Media Relations and Branding – PR Company Surrey Helpful Tips
That great idea has hatched, it feels good, it smells good and you believe it could be hugely successful but you dont know how to market it. What do you do?
I am sure many of us have experienced that frustration at some point, your idea or product is worth knowing or worth having but how do you tell the world about it? Especially if there are a million other ideas flooding the market and they are all dressed up in razzle dazzle and hogging the limelight.
It is a given these days that a little bit of showbiz dressing can push a product or an event a long way, provided it has some value to begin with. Your work might be the best in the business but if nobody else is aware of it, your endeavours may be fruitless.
So what are the foundations to build success on? What kind of makeover is needed to transform a brand name that is genius but painfully obscure into something that is on peoples minds everywhere and causing a real buzz?
Your goals are brand awareness and brand recognition. How do you get there?
Brand Identity: Your product or event needs an identity, does it have one? How do you bring your brand to life and make it dance in the limelight?
Brand Strategy: Your brand has now established an identity so what do you want it to achieve? What results are you looking for? Which people do you want to reach the most? How do you make sure it happens?
Brand Building: The identity of your brand is in place and you are happy with it. Your brand strategy is planned and mapped out and now you want to bring all the jigsaw pieces together to complete the puzzle. What are the tools you can use to perfect your package?
Once you have climbed these particular steps your brand should be ready for the rat race that begins once it is in the public eye. The hustle and bustle of competition, the pushing and shoving of myriad other brands diving for the spotlight of fame and fortune.
It is now that the tools you have chosen to employee will be needed the most. Have you chosen the correct tools for your brand? What tools are there? How do use them when they seem so bewildering? Many decide to manage their own brands but for some it is too daunting, to complicated and too technical.
Crisis management, media relations, online Pr, social media Pr and press releases are some of the tools that will undoubtedly be essential when it comes to the brand battle.
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Leave a commentContent generation paves the way for more impactful media relations
– The media and communications industry has embraced social media, and PR practitioners in many organisations are similarly jumping on the bandwagon, creating Facebook profiles and Twitter handles for their companies. Nonetheless, in a playing field that is getting more cluttered, communicators need to adopt new ways of differentiating themselves and making themselves seen and heard.
To stand out from the crowd, PR practitioners need to start creating content that adds value to their readers and viewers. Instead of one-way brand messages, the content that brands provide now needs to be informative, compelling, timely, and most importantly, relevant to their target audience. Simultaneously, by providing people with a platform on digital media to interact with the brand, it allows for greater engagement and brand resonance.
“By providing expertise and thought leadership, brands gain credibility and trust from communities as they position themselves as industry experts. Great content is critical and social media provides the channels which brands use to engage their audiences in conversation. Combining these elements helps to enhance a brand’s reputation,” says Andy Oliver, Senior Vice President of Lewis PR.
The shift of brand communications to digital platforms is not without risk, and the media industry has seen many examples of communications evolving into a full blown PR disaster with the help of social media. While most organisations already have a crisis plan in place, it is imperative, when brands venture into social media, that they also incorporate the digital element into their crisis plan. Such a preemptive provides organisations with an action course that will prevent the escalation of any issues into a major PR crisis.
Donald Steel, former Chief Communications Adviser of BBC, confirms this: “In this social media age, where news spreads round the world in a nanosecond, it is more important than ever that companies plan and prepare for a crisis. It’s cheap and easy to do, with a little help. Without a crisis plan, an organisation is on the road to losing their reputation and their revenue when trouble hits.”
Oliver and Steel, among other experts in the industry, will be addressing these issues and more in a conference held in Singapore and Hong Kong in July this year. Some of the key highlights of the conference include relationship building, media pitching, leveraging on opinion leaders, and measuring the ROI of media campaigns. These will be shared by Genevieve Hilton, Regional Head of External Communications of BASF, Carson Dalton, Head of Corporate Communications of BT Asia Pacific, James Hacking and Max Sim, VPs of BlueCurrent Group, Ian Brown, VP and Head of Communications for SAP Asia Pacific Japan, and Jon Wade, Head of Digital Practice, Asia Pacific of Weber Shandwick among others.
