BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE MEDIA

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BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE MEDIA By John
Wells, CEO, Jackson Wells Morris Pty Ltd
Speaker John Wells Company Jackson Wells
Morris Date 22 November 2006
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Media relations? Its about your reputation
A companys reputation is its most prized
possessionOnce damaged or lost, that brands
reputation can be very hard to reclaim. Its not
the disaster itself, however, that will generally
make the difference to a companys reputation,
but the way that company deals with the
disaster. (Protecting your good name, The Age,
Janine Milne, 24th June 2005).
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The benefits of media relations

• Good coverage is money in the bank
• Media has a powerful influence on public
  perceptions investors, customers, shareholders
  regulators
• Those perceptions shape behaviours that directly
  affect your business
• Your competitors are using the media

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Its not all good news though
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Great lessons from PR disasters (1)

• Dont get drunk and make unpleasant remarks to
  police officers.

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Great lessons from PR disasters (2)

• Dont try to use an aggressive handshake when you
  meet a Prime Minister.

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Great lessons from PR disasters (3)

• THE Premier was forced into an embarrassing
  apology last night after he was caught describing
  the new chief executive of the Cross City Tunnel
  as a "f---wit".
• A television microphone captured Morris Iemma's
  private outburst yesterday, only a day after
  Graham Mulligan announced - on his first day as
  tunnel boss - that he had no intention of cutting
  the 3.56 toll.

• Always assume the camera or microphone is on.

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Great lessons from PR disasters (4)

• Be careful of jokes that might be considered
  distasteful.

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Great lessons from PR disasters (5)

• Always assume your secrets might one day become
  public knowledge.

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The current state of play
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Media is good but not good enough

• Roy Morgan poll (December 2005)
• The majority of Australians (60) agree that the
  media overall is a force for good in the world
• But many do not trust journalists, with 63
  agreeing I dont trust newspaper journalists to
  tell the truth and a majority (67) believing the
  media is not objective enough
• Over three quarters (78) want more in depth
  analysis of the news, not just headlines

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A rising tide of negativity

• The number of companies who have experienced
  some form of negative media coverage has
  continued to grow

Source 2005 Business Continuity Management
Survey, Chartered Management Institute and
Continuity Forum
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Media perceptions of business

• Good jobs, wealth-creation, accountability,
  competition, transparency, consumer benefits,
  innovation, governance, openness.
• Bad secrecy, monopoly / oligopoly, government
  protection, arrogance, isolation from the
  community.

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Media issues with planners

• Structure of the industry / independence
• Value of advice
• Fee versus commission
• Conflicts of interest
• WestPoint, HIH and others

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Why negativity about planners?

• A recent survey of over 100 advisors at an
  ING Business forum about negative coverage found
  that
• 29 felt it was the fault of rogue financial
  planners.
• 27 thought it was a beat up by the media
• 20 said it was due to advisors not managing
  clients expectations.

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And disasters dont help
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Understanding the media
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What the media thinks its doing

• Informing a journal of record
• Entertaining the audience
• Speaking truth to power
• Afflicting the comfortable
• Dont get it right, get it written
• Some are players not reporters

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The competition for space

• An Australian lead story is about 1,000 words
  the Daily Telegraph about 400 words
• A radio / TV story is about 200 words.
• The Australian runs about 50 stories in general
  news, the Telegraph runs more like 40. Some of
  these are 1 3 paragraphs long.
• TV and radio bulletins have far fewer stories
• But - every outlet gets hundreds of PR releases
  each day, plus their journalists develop stories
  and they get stories off wire services like AAP
  and Reuters.

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The anatomy of a story

• What, where, when, why and how
• Stories must have facts
• Stories must have emotional appeal and connection
• Stories must have human drama
• Stories must convey something new and important
  (or at least interesting)

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The audience affects the reporting style

• TABLOID Appeal to the emotions with words like
  unfair, disgrace, rip off
• BROADSHEET Appeal to the mind with words like
  inequality, concern, illegal
• FINANCIAL- Appeal to the pocket with words like
  costs, returns, bottom line

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Dealing effectively with the mediaUsing the
media as a business builder
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Build relationships

• Getting good coverage is a long-term project
• Like you, journalists trust people they know
• What journalists think of you heavily influences
  the coverage you get

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Develop a media plan

• Develop precise objectives for the media program
• Identify key messages to be communicated
• Specify the key marketing points of your event or
  issue
• Identify media and specific journalists to be
  engaged
• Develop a timetable showing how the media program
  will roll out

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Get to know your journalists

• Find out who covers your company, industry or
  round
• Get to know them personally
• Communicate with them frequently
• Provide them with regular information and
  briefings
• Use media releases as a way to update them on how
  your business is going

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Marketing your business

• Regularly look at your business for good news
  stories
• Develop case studies of clients happy with your
  business and the advice you give
• Prepare media releases about business milestones
  and achievements
• Arrange briefings for media

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Following media etiquette

• Do not consistently favour one media outlet over
  another
• Provide detailed background for each story
• Provide access to top people and good pictures
• Have well-briefed spokespeople who are
  comfortable with media
• Whether or not you have good news or bad news
  always be open and honest with the media.

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Dont rely on the media solely

• Use direct communications with your key
  stakeholders (to reinforce, correct and
  supplement media coverage)
• Use new media platforms like websites, blogs and
  podcasts to get the message out to small
  audiences and those who want more depth

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In summary

• Its worth the effort
• Be patient- it takes time
• Preparation is essential
• You must have interesting stories to tell
• You must be willing to have a go at winning the
  debate.
• Use cases studies to demonstrate success