ZB Group

media relations

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PR’s Place in the Multi-Platform Digital Age

PR Relevant in Digital AgeIf you thought the digital age was making PR irrelevant – think again.

The vast number of media outlets today has actually increased opportunities for PR. No longer are TV and radio programs heard or seen once on-air at a scheduled time or are newspapers and magazines just read in print on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. According to NiemanLab, more Americans today are working for online publishers and broadcasters than newspapers.

Content is posted or streamed 24/7 across multiple platforms consumed by individuals on their mobile devices, tablets, laptops and desktops to read, listen or watch live or on-demand. It is often shared, blogged, liked or tweeted about on social media. This means if you, your brand, event, products, book, organization, cause or services are mentioned in the media, it has a long online life.

News outlets large and small have become integrated multimedia informational platforms with complementary websites, blogs and podcasts. Their online counterparts usually feature video, images and feedback from readers and viewers about the content. You’ll often hear radio and TV hosts telling listeners and viewers to follow them on Twitter or find them on Facebook to foster two-way conversations and build a loyal community.

Programs Have Become Platform Neutral

People want to trust news sources for curation since there’s so much information available it’s hard to decipher what’s credible. As Chuck Todd, Host of Meet the Press on NBC explains, the long-running show has stayed relevant by being platform neutral in a 24/7 digital journalism world.

Bloomberg cites the top new media companies and why established media companies have invested in them. Here the Host of Bloomberg’s daily program “What’d You Miss?” explains how he sees the TV program as a source of online video content. Acknowledging that many people get their news from social media, Bloomberg Media will now live stream three shows on Twitter as well as their markets coverage.

SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PR?

New Opportunities for Building Relationships and Reaching Your Audiences

The digital age provides new opportunities for all kinds of experts to comment, weigh-in and be featured on-air, in print, online or in a podcast. Visibility and credibility via third-parties in respected outlets or when featured by consumers’ favorite bloggers, influencers or podcast hosts, helps marketing efforts gain traction and be successful.

We read about publishers’ digital-only platforms launching all the time such as Sports Illustrated’s new tech vertical covering sports, tech and media to broaden its scope. Fortune Live, a weekly web show with guest interviews from Fortune Magazine, launched last year.

This WSJ piece discusses how the marketing and culinary manager of the Andy Boy brand hired PR and advertising agencies for a campaign with TV personalities, digital and social media influencers. Together they worked to raise the cool factor for broccoli rabe and its nutritional benefits targeting young, food and health conscious consumers.

There are myriad ways to use PR and media relations for reaching niche, local or broad audiences to influence those who matter most for your business.

Coverage in Business Media

Business focused media has evolved along with the new digital landscape to remain profitable and serve the shifting habits of their audiences. Regardless of the platform, interesting stories and experts that are a good fit for the outlet, will resonate with the right journalists. For Global Context we arranged media interviews that resulted in coverage in Bloomberg Businessweek, WCBS’ CEO Radio, BBC.com’s Capital, Crain’s and others.

Contributed Content Is Sought

Some editors from major news outlets to those at trade publications, seek outside expert sources to write contributed articles due to small staffs and the need to regularly post new compelling content. They welcome help from PR pros and their clients to contribute relevant interesting articles and offer a variety of fresh topics for their readers.

  • NJBIZ – This prominent New Jersey business publication features blogs such as Millennial Minded, Breaking Glass for women in business and Industry Insights. We placed a by-lined article by Bart Jackson about why he believes humor is important in the workplace for the Industry Insights blog.

Many things have changed in the digital age but as far as PR is concerned, the opportunities have only increased.

 

 

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How One Media Interview Led to a Fruitful Business Relationship

Bart Jackson, left, with Jacque Howard in Princeton, New Jersey
Bart Jackson, left, with Jacque Howard in Princeton, New Jersey

PR has many benefits and building lasting relationships with desired audiences is one.

Maybe you’d like to connect with buyers of your products and services who are young consumers, senior level business leaders, homeowners, health conscious parents or online retailers.

Perhaps you want to find new clients, business partners or trustworthy vendors to help grow your business or explore potential possibilities and ideas.

If so, public relations can help with all of the above whether your business is B2C or B2B.

Here’s the back story about how a collaboration was born out of a single media interview.

In our previous post an interview that we arranged for Bart Jackson on Jacque Howard’s show Trenton 365 was cited.

