Three Keys for Media Success from Pitching to Placement – Insider’s Advice
Our friends at The Brainzooming Group helped shape an intriguing project featuring two graduate level marketing communications classes at the University of Kansas. Students in Max Utsler’s “Innovations in Marketing Communications” class and Barrett Sydnor’s “Integrated Marketing Communications and Sales Strategy” class are writing blog posts during the semester on topics related to the classes, including branding, marketing, media relations, social media, experience marketing, and innovation.
Today’s author is Dave Dunn. Dave is a Broadcast Journalist & Communications Professional in Kansas City studying for his MS, Journalism, Marketing Communications at the University of Kansas.
Today he offers some fantastic tips for better media pitches. You can take this advice to the bank, as Dave is a TV news reporter who has seen the gamut of media pitches–good and bad.
Working as a reporter in TV News for more than seven years—from small markets to large—I’ve come across countless press news releases and story pitches. My colleagues and I strive to give everyone a “fair shake” and seek out the stories that deserve coverage. Sadly, some of the best and most worthy stories may not get coverage because of things that can set apart news releases (and I say “news” release and not “press” release because some TV and radio folks may turn their nose up at the latter newspaper-related term). Here are three important tips for better success working with news media.
1. Formatting.
It starts before typing the first word. While the release needs to be clear, concise and easy on the eyes, don’t get fancy with formatting. Many news software systems are highly advanced in many aspects, but not when it comes to transferring text. Avoid tabs, boxes, graphic design or anything other than text that may not transfer properly. When news “gatekeepers” receive releases, they simply copy and paste them into the appropriate day or place where stories are filed. When reporters, producers or directors eventually view the release, those with “fancy formatting” are jumbled with encrypted code. It can cause news decision-makers to sift through half a page or more of hieroglyphics before getting to, or between, the important information. It can turn a one-page release into three. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen with this problem. You may know exactly what I’m talking about if you’ve applied for a job lately through a company’s website. It’s similar to what can happen when you upload or paste your resume in the requested area.
As far as pictures with news releases, I’m not at all discouraging you to include them. Visuals are often very beneficial, but keep pictures separate or make sure they are easily transferable/viewable. Include as attachments or provide a link for a media person to copy and paste into a web browser. You want to make sure pictures are viewed the way you intended.
2. Don’t Bury or Muddy the Lead.
Help reporters and news people do their job. It’s not about laziness, it’s just another strategy to help media people visualize the story. Obviously, you’re pitching a story that involves or promotes a company, organization or person. But don’t confuse that with the lead. The story is about what’s happening. News people don’t want to hear a company’s name 10 times before getting to what it’s actually doing and why it matters. Organize releases with the key facts in the lead. Get to specifics later. Also, look to provide something “juicy”, a “wow” factor or a story angle. And think “big tent” or large impact—the more the better in most cases. Attach a story motivator upfront in the pitch/release or make it clear. Here are some motivators to engage media (and media audiences).
Money – ways to save money or avoid waste
Family – ways of life
Safety – threats, ways to be safer or avoid danger
Health – threats, ways to live better or avoid harm
Community – how the country, region or city is changing, or a way of life
Innate Curiosity – something so cool or unusual that you want to see it
Moral Outrage – something that’s just plain wrong
3. Think Sundays.
Sundays are undervalued and present a lot of potential impact because it’s one of the highest viewership/ratings nights of the week (Fridays & Saturdays are lowest viewership). Yes, news staffs are smaller on weekends, but far fewer stories to choose from means much better coverage odds. Also, if you pitch a Sunday story, don’t leave an office phone number that’s only answered Monday through Friday. Provide a cell number.
An Explanation And Apology from Netflix
Netflix handled the announcement of their new pricing and service rollout poorly. People reacted negatively to the fee hike–to be sure–but perhaps more so the tone deaf nature of the announcement itself.
So, Netflix followed today with an apology from their CEO via email–take a look. Do you think it’s enough? Of course it is, but it won’t immediately repair (completely avoidable) damage to a beloved brand. It’s another lesson in carefully considering the PR damage that a dramatic change in service, fees or products can cause when customer reaction is (apparently) not a top consideration when crafting the announcement.
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| Dear Alex,
I messed up. I owe you an explanation. It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing. For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn’t make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do. So here is what we are doing and why. Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies. I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service. So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently. It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming. Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated. There are no pricing changes (we’re done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready. For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you. I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly. Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions. Respectfully yours, -Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix p.s. I have a slightly longer explanation along with a video posted on our blog, where you can also post comments. |
Hershey’s Not-So-Sweet PR Confection
PR Issue, Bar None
The New York Times reports that a walkout by hundreds of foreign exchange students protesting “low pay and physically draining work” has executives at the Hershey Company and three others related firms scrambling “to sort out which one was responsible for the conditions that prompted the students’ complaints.”
Sound familiar? We’ll get back to that after we look more closely at the Hershey situation.
