At Communiqué PR, our client list spans the tech, healthcare and service industries with companies ranging in size from start-ups to global organizations. Last August, we began working with one of the biggest names in IT, EMC Corporation, to increase the visibility of its media and entertainment group.
As a global leader in storage for media organizations, EMC’s media and entertainment group enables content creators, broadcasters, and content delivery providers to transform their operations by accelerating the creation and monetization of media, helping media professionals to store, manage, protect and analyze their digital media assets.
In order to secure specialized coverage for the media and entertainment business, we employed the following three-step approach:
1. Leveraging Available Content
Case studies are a valuable resource for PR professionals. Used correctly, they can enhance a client’s credibility, demonstrate the real-world benefits of a product or service, and highlight the tangible benefits of a client’s products without appearing too self-promotional. Whereas a product announcement may fail to elicit strong response from media, a compelling case study involving a well-known customer or interesting problem can capture an editor’s attention. Pitching EMC’s work in the sports sector with MetLife Stadium, MLB Advanced Media and the Philadelphia Phillies, Communiqué was able to secure an article in Seattle’s Geekwire (“How EMC Isilon is helping sports teams, broadcasters store and manage data”) and a feature story in SEAT magazine, a premiere publication of the seating industry.
2. Developing Blogs and Contributed Content
Another method to get clients in the news is to help them develop blog posts and bylines. Flag articles that they may have a strong response to or schedule a brief phone call to discuss potential topics that are currently impacting their industry. In most cases, executives have no shortage of ideas and subjects that interest them, but countless meetings and hectic schedules get in the way of being able to produce an editorial piece. This tactic also allows agency contacts to expand the stable of client contacts that they normally interact with – most often, PR or marketing personnel – and get input from product, engineering or sales teams. For EMC, we interviewed CTO of Media and Entertainment Tom (“T.V.”) Burns to create a three-part blog series on accelerated format shifts and how each new technology directly impacts innovation for broadcasters and post-production facilities. Before posting the series to EMC’s blog, we placed it in a key industry publication, TV Technology’s Opinions column (Why the M&E Technology Stack is Ripe for Disruption). Repurposing content maximizes a client’s return-on-investment (ROI) for PR and broadens the reach of an article.
3. Securing Speaking Opportunities
In addition to getting coverage in trades and tech outlets, we focused on identifying key tradeshows and industry conferences to leverage for speaker placement and media briefings. After building a list of target events, we developed speaking abstracts based on the show’s attendees and the executives’ areas of expertise to secure a speaker placement for our client. Participating on a panel discussion or delivering a keynote speech is an excellent way to elevate a company’s brand and position an executive as a thought leader among his/her peers. The latter was particularly significant as Tom Burns had recently joined EMC and we wanted to establish his role as a spokesperson for the company early on. Our efforts resulted in earned speaking opportunities for EMC media and entertainment executives to weigh in on topics such as “The Future of Television and Storage for High Resolution Content Capture and Production” at Digital Hollywood, Storage Visions and Digital Hollywood CES.
Our approach for EMC’s media and entertainment business has also provided us the opportunity to expand our services to the company’s Life Science team. We look forward to incorporating the above tactics in our strategy to raise awareness and driving meaningful coverage for them.