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.
Months of cover-letter revisions and tapping into every connection in your LinkedIn has paid off – you have landed the ever-elusive PR internship. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and you are going to gain more experience in the next few months than you have in years of schooling. You want nothing more than to thrive and grow in this new position, but how? From one new intern to the next, here are a few tips that I have picked up along my journey with Communiqué PR (CPR) so far that are valuable tools to succeed as a PR intern.
Take notes
Although obvious, I want to reiterate the importance of taking notes. The CPR office is always stocked with composition notebooks, and we take great advantage of them. If your office does not supply them, I would suggest investing a few dollars in a pack of notebooks. I carry mine with me wherever I go so I am able to jot down things from to-do tasks that get casually asked of me (they aren’t always requested via email), to book recommendations from colleagues. There have been times where I have forgotten to bring my notebook to a meeting or check-in and I always regret it when I’m sitting at my desk later, thinking “What did they say again?” Mistakes happen, and people forget things, but try not to be the intern who has to ask someone to repeat something that has already clearly been stated – it could be perceived as you not listening.
Writing is key
Clear written communication is critical in public relations. You might find yourself writing a byline for a client or a speech for an executive, so make it a point to improve your writing throughout your internship. There are a few ways to make sure your writing is up to par, one of which is using the correct grammar and style. The correct way to write in the PR and Journalism world is to follow the AP Style Guide. As a PR intern, this book is your bible. It will tell you everything from the correct way to write a date, to which numbers to type out versus using numerals. It gets updated every year, so make sure you have the most current copy at your disposal.
Another way I have improved my writing at my internship is by reading critically. In the morning I pour myself a cup of tea and browse Medium and The New York Times and make notes of words and phrases that caught my eye that I can inject into my writing at CPR. I also look for places that were uncomfortable to read, where further edits could have been made. Learn from other writer’s successes and mistakes.
Accountability
You are responsible for everything you say, do, and write during your internship. You are new to the field, which means the work you are doing now is the foundation of your reputation. Use this to your advantage, since you have a clean slate and the opportunity to create a positive image for yourself in the industry.
Remember that everything you do has your name attached to it, so remain accountable for your actions. You don’t have to be the perfect intern and know everything there is to know about PR, but when you don’t know something, do not say “I don’t know.” Instead, follow up with an action item or an indicator that you will use your lack of knowledge as a stepping stone, such as, “I’m not certain on the answer to that question, but I will look that up and get back to you right away.” This shows you are eager to learn more and will continue to add to your knowledge bank.
Compete with yourself
Try not to compare yourself to other interns since every person has different skillsets and abilities. You may be great at editing, while the intern two desks down may be everyone’s go-to for creating briefings – and that is OK. You can’t control other people, but what you can control is your progression in the industry. One way I compete with myself is at the end of every day I evaluate what I can improve on tomorrow. I pick out a few things I want to focus on; it can be as broad as time management or as specific as finding more tailored publications to pitch contributed content. My advice here is to not see your shortcomings as stopping points or places to avoid, but rather opportunities to improve.
Be bold
This may come as a shock, but no one can read your mind. Be bold and confident and ask for what you want. I learned about press briefings on my second day at CPR and was fascinated with the idea of hearing a client and a journalist interact in real time, so I sent a note to the team asking to keep me in mind for future briefings and consider letting me sit in on them. I have since been invited to sit on calls and edit briefing documents, which exposed me to the preparation side of things as well. I promise you your superiors want to see you thrive and prosper in this new role, so don’t be afraid to ask for what you want and what will help you succeed in your PR internship.
Recently I was at a meeting where the head of global communications for a Fortune 100 company recommended that managers read a book called “The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business” by Erin Meyer. He raved about the book as a wonderful resource to those doing business with people in different countries.
As a small boutique PR firm, you might not think we have many international clients, but over the years we’ve served clients headquartered in Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, France, the United Kingdom and Mexico. In addition, some of our U.S.-based clients have also taken equity investments in foreign companies, which requires us to effectively collaborate with their parent company.
Every time we work with people living in another part of the world, we learn about their company’s unique culture, their communications preferences and how business is done in their country. For instance, a few years ago, we had a software client headquartered in Japan. I knew formality in business communication was important, but I had to learn the specifics of what that meant. To come up to speed, I spent a significant amount of time reading articles about Japanese business etiquette. This was helpful, but I wish I’d had “The Culture Map.”
