custom application development for you.
- Keep it Simple. To drive participation, we recommend making the promotional campaign easy for people to enter. Those that are complicated simply don’t attract as many participants. For instance, asking people to submit a photo is much easier than asking them to create a five minute, original video.
- Determine Criteria for Judging. Think about how you’re going to evaluate and determine winners. With Facebook promotions, you can convene a panel of prominent or celebrity judges to determine winners, have the public vote to determine winners or take a combination approach with judges selecting finalists and the public selecting the winner. You will want to think about what will work best for you.
- Come up with Compelling Prizes. You need to make it worthwhile for people to participate in your contest. The right prizes are essential; however, you must make sure they are relevant to your audience and your brand.
- Publicize Your Promotion. Develop a publicity plan to drive awareness of your contest, sweepstakes or special offer. Make sure to include information on your website, and consider the development and distribution of a press release to generate interest. Here is a release distributed by Cathay Pacific Airways announcing a “unique competition through its official Facebook page.”
- Build in Time for Winner Notification. When your promotion ends, you are likely to need a few days to get in touch with the winners, since according to Facebook’s policy you cannot notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat or posts on profiles or pages.
- Seek Legal Counsel. Get an attorney to review your official rules, entry form and terms and conditions for participation to ensure you are in compliance with state and federal laws. You should also understand the taxes required when prizes are awarded.
For more information about social media promotions, please check out our previous blog posts on the topic:
- Wildfire Interactive Provides Easy, Customizable Facebook Campaigns (Jun. 23, 2010)
- Social Media Contests Have the Power to Drive Massive Awareness and Engagement (Apr. 30, 2010)
- Twitter Contest Helps Drive Awareness and Sales (Feb. 19, 2010)
You can also check out current promotions on Facebook here.