Title: Media Relations in the Digital Age Conference
Date & Venue: 4 – 5 July 2011, Sheraton Towers, Singapore
7 – 8 July 2011, Regal Hongkong Hotel, Hong Kong
Organiser: Pacific Conferences
For information, please go to
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Posted in media relations | Content, generation, impactful, Media, MORE, paves, Relations | Leave a commentSet up great Public media relations with Kbstrategies
As the proliferation of information rapidly increases with the advent of technology, building up a brand for your products becomes increasingly hard. Maintaining an effective image almost always requires professional help. Public relations is used by big brands, companies and businesses to build a rapport with employees, customers, investors, voters or even the general public. Public relations is mainly of three types – Financial public relations that provides business related information to business reporters, Crisis public relations that responds to negative accusations and information and most importantly Product public relations that promotes products and ensures adequate publicity for products or services. One of the best companies present that promote great public media relations is Kbstrategies.com. If you have a great product or service which you want to get out to the public but have no clue how to do it, this is one NYC PR firm you should approach. Some of the most competent personnel are hired by this company will help you come up with effective solutions. Services include developing a strategic media plan, coming up with a compelling media message and making sure your message is delivered to prominent journalists, producers and bloggers in the niche market for your product. Kbstrategies.com has an excellent track record of print, broadcast and online media placement for a wide range of companies. To put forward an idea to a client, communicating complex ideas in a simple and effective way are essential. To do this, Kbstrategies.com employs a team of writers with stellar credentials. Newspaper columnists, magazine editors, associate literary editor and political strategists have all joined the fray to provide clients with excellent services. To promote your brand of products, whether it is brand new merchandise straight out of the production line or an age old label, good brand building strategies should be put together. Brand visibility, salience and maximization are some of the key notes that are taken care of by kbstrategies.com To know more about brand building or other services in communication and media available, log on to kbstrategies.com.
How You Can Make Media Relations Effective
With media relations, remember that journalists have to be accountable to their editors and to their readers. For journalists, the most important thing they’re trying to accomplish is to put out a newsworthy story. Does that mean you can get a fair chance at getting your own story across?
Many are misinformed about the press. In fact, many people believe that the media is in fact out to get them and that you have to be careful of what you say. This can also be true in the reverse. In those cases, people believe that the media wants to write good things about some people or organizations, perhaps to the detriment of reality. In fact, the truth usually exists somewhere between these two extremes.
If you want to get the best out of the media, first, appreciate that the media is going to need a good story. On the other hand, you as the hopeful positive target want some free publicity so that you can reach out to your audience and customers.
What’s the best way to make this positive for both parties?
1. Make It Newsworthy
Your story should be something the readers are going to be interested in and perhaps even love. If this is true, you’re probably going to have a good experience with the press. Of course, you as the company may have a message to deliver; if possible, make it valuable to the people who are going to see your story.
What you want to focus on is the value that your company brings.
In addition, journalists also want to know what the next new trend is. If you can let them know that the industry is heading in a certain direction, you’ve won half the battle. Or if you can offer breaking information on news that’s not been reported previously, this, too, is going to be newsworthy.
2. The News Has To Be Valuable to Your Audience
If your company is introducing a new product, focus not just on its innovative features (which may be of benefit to your users, true) but on the benefits users will get from the product and from those new features.
For example, one of the most important things for products these days is that they are environmentally friendly. If your product is among these, this is going to be newsworthy.
3. A Prepared Speech Is Fine, but Make It Personable
Of course, you see many people on the news these days reading prepared speeches. This is understandable, because most people (even experienced speakers) need at least some notes to follow when they’re trying to present certain points.
However, if you read from a prepared speech, make your points clearly and have them back with facts. If you have an opinion, that’s fine, but remember that the media and the people listening will also want to hear the facts. If you can do this, you can make a good impression.
