Talking press relations

The rules of the game are pretty simple, and can be flexible. They can even be broken on (rare) occasions. However, before you can break them effectively, you need to know them. But let’s start at the beginning.

Patience is a virtue
One of the first things to appreciate about the effects of a press campaign is that they take time to appear. Exactly how much time is hard to say, but you should think in terms of months, at the very least, and perhaps a year or so, before expecting to be able to point to any measurable benefits (in press terms) of your efforts. Of course, if your company suddenly invents a perpetual motion machine, well, naturally you’ll get instant coverage. And if it can produce a similar rabbit from the hat every month or two (and it will need to, as the press, like the public, has a short memory for anything positive), you’ll get constant press coverage with minimal effort. You’ll be in PR business in a big way. Actually - in a personal sense - you’re not. You’re really quite likely to be the opposite: redundant. Because any company which can routinely stagger the known universe with its brilliance will probably have little need for a structured press campaign, designed to attract the interest of the press. Journalists will jump through hoops of fire to get to its door. The issue then becomes one of channelling and controlling information. This is an important (and not necessarily easy) problem, though one which is subtly, but significantly, different to that of generating and developing PR opportunities. Another virtue, in PR terms, is size; the journalistic community - perhaps understandably - tends to show a marked tendency to report on companies which are simply large. Big, in PR, is as good a starting point as brilliant.

Most companies, though, are neither. So does this mean that they are doomed to be part of the silent majority; the bit of the iceberg we never see? Not necessarily. In fact, almost certainly not. Take a few rules of thumb, a sprinkling of imagination, a liberal helping of perseverance and about 4 tons of patience, mix well, and there’s no reason to expect anything less than impressive PR results. The vast majority of companies may not be international conglomerates, able to command the automatic and prolonged attention of the press. Neither have they discovered how to turn base metals into gold - always a good way of attracting editorial interest. On the other hand, they are doing interesting things - pressworthy things - in their own field, and deserve airtime. The problem is, they aren’t alone. They’re nearly always one of many. And there’s a queue for press coverage. The question is: what can you do to jump the queue? How can you make your voice into a signal amid the noise? What’s the secret of press coverage?

There isn’t one. Almost any company can command the interest of the press. Earth-shattering announcements certainly make things easier, but they’re not necessary. In fact, with a bit of nouse (and lots of discipline and diligence), there’s no reason why you can’t get good coverage for your company, even if its activities are pretty run-of-the-mill. You’ve simply got to know who in the press to talk to. And how. And when.

It also helps to know when to back off. But that’s for later. Right now, we’ll take a peek at some the conventional ways of courting the press. Although these are presented in no particular order, a natural starting point is the Press Release. We’ll discuss it in some detail, because it is a much abused and misunderstood animal.

The Press Release
The Press Release is probably the most basic tool of Press Relations. Used properly, it can be an effective way of disseminating information. Used badly, it …well, frankly, you’ll be wasting your time. And stamps.

A press release is simply a formal, text-based announcement of some kind (a new product/service, a big contract, a merger/acquisition, new channel partner, etc. etc.) which you send, unsolicited, to selected journalists. If they find it of interest, they print it - though it is often re-jigged (or, less technically, sub-edited). It’s as simple as that. No fuss, no bother. Write it, send it, see it in print. Simple, eh? Well, not quite.

First, it’s worth remembering that the average editor gets, well, lots of press releases on an average day. It’s hard to put an exact number on it, but - like Douglas Adams’ universe - it’s big. Really big. They can’t all be printed. So how can you make sure yours is one of the Chosen Few?

You can’t. It’s as simple as that. But there are a few things that you can do to stack the odds a bit in your favour. And one of these is to send your release to the right person. But let’s dispel one common myth right here. Sure, with the nationals and larger trades, it can help if you address your release to the person (if one exists) with a specific responsibility for your subject area, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. Press releases are (unless you’re doing something of mind-paralysing lunacy) usually recognisable as such, and will be passed to a relevant department. In fact, with most trade publications, it’s often sufficient to address your PRs to the Editor. The nationals are a little different, in that they generally have a large staff, and you should be able to find someone with a responsibility approximately specific to your area - “technology” or “telecommunications”, for example. If in doubt, though, the News Editor/Desk is a reasonable choice.

No, when it comes to getting your announcement into print, the addressee of your PR is the least of your worries. Your average PR is unlikely to get lost in the machine simply because you’ve sent it to A rather than B. But don’t worry; if you want to torpedo your own efforts to attract editorial interest with a press release, there’s lots better things you can do than simply address it to the wrong person.

In the next issue: Avoiding the torpedo effect - getting your press release printed.