In her book, Meyer provides readers a unique methodology to decode cultural differences so they can work together more effectively. She also does an excellent job explaining how cultural differences shape behavior and perceptions. Finally, she reminds readers that many of our perceptions are relative and based on our own unique culture experiences.
Consider the perception of age. If you’re 50 years old, you may think 30 is young. If you’re 15 years old, 30 might seem old. Similar relative perceptions exist around culture. Meyers asks readers to consider whether people in Spain build trust based on relationships or tasks: Are they a more relationship-based culture or a task-based culture? The answer is not as obvious as it might seem – it depends on what type of culture you grew up in or in which you currently live. If you’re from the U.S., the culture of trust tends to be more task-based than Spain, so you may perceive them to be more relationship oriented. However, if you are from India or China, trust building in Spain may seem more task-oriented in comparison to your culture.
This is just one of the eight areas that Myers focuses on in her book. The other areas include:
- Communicating: low-context vs. high-context
- Evaluating: direct negative feedback vs. indirect negative feedback
- Persuading: principles-first vs. application-first
- Leading: egalitarian vs. hierarchical
- Deciding: consensual vs. top-down
- Disagreeing: confrontational vs. avoids confrontation
- Scheduling: linear-time vs. flexible
When you scan this list, you can see the importance of each of these areas in doing business. Without an ability to communicate, evaluate, persuade, lead, make decisions, trust, and even disagree, it’s unlikely much will be accomplished. These foundational skills are critical and many of them are influenced by the cultural norms of your country.
Build-A-Bear Workshop’s “pay your age” campaign proved to be too good to be true.
The limited-time-only promotion provided customers with the chance to purchase the stuffed toys, which usually range in price from $20-$35, for the amount of their age.
Only hours after it began, the company cancelled the event due to safety concerns posed by ridiculously long lines and large crowds, with some reports of people waiting in line for up to nine hours.
After leaving customers angry and children disappointed, CEO Sharon Price John described the premature shutdown as “heartbreaking” on The Today Show (Today).
In addition to an authentic apology, John also noted that the “pay your age” promotion will continue all year long with Build-A-Bear’s “Count Your Candles” birthday program, where kids under the age of 14 can “pay their age” for a Birthday Treats bear during their birthday month. Additionally, the company offered discount vouchers valid through the end of August to the disappointed customers who were turned away after waiting in line.
Despite being ready for large crowds due to the promotion with fully staffed stores and fully stocked shelves, the customer response far exceeded the company’s expectations. Extensive media coverage of mobs of kids in tears probably wasn’t what the company had in mind when it decided to promote its birthday program, but from a crisis communications perspective, the company responded well to the debacle.
Specifically, John’s apology on Today will likely be used as a textbook example for PR and crisis management case studies. John’s remarks during the interview were incredibly poised, authentic and forward-thinking. Not to mention, sharing that she is a grandmother gave her the opportunity to genuinely empathize with parents across the nation who know how hard it is when kids get excited about something that doesn’t happen. After apologizing for the mistake and addressing the emotional nature of the pandemonium, she focused on what the company is doing to make it right.
The phrase “there’s no such thing as bad press” is certainly true in today’s media landscape. And if you judge success by column inches, live shots on network television and how much a company is being talked about in the public sphere, then what Build-A-Bear accomplished in terms of earned media is nothing short of incredible. Here are a few takeaways highlighting how Build-A-Bear responded effectively to this PR crisis:
Communicate quickly. In crisis communications, responding quickly with accurate, factual information can help manage a story in a favorable direction. The tone for coverage around any issue is usually set by the first few stories that break within 24 hours following an incident. In this case, the company reacted swiftly and hit the national media with an authentic apology the following day, which certainly set the tone for resulting coverage.
Embrace authenticity and transparency. Mea culpa when necessary. Showing character by apologizing, making wrongs into rights, and moving forward shows good character. John was authentic in her remarks, even pointing out she is a mom of three and empathizing with the parents of disappointed children. She owned the mistake, redirected the conversation to the company’s mission and values, and focused on moving forward.
Have a contingency plan. Even the most thoughtful plans sometimes go awry. While Build-a-Bear did not have one in place for this promotion, the company scrambled to put something together and is honoring a slightly abbreviated version of their original commitment with the discount vouchers and extended promotion.