4. What If You Have To Do a Television Interview?
It can be stressful if you have to do a television interview, because this presents many new things to think about. Do you look good? If you’re nervous and go blank, this is also a common problem for many. And doing an interview instead of a prepared speech will also probably take more time.
However, if you need to do a television interview, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Because your audience can see you, make sure your body language matches your words. If you’re nervous, again, this is understandable. However, try to be as casual and comfortable as you can. As you go along and the interview goes well, too, it’s likely that you’ll relax and simply become more natural. When you respond, look at the interviewer and not at the camera.
In addition, your responses should be as short and precise as possible. Don’t ramble, but do make complete points as much as you can.
One of the best things you can do to help improve future interviews is to record yourself and watch to see how you appear during the interview. This can help you correct anything you see that you’d rather not repeat and improve upon what he did for future interviews.
When you go on television to do an interview, people can see you, so that your enthusiasm and style is also carried across visually. This, in turn, gives you a bigger impact.
5. How Do You Get the Best Out Of Media Relations?
One of the necessary parts of business is to do media relations. However, instead of looking at journalists with a wary eye, keep in mind that they have a job to do (as do you), and that their presence can actually help you.
Typically, journalists are well informed and do their research. They call upon relevant sources, as they need to. Journalists want information that means something, and it also has to be authentic and true. They want reliable insights from you that will get attention from the audience.
If you understand their needs, you can adjust your interview in such a way that there’s news in it for journalists who will find it useful. In turn, their readers will also find it informative and valuable. When journalists know that you want to work with them, this will make things a lot easier for them.
With this said, you might still have some trepidation. That’s fine. However, speak with conviction and authority as only you can about your subject. Know what you’re talking about so that people will find you authentic. If someone has prepared something for you or you are repeating something you simply read, it’s going to show.
Once you start on the interview, you might be surprised to find that you’ll become very comfortable in a very short period of time during it. This is especially true for a topic you understand well.
Developing a good relationship with media relations lets you reach out to investors, the public in general, customers, and even your own employees. Don’t be afraid of doing so, but instead use it for something positive. If you appreciate it and handle it so that it provides a win-win situation for both you and the media, it’s all positive.
Trylon SMR CEO Lloyd Trufelman on how to develop a Media Relations strategy step by step.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
Working With a Media Relations Firm – the Greatest Misconceptions II
II. I Can Only Work With A Public Relations Firm Who Specializes In My Field.
Whereas I would rather that had some knowledge in my particular specialty, I would never discount a company purely because they had no previous experience in the field. I would rather hire a company that firmly understands media relations than one who understands my field or profession. The downside is that a firm with no previous experience in your field is probably not as well connected with the producers, writers, or editors that cover your business. But a good firm can always learn. Your primary concern is whether the firm you hire fully understands their own business. Although every campaign is different, in many ways all campaigns are remarkably similar. The tools and procedures remain pretty constant. Find a person or company that truly understands media relations, knows what is required to place a story, and knows how to develop story ideas, write releases, and make follow-up calls. Those are your primary concerns. If they understand the process and know how to implement a campaign, you’ll be okay. The rest they can learn.
Believing you can only work with PR firms who specialize in your field is perhaps the biggest misconception there is. Whereas there are upsides to working with a firm that specializes, there are also limitations. For example, if a company is too specialized chances are the media contacts they deal with are limited. They might be great a placing you in the most obvious of outlets, but do they have the contacts to widen the bull’s-eye and broaden your media coverage?
The tech boom in the late ’90s best illustrates one of the dangers of hiring individuals that
understand a particular field but do not understand the or its needs. As the ’90s came to a close we were inundated with stories about dot-com billionaires, the new economy, and high-tech marvels. Although the media fell for a great deal of the hype, most of the tech companies were being run by individuals who had little business savvy and even less marketing savvy. Most didn’t have a clue as to how to implement a media relations campaign. They were the world-changers entranced by their own techno-babble. Instead of hiring media relations experts who could translate this babble into plain English they hired tech experts to write their releases and pitch the media.