Jacque’s the founder of Trenton 365, a community building program promoting civic engagement with a focus on the Delaware Valley Region and host of a radio show by the same name. It airs on WIMG AM 1300 and is streamed live Tuesdays from 8 to 9 p.m., and on WWFM 89.1 HD2 and streamed live Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6 to 7 p.m.

We reached out to Jacque proposing Bart as an interesting guest and sent along copies of his books. Jacque agreed he’d be a good fit and we subsequently arranged an interview last fall at a cafe in Princeton, New Jersey.

Bart is a congenial, entrepreneurial multi-talented guy as is Jacque so they had a lot in common and enjoyed chatting long after the interview ended.

Synergy developed between them in the following ways:

These are gratifying results sparked by an initial introduction via a media interview.

Have any of your media interviews or news coverage led to fruitful relationships? If so, please share them as we’d love to know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Use PR To Tell Your Story and Build Relationships

How PR is Earning Its Place in 2016 was the subject of a recent article in Advertising Age. As reported, the changing media landscape is putting public relations in the limelight. Marketers realize the benefits a well-crafted PR campaign can reap for brands and services in an environment where consumers may choose to opt-out, skip and block their clients’ messages as they strive to grab their attention. Plus, many of the online ads purchased, people don’t see as reported in the WSJ on January 25.

One aspect of PR is media relations which focuses on working with journalists to garner positive earned media placements for whatever it is you’d like to promote such as your brand, services, new product, book or event – and build relationships. Your news is incorporated into stories in the form of TV or radio segments, digital pieces, newspaper or magazine articles or blog posts, which may also be shared on the outlet’s social media platforms or on yours. Earned media has valuable credibility because it’s reported by independent third party news professionals and sources who your audience knows, follows and trusts.

With that in mind, below are examples of how PR can help to tell your story. These represent recent media coverage we arranged for Stuart Friedman, the CEO of Global Context, who leads and founded a cross-cultural communications firm to help businesspeople work successfully with those from other cultures and Bart Jackson, CEO of Prometheus Publishing, creators of BartsBooks, and host of The Art of the CEO radio show.

Major Market Radio Interview – WCBS Newsradio 880, CEO Radio

Ray Hoffman, left, with Stuart Friedman at the WCBS studio in Manhattan
Ray Hoffman, left, with Stuart Friedman at the WCBS studio in Manhattan

CEO Radio is broadcast within the New York metro area featuring the experiences of chief executives and entrepreneurs. Ray Hoffman, host of CEO Radio, interviewed Stuart Friedman at the station. The interview, edited into nine different one-minute news features, aired December 14, 2015 – December 23, 2015. Each on-air segment is repeated four times a day. Listen to the full interview and the one-minute excerpts at the WCBS website.

Digital Marketing Communications Publication – Campaign U.S.

Stuart Friedman’s comments were included in the piece 20 Ways To Embarrass Yourself Around the World where he discusses what NOT to do in China and what TO DO in Sweden.

New Jersey Newspaper – The Cranbury Press

An Innate Craving To Create Things for the Good is the title of this half-page print story featuring Bart Jackson which was also posted online.

Community & Media Organization – Trenton 365

Bart Jackson, left, with Jacque Howard in Princeton, New Jersey
Bart Jackson, left, with Jacque Howard in Princeton, New Jersey

Jacque Howard’s Trenton 365 is a community building program promoting civic engagement. He interviewed Bart Jackson for his radio show Trenton 365 which is heard in the Delaware Valley Region.

Bylined Article – NJBIZ

Bart Jackson’s article, In Praise of Folly, was published in the NJBIZ “Industry Insights” blog sharing his thoughts about adding humor to the workplace.

Reach out if you’d like to learn how we can help your company, organization or brand get the attention it deserves, boost its image, grow business and build relationships in 2016 using public relations.

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HOW PR AND PUMPKINS ARE ALIKE

Stults Farm
Stults Farm

Autumn is a beautiful time of year in New Jersey. Bright skies, cooler temps, colorful leaves and numerous farms selling a bounty of fresh picked and pick-your-own fruits and vegetables. I snapped this photo at one of my favorite local area farms, Stults Farm established in 1915.

On a recent visit while gazing at their pumpkin patch, I thought about the similarities between PR and particularly media relations or earned media coverage. Media relations is one of the components of PR in which we specialize. Read on for some comparisons as you have fun pumpkin picking, decorating or savoring pumpkin pie this season.

PLANT THE SEEDS AND PLAN YOUR STRATEGY. A first step is to plant the pumpkin seeds in the patch. A PR pro does the same when working with a new project or client. Much thought, creativity and up-front planning goes into the strategy to “plant the seeds” that will ultimately produce news media coverage in the form of TV or radio segments, articles, podcasts or blog posts.