The Build-A-Bear debacle is an example of how strong brands weather storms, however, what the results of the failed promotion will mean for the company’s reputation with customers in the long run is yet to be seen.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it: Creating a unique podcast in today’s saturated market is difficult – really difficult. But if you can do so effectively and creatively, the resulting success can truly change the way your business’s voice is projected and the way consumers view and interact with you.
A good case study of a strong corporate-made podcast is General Electric’s The Message. This eight-part sci-fi series, released in 2015, follows a fictional team of cryptologists as they attempt to decode an alien message from outer space. The podcast is the brainchild of GE’s in-house agency The Grid, their ad agency BBDO, and the podcast network Panoply. The medium of The Message opened a new way for GE to tell stories and speak to the public. GE’s global chief creative officer Andy Goldberg describes the podcast as a strategic approach to interaction with the same audience yet engaging in an entirely new way, giving listeners a different association with the company.
Thus was born GE Podcast Theater – a throwback homage to old school radio and General Electric Theater of the 1950s hosted by Ronald Reagan. During its eight-week run, the podcast had over 1.2 million downloads and reached No. 1 on iTunes podcast charts – talk about raging success.
Is a Podcast Right for You?
While GE’s success story is the cream of the crop as far as corporate engagement through podcasts, it might be unrealistic for your company to spend hours cooking up artfully crafted, customer-oriented episodes. Podcasts require a lot of effort, time, and commitment to keep up and keep engaging, especially today when it seems like everyone and their mother has one. How will you separate yourself from the crowd? If you’re feeling confident and creative, these considerations might help you determine if a podcast is the right move for your business.
- Filling the air
You should assume that each podcast episode will be at least 20 minutes, if not more. While that in itself might not be too scary, consider that you’ll want to keep podcast publishing reliable in order to grow and maintain a regular follower base. Once or twice weekly is a good basis for publishing episodes. I’d recommend committing to that schedule for at least 6 months, at a minimum. If you don’t have enough varied material to talk about that often, developing episodes can become more of a burdensome to-do than a valuable marketing addition.
- My next guest needs no introduction…
Whether or not your next guest actually does need an introduction, it’s important to have them on your show! Audiences would much rather hear multiple voices and viewpoints in conversation as opposed to a lengthy monologue. Make sure you can keep it varied, or at least relevant, with guest speakers from your company, the industry, etc. Not only do these other voices maintain interest, they also build approachability, an important aspect of the medium of podcasting.
- Build it and they will come…
… or at least we wish this were true. Building a reliable and committed audience following is no walk in the park. Audience trust is a bond built through analysis, insight, and storytelling. Make sure you have the budget and the time to put the work in to marketing, writing, planning, and editing to bring those podcast downloads rolling in.
Creative and innovative businesses with good journalistic abilities should not feel discouraged by the challenges of podcasting. The risk and energy investment can be well worth the significant rewards in community building, publicity and marketing, and customer engagement. Podcasts are having a moment, and you could be the next big player in the game.
In the month of June, our client Spaceflight, the company reinventing the model for launching small satellites into space, shared two exciting announcements detailing future launches with both Virgin Orbit and Rocket Lab.
The first announcement we released focused on three upcoming missions with Rocket Lab, scheduled to take place in 2018 and 2019. All three missions will lift off from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and propel the customer spacecraft into Lower Earth Orbit. Spaceflight has procured capacity aboard each of these missions and will work with clients to integrate payloads into the space. Aboard those missions will be some impressive customers, including Canon Electronics and BlackSky, Spaceflight Industries’ geospatial intelligence platform.
Later in June, the company shared that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a mission to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in 2019 with Virgin Orbit aboard a LauncherOne. Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl, a dedicated 747-400 carrier aircraft, will carry LauncherOne to an altitude of approximately 35,000 feet before release for its rocket-powered flight to orbit.
Both announcements are important milestones for Spaceflight and indicate the demand for rideshare launches, a reliable and affordable way for smallsats to access space.
Later this year, Spaceflight is scheduled to launch its first ever dedicated rideshare mission, SSO-A. The mission will take place on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Spaceflight purchased in full.
With all the exciting news, we want to share some of the results. Keep an eye out for more coverage about Spaceflight and the company’s exciting year ahead!