The results were as confusing as they were amusing. The techno-babble floodgates opened with releases about dynamic collaboration, extended enterprise processes, supporting a process-based flow beyond the fire wall, etc. In the ’90s, the point of view was basically – “if you don’t understand it too bad. Get out of the way!” Trouble was a lot of the media didn’t understand it either, which meant several good stories went untold and a lot of companies missed huge media opportunities.
Working with a company that is more eclectic in its client-base could end up being a real advantage. A company that represents clients in a variety of fields generally learns how to pitch to a wide range of media contacts. If they’re good at what they do, they have an amazing media rolodex. Your primary focus needs to be on finding a company who truly knows PR. If they’re good, they can learn about your business and launch an effective media campaign, which is the name of the game.
Copyright © Anthony Mora 2008
For further information visit:
http://www.AnthonyMora.com
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Posted in media relations | Firm, Greatest, Media, Misconceptions, Relations, Working | Leave a commentAvail the best media relations services in Sussex to reach your target audience
Media relations services in Sussex have a strategic approach as far as effective communication is concerned. The key idea is to build relation with news and media on behalf of the company.
PR agencies in Sussex specialize in media relations services: Reaching the right media with the right message at the right time. Planned and strategic media relations can enhance your brand image, drive interest about your company, not only in media outlets, but with your target audience and business partners, as well. Effective media relations services in Sussex can support your company’s market leadership.
Strategic media relations services in Sussex can help drive your business forward. Given below are some of the ways:
• Enhance brand awareness of your company
• Promote product and services with customers and business associates
• Create market leadership
PR agencies in Sussex use Social media tools as an important constituent of all of technology media relations programs. As the first step, these media agencies understand the business objective that is whether the company intends to promote its brand, or generate sales leads or wish to become strategically acquired. Once the goal and strategy have been defined, suitable media relations services in Sussex are implemented by crafting a persuasive message to target the most influential media.
The news media has to be controlled in a strategic way. So the ongoing rapport between an organization and the news media is fundamental. The companies cannot invest so much time on media relations. So agencies in Sussex offer media relations services on the behalf of companies. The agencies help organizations to build public support and mobilize public opinion for an organization.
The media agencies in Sussex have experienced employees who know exactly what it takes to get your message conveyed to the target audience. They understand your business challenges and come up with strategic solutions and media relations services that are more than a few PR creative types to draw attention.
Targeted to the PR Industry and companies intending to use social media as a promotional platform this webcast aims to explore the relationship between facebook, twitter and the many different audiences that can be found on social networking sites. Please check out my blog for further discussions relating to PR / Online PR and Social Media Integration. missheerah.wordpress.com
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Importance of Media Relations Software for Your Company
A company needs to interact with the media to communicate with its current and potential clients through advertising, press releases and many other activities. This is why media relations software is a major requirement for these activities to move smoothly for any organization.
The specialized software helps first and foremost in the management of media relations activities. These include planning for press conferences, organizing events suited for media coverage, managing advertising campaigns, among others. You can therefore get the best service from software that is designed to manage your media activities effectively.
Another great advantage to managing media relations is that the software helps you monitor all the company’s media coverage as well as respond to the media houses and audiences quickly. This in turn establishes a professional relationship between your organization and the media.
Every aspect of media relations requires keeping accurate records for the sake of accountability and financial management. Media relations software comes with features that include the cost of setting up and implementing advertising campaigns, press conferences and even during crisis management since all these require budgeting for. You can easily access all these records to keep track of spending during these activities.
Project management is an essential part of media relations which is part of the software you choose. You need to supervise, schedule and keep tabs on the progress of your PR projects on a regular basis in order to measure the success of the project. You also receive performance reports for every project, which are generated by your software. All these reports are necessary when managing projects, so choose software that can do this for you.
There are many different activities that must be conducted by an organization to establish and maintain media relations. Taking into consideration the changes in media for both the press and clients, the need for impact with every message the company sends out, and any contingency plans to establish, media relations software is invaluable for your organization. With the right software for your organization, you can be sure that your PR activities are taken care of. It is affordable to install and takes little expertise to use the software, and all your staff in charge of media relations can easily make use of it.