In a (Zag)nutshell, foreign exchange students, came to the U.S. to participate in a summer visa arrangement as part of a longtime State Department program that allows the students to work for two months, then get some travel and cultural enrichment in the U.S.:
In a way, they did. About 400 foreign students were put to work lifting heavy boxes and packing Reese’s candies, Kit-Kats and Almond Joys on a fast-moving production line, many of them on a night shift. After paycheck deductions for fees associated with the program and for their rent, students said at a rally in front of the huge packing plant that many of them were not earning nearly enough to recover what they had spent in their home countries to obtain their visas.
They said they were expecting to practice their English, make some money and learn what life is like in the United States [...] “There is no cultural exchange, none, none,” said Zhao Huijiao, a 20-year-old undergraduate in international relations from Dalian, China. “It is just work, work faster, work.”
And so begins the finger pointing. Hershey is pointing at the subcontractors. The subcontractors are pointing back at Hershey–we think. Basically what we have here is a bit of a PR cluster–and we don’t mean Goo Goo.
If you’re thinking back to the ugly moments after the tragic Deepwater Horizon disaster, where BP tried placing blame on anyone but BP, then you win a Hershey bar. Or something. Essentially, Hershey is trying to deflect blame from itself to subcontractors, a strategy that failed miserably in BP’s case. We don’t wish to imply that loss of life and massive ecological damage is equitable to what’s happening at a plant that packages chocolate, but it does call Hershey’s labor practices into question–and that’s not a far cry from questioning their commitment to human rights. Bad PR any way you slice it.
Perhaps in this case Hershey should take a page from the kids who love their chocolate:
If a nine-year-old kid gets caught intentionally breaking a neighbor’s windows, the parent can’t just say “It’s his fault. Don’t look at me. I’m just his Dad.” There is a reasonable expectation that the grownup charged with the kid’s upbringing will discipline the nine-year-old and help make restitution. Can’t the same be argued for large companies in relation to the actions of the downline companies they hire?
Hershey has stated that they are “actively working with the parties involved to come to a solution that would address the students’ concerns.” We think Hershey would do well to actively take control of this situation–and can do so without accepting blame. How? Issue a statement that denies direct responsibility for the situation, yet make it clear that Hershey recognizes that rightly or wrongly, the “buck stops with them” and they want to help make it right.
How? First commit to a top-to-bottom examination of the way Hershey participates in the work program. Pledge to work with the State Department and subcontractors to ensure that the student workers are treated fairly and the program is conducted “as advertised.”
Hershey could also make a grand gesture: perhaps reimburse a portion of the students travel visa costs. Sure, that could leave a bad taste in some people’s mouth–smacking of “buying” the students off; but the PR value of such a gesture coupled with a serious commitment to fixing the program would be pretty sweet.
Whatever solution they conceive, the folks at Hershey’s are apparently hoping that aside from the New York Times (and a few foreign papers) this one stays under the national American media radar. That seems to be working, if Google’s news search is correct.
What do you think? The comments section is open for your thoughts.
Time and Tide Wait for No PR Man
Alex Greenwood on site in Joplin, MO.
On an early Monday evening I sat in my front yard, admiring my freshly cut grass and grousing about the growing list of work I needed to do on my aging house. My cell phone rang–it was a respected PR firm in NYC asking if I could go to Joplin, Missouri to manage PR on the ground for Tide’s “Loads of Hope” and Duracell’s “Power Relief” efforts. (AlexanderG’s membership in the PRConsultants Group made this happen. We love being part of PRCG!)
There was very little time to plan–time and Tide wait for no (PR) man. They needed me there Wednesday as Duracell was opening up for business then and Tide was setting up to open Thursday. I had to get my media lists together, consult with NYC on key messaging and make sure I had a place to stay. My wife’s aunt lives in Joplin–luckily her house escaped the worst of the storm and I could stay with her.
The Tide Loads of Hope mobile laundry program provides free full service laundry to relief workers and residents who need resources and support following the storm–we’re talking washed, dried and folded, free of charge. Pretty cool. Duracell’s Power Relief Trailer gave community members the ability to reconnect with their loved ones through recharging stations for their mobile devices, distribution of key Duracell products and information on how to get assistance in the area. It also features a computer kiosk station and Wi-Fi to help in recovery efforts.
News reports that described Joplin as looking like a “war zone” were not being hyperbolic. Set up a mile or two from the heart of the damaged area in a Wal-Mart parking lot, I worked a couple of very long days managing media covering the Tide/Duracell relief efforts. I interacted with the AP, local TV, newspapers from Joplin and St. Louis as well as radio and TV from the Kansas City-area. I kept in constant communication with NYC as well as managing a team of photographers and videographers who recorded the Joplin residents as they enjoyed the comforts of clean clothes and recharged mobile devices and computer access.
Joplin was a lot of activity crammed into a few days, but very rewarding. It was a good reminder when I returned home that the long list of home improvements I groused about only days earlier mean so little compared to the loss the citizens of Joplin have endured.
