HELP FIND a Story!
By Madhavi Mukherjee on Feb 3, 2008 in Indian PR industry
This is apart from the usual Communication theories that I write about and it concerning us in everyday life…something that we all could do with…we all in the PR profession. And this ‘something’ is called simplifying the message…still not getting it, eh?!
Okay, here goes: This came to me from a close friend of mine who is a journalist too. He said, “Mads, I only wish PR professionals could simplify the brief. Simplify does not mean talking down to us. When I say simplify, I mean stop reading from a Client backgrounder note or a press release. Give me the story, tell me what you understand the tale is all about, give me the reason why I should write about your Client or rather, why is what you are saying newsworthy?”
And I immediately realized what he was saying…he was asking PR professionals to stop being talking parrots. We are the closest conduit of the Client to the Media. We are supposed to understand the industry, the sector, the Client’s business, the competitor’s, the relevance of what the Client is trying to the masses et al. So the only reason you are probably reading out aloud from a document is because you do not know the above. And this is exactly the point where we have probably switched off’ the journalist on the other side of the call…
When in one of my previous articles I spoke about cultivating media, this is what according to me would be the crucial element in the entire Cultivation process…knowledge about your Client. And it is this lack or background knowledge about your Client that compels the media to scoff at PR professionals. You cannot keep telling the journalist ‘I will get back to you’. If you did not know, then why did you call him in the first place?! Padhna tha na pehle, samajhna chahiye tha pehle…uske baad jaatey story pitch karne!
There is a document that we usually work on when we begin working on a Client… It’s called the Creative Brief. After you have been briefed by the Client, come back nd write down what you have understood the brief to be, and then spell out the Client’s expectations or the mandate to be fulfilled. If you have doubts, send the Client a list of questions for him to help you understand. You could also anticipate the questions that the media may have in mind and prepare a FAQs document that you can provide to the media.
The media also appreciates if you can give them some cues about what other players in the space are doing, if you have some news about the competition doing something similar to what your Client is doing, or if you can gather some trend or research data concerning the space for the journalist to go through, he would appreciate it, trust me. Or else, there could be a fabulous story to be told, but just because you failed to stir interest in the mind of the journalist, a good story is left untold and the opportunity goes waste.
And trust me, you don’t have to go out of your way to help the media …all you have to do is do your job well. Read up a little, be aware and think on your feet. Most importantly, have the attitude to help…helping the Client get his message across, helping the journalist do a good story and help yourself to be respected for what you are worth.
Cheers
Madhavi Mukherjee
Popularity: 3% [?]
On Feb 3, 2008, Arcopol Chaudhuri said:
There it is.
While reading the post, I actually wondered how much is at stake during the 2-min call when the pitch is being made.
I think all of the above applies to everybody. No harm in reading up and doing our homework.
And by the way, I like your idea of sending FYI pdf files and links from the web. Makes the whole relationship go beyond press releases.
Cheers!
On Feb 4, 2008, Dopedup said:
Hey, Im pretty sure this aint the place to ask , but whaddahell , I am a photog who moved to covering entertainment news ( working with the worlds biggest image agency) I dropped in a few emails to the big pr’s from their website’s contact address , some of the mails bounced back , some replied but the thing never went ahead and some never bothered to reply. Is it just me ?
On Feb 5, 2008, Arcopol said:
Hey Arcii…
True to your observation there is a serious poverty of well read professionals…but not just on the PR end, the media end too…we have experienced many joural\nalists also coming completely unprepared for interviewswhich have been fixed in advance…and it cuts a sorry picture then for both the agency and the journalist. Being prepared isa mantra that comes with all jobs I guess…
Cheers
Mads
On Feb 5, 2008, Madhavi Mukherjee said:
Hey Dopdup,
what were you writing to people about…just freelancing for them i hope…why don’t you send a mail with your contact details and your work details to people in PR agencies if you know anyone and ask them to forward it internally…send one of your mails to me so I could forwrad it in Hanmer and someone coud possibly get in touch with yu…
Cheers
Madhavi
On Feb 19, 2008, Nikita Merchant said:
Arco… I do agree with you as far as coming unprepared is concerned. However, recently, in one of my media interactions, I met this journalist who was quite a novice in his assigned beat. He preferred coming unprepared for the interviews as his take was, while when he came unprepared, it helped him to gain more info from the client which otherwise he would have missed if he came with half baked info in the field he didn’t really understand. Not to forget, he did give my brand excellent visibility!
On Feb 19, 2008, Maddy said:
Tsk Tsk…Nikita…Wen we talk sometime in the future, will give you examples of embarassing PR professionals who are completely unprepared and media people alike who have cut a sorry picture for the publication by not reading up. But let’s take it up offline.
You I guess have been lucky your Client did not rake it up as an issue. Coz most clients can take big offense when they realsie the media professional is unprepared for the interview and soes not know about them. The immediate derivation is that my PR Agency has not briefed the journo and not done their job well
Anyways, it takes all kinds to make an exciting world.
Cheers to that
On Feb 20, 2008, Nikita Merchant said:
Well… to an extent, you are right Maddy. It does get embarrassing if the media professional doesn’t know much about the sector but there is a slight difference in knowing about the sector and knowing about the client. Well, here, in my example, he was well versed with my client but unfortunately, not with the industry per se. But yeah… I was lucky that my client didn’t take much offence to it. I guess, these unexpected responses from unusual people is what attracts you and me to PR
Cheers!