- Spaceflight strikes deal with Rocket Lab for three satellite launch extravaganzas—GeekWire, 6/11/18
- BlackSky, Canon Electronics Sign on for Spaceflight’s Upcoming Rocket Lab Launches—Via Satellite, 6/11/18
- Spaceflight books three Electron rockets—SpaceNews, 6/11/18
- Spaceflight launch services company adds Virgin Orbit and Cosmic Girl to its lineup—GeekWire, 6/25/18
- Spaceflight Boosts Smallsat Launch Range with LauncherOne—Via Satellite, 6/25/18
- While some NW space companies show progress, asteroid miner Planetary Resources is in rocky shape—The Seattle Times, 6/26/18
- Spaceflight plans to send satellites into space on a Boeing 747-launched Virgin Orbit rocket—Puget Sound Business Journal, 6/26/18
- SPACEFLIGHT ENTERS INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH VIRGIN ORBIT FOR RIDESHARE MISSION—Spaceflight News, 6/27/18
- LauncherOne Captive-Carry Test Flight Set For Early July—Aviation Week, 6/28/18
Trade shows have evolved significantly since I started my PR career back in the late ‘90s. In a similar vein, journalism and publishing have also transformed themselves over the years and continue to do so today.
“Back in the old days,” as the PR elders like to say, it seemed like trade shows were packed wall-to-wall with reporters. Publications would send every reporter they could to cover the show-related news and meet with the companies that were exhibiting or speaking there.
Today, however, trade shows – and the media relations activities supporting them – are an entirely different ball game for all of the players involved.
For one, with the emergence of blogs, social media and smartphones, it’s easier and faster than ever for PR professionals and our clients to interact with reporters and build personal relationships. The dependence on in-person meetings is much reduced in comparison to the pre-internet days since it’s far more common and easier to reach out with a simple “like,” a DM, or a text message.
Secondly, publications generally send fewer reporters to cover these events in-person; as such, the journalists that are onsite reporting during a show are tasked with covering the entire event, making their time there for in-person briefings incredibly limited. It’s challenging to meet with companies during a show because journalists are often too busy reporting on keynote speeches and breaking news. This has shaped how and when companies issue news announcements or hold press conferences at trade shows – if fewer reporters are there to attend your live press conference, does it make sense to do it during the event? Sometimes yes, sometimes not.
We recently had the opportunity to support Dell EMC’s presence at the 2018 NAB Show, the annual event for the National Association of Broadcasters, which brings together industry professionals in the media, entertainment and technology industries. NAB is a massive show: More than 102,000 people attended this year’s event from more than 160 countries.
Given the shift in the way that major industry gatherings like NAB are covered by media, we wanted to offer some best practices we learned based on our work with Dell EMC for this show.
Start media outreach early. Depending on how large a show is (100K versus 1,000 attendees) it makes sense to start planning PR pitching efforts at least four to six weeks before the show begins. For Dell EMC, we developed and sent out a “save the date”-style pitch a month or so before NAB that was light on details but allowed us to get meetings booked early with several key contacts. Schedules fill up fast at these events! You can always follow up with more details about show-specific announcements and activities later, after your target media contacts have confirmed their availability to meet.
Keep the conversation industry-level. After the initial save-the-date pitch, we shifted our efforts to focus on Dell EMC’s predictions for both the show, and the broadcast and media industries at large. This allowed us to discuss broader trends and challenges (for example, the industry’s increasing “elastic demand” for resources), and how Dell EMC and its solutions portfolio addressed those. Rather than sending out a salesy, buzzword-filled pitch that centered on Dell EMC’s products only, we elevated the conversation to address higher-level industry-wide issues. As a result, we were able to secure a byline with a key broadcast publication, and a briefing with a key industry association’s publication.
Create and leverage content assets. In addition to media relations, we developed a blog post for Dell EMC around what demos and products attendees could expect to see at the show (“One Technology Provider for All Your Media Pro Needs,” April 9, 2018). Content like blog posts can not only be helpful for PR teams to secure media interest but can be leveraged by sales and business development executives within the organization to send to clients and prospects to secure meetings at the event.
In total, we secured seven press and analyst meetings for Dell EMC’s media and entertainment team, comprised of both phone interviews and onsite meetings at the show. The resulting coverage included the following:
- postPerspective TV, April 13, 2018 – “NAB 2018: Dell EMC’s Tom Burns”
- NAB Show Live/Broadcast Beat, April 17, 2018 – “NAB Show Live, Wednesday”
- postPerspective, April 26, 2018 – “High Performance Flash Storage at NAB 2018”
- Digital Production Buzz, April 26, 2018 – “Thomas Burns: Scalable, Flexible Storage for Media Collaboration”