For the best software to suit all these media relations needs, check out AI Media Communications for various software options. You will find software for organizations regardless of their sector of operation and PR activities. All aspects of communication for your organization is well catered for. Get the best media relations software from AI Media Communications.
AI Newsflash: Leading Media Relations Software
If you are looking for media relations software that combines numerous PR functions with great usability, AI Newsflash is your best option. The software, provided by www.Aimediacomms.com comes with a wide range of features that can handle all your media relations, and plenty more.
You need media relations software that will keep up with the changing media trends, from television, newspapers and radio to social networking channels. AI Newsflash not only helps you to keep track of all your appearances in the media, but also provides an easier way to plan for improving your media presence.
Any organization can benefit greatly from AI Newsflash, especially to save time and energy while improving your efficiency in handling the media. The software has excellent features that combine media relations with other communication functions carried out in your organization.
Using this software, you can manage and evaluate media coverage, which is the main function of AI Newsflash. Any advertising or marketing campaigns that you conduct can be monitored through the media relations software, which produces accurate timelines and impact analysis for each interaction you have with the media.
Another great feature is that the media relations software also gives you the tools you need to plan and implement media campaigns as part of project management. You can use previous data from other media activities to schedule for future messages and channels to reach your audiences over any period of time.
With media activities come inquiries from the public concerning the advertising and marketing conducted through these channels. AI Newsflash will help you to manage these responses from your audiences, as well as provide systematic responses to them. In this way, the media relations software also facilitates customer relations, building loyalty for your business at the same time.
AI Newsflash also gives you an excellent database that will act as your reference point for all media activities conducted using the media relations software. The database is completely searchable and stores information on a long-term basis, which means that even if you change your PR staff or hire a different agency for your media relations, all your information will be intact for your use.
AI Newsflash is affordable and gives you reliable service for all your media relations tasks. You can schedule to see the media relations software at work even before you make your purchase. Visit AIMediaComms.com to get a product brochure and learn more about this software and other PR solutions for your company.
Media Relations services in Sussex: To leverage your market value
Media relations is all about communication of information and relation building with news and media on behalf of the company. Media relations services in Sussex involves working with various media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization’s mission, vision, policies and practices in an affirmative, unswerving and convincing manner.
Media relations services in Sussex have the ultimate goal of maximizing positive coverage in the mass media without paying for it directly through advertising. Often the terms public relations and media relations are used interchangeably. However, Media relations services in Sussex is a specialized function of a PR campaign. Media relations refer to the relationship that an organization develops with journalists that is with the media, whereas public relations extend that relationship beyond the media to the general public.
PR agencies in Sussex offer media relations services with the key idea of reaching the right media with the right message at the right time. Planned and strategic media relations can value to your brand, drive interest about your organisation, not only in media outlets, but with your target audience and business partners, as well. Effective media relations services in Sussex can augment your company’s market leadership
Dealing with the media is not an easy affair. The news media cannot be controlled. So the ongoing rapport between an organization and the news media is fundamental. The companies cannot devote so much time on media relations. So agencies in Sussex offer media relations services on the behalf of organizations. The key idea is to enhance the brand image and awareness of the entity in order to create a positive impact with a chosen audience. The agencies help organizations to build public support and mobilize public opinion for an organization.
Media relations services in Sussex makes optimum use of media and encourages two-way communication with the target audience. Prominence in media outlets, like trade journals and newspapers, helps keep companies top-of-mind and supports the company’s market leadership.
Media relations services in Sussex makes optimum use of media and encourages two-way communication with the target audience. Prominence in media outlets, like trade journals and newspapers, helps keep companies top-of-mind and supports the company’s market leadership.
Kate O’Beirne, Washington editor of the National Review, gives tips on how to pitch the National Review and policy press at the 2007 Bulldog Reporter Media Relations Summit in Washington, DC
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