The strategy is very important – who do you want to reach? Will you concentrate on local, national, international news outlets? What types of journalists, bloggers or other influencers are appropriate for your messages? Will an in-person, online or blogger event make sense? Should you consider partnering with a non-profit organization whose mission supports your product or service? Would thought leadership pieces such as bylined articles be developed? There is a lot to consider up-front so that the PR/media relations plan is successful and your goals are met.

Stults' Pumpkin Patch
Stults’ Pumpkin Patch

PICK OUT INTERESTING, NEWSWORTHY TOPICS, ANGLES OR IDEAS. Once the pumpkins have matured it’s time to pick your favorites from the patch or farm stand. To drive results, it’s important to pick topics, angles or ideas that are newsworthy. Here are a few things to consider:

  • Can your product or service tie-into a current lifestyle, news, health, business or other trend?
  • How does your product or service help consumers or other businesses?
  • Do you have something that is new and different to introduce?
  • Is there a time of year or national event that could provide a hook?

PR/media relations professionals together with their clients answer these types of questions and many others to pique interest and arrange coverage.

CARVE OUT THE LIST. Now the fun starts! Much like the time-intensive activity of carving out a pumpkin, a mainstay of any media relations plan is carving out your target list. Extensive thought is given to who should be contacted and which types of outlets to include on the list – national, local, regional or all three. This list may include tech, business, food, style, home, fashion, health, real estate, workplace or general news reporters, to name a few. Also, many reporters are freelancers who cover different beats and contribute to several outlets. In today’s multimedia environment, stories are often published or broadcast across multiple channels, devices and platforms. There could be a wide range or a small niche of journalists who are a good fit for your story. Since journalists often switch beats and jobs, it’s very important to keep media lists current. An updated database with journalists, bloggers, freelance writers/editors/content creators and influencers is the bread-and butter of media relations.

LIGHT IT UP AND SHARE THE GLORY! Much like a lit pumpkin which shines brightly, attracts attention and glows, once a story is published or aired featuring your company, product, service or event, light it up and increase “the glow” by sharing the news. Showcase your media placements in e-newsletters, on your website or across your social media channels.

The credibility, visibility and SEO that coverage in the news media provides, remains a cost-effective part of any marketing communications plan.

 

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The Future of Quality Journalism: From The Experts (Videos)

The Quality Journalism in the Digital Age Conference on April 10 was definitely a Friday well spent. Hosted by the Rutgers School of Communication and Information, media professionals, academics, content providers, photojournalists and leaders in the nonprofit world shared their views about the changing landscape and its future as they see and live it. We also learned about their provocative work and research.

The day was open to the public at no cost –  anyone interested was invited. I had the opportunity to chat with a TV producer for the “CBS Evening News” and the executive producer of “NJ TV News with Mary Alice Williams“. You can hear both of their presentations at the links below in Parts 2 and 3. The day wrapped up with a lovely evening reception at The Rutgers Club where I spoke with a sharp enthusiastic Rutgers student about Instagram and Pinterest and with a Syracuse University grad (my alma mater) who is a political and economic reporter for Millennial, a digital magazine.digital media devices

You can access all four sessions at the following links:

Part 1:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OQNdhEYRvo

Part 2:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90qpEZPjYaQ

Part 3:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqvLd-H2Ca4

Part 4:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTyzXhJE64U

 

Here are a few takeaways:

  • Newsrooms are a public good – the best hope is public support and engaging consumers. An example is NJ News Commons.
  • Find new sources of funding to help sustain journalism as The Washington Post did when the founder of Amazon.com Jeff Bezos took ownership.
  • Internalize quality journalism as a VALUE and in PRACTICE. Quality journalism comes with a cost.
  • The number of copy/layout editors at U.S. daily newspapers has declined drastically. In 2006 there were 10,424; in 2014 there were 4,722.
  • Many reporters now need multimedia skills since they’re required to shoot-write-edit-report their own stories.
  • Long form journalism is becoming more popular.
  • Trustworthiness is key for consumers of news.
  • Even with all the disturbances, much of what newspaper reporters do today they were doing 30 years ago.
  • Social media has helped build audiences for those outlets with limited resources.

Thank you Phil Napoli @pmnapoli, Katie McCollough @kemcco and Rutgers @MPIIRutgers for organizing an insightful important conference.

What do you think the future of journalism holds?