My colleague Danny Sullivan made the strong case earlier this week in favour of negotiating embargos with trusted journalists that gives them advance access to your announcement and executives so they can do a better job with the story. In return, they promise not to publish or broadcast anything until an agreed upon time and date, usually the point at which you release the news to the rest of the world. The benefit to the company making the announcement is that the journalist has more time and flexibility to deal with the story and, guess what, so does the company. It’s a tidy win-win situation, and something we do whenever practical.

Something Danny didn’t get into, though, is the frequent situation where clients confuse embargos and exclusives, an understandable mixup given that both usually entail giving select journalists advance access to the story. But whereas embargos still treat all media outlets equally in terms of when they can run with the story, an exclusive entails favouring one, or a small handful of, outlets, giving them advance and exclusive access to the story and permission to run with it prior your making a more general announcement.

Journalists love exclusives. Some clients swear by them. We point blank refuse to do them, and here’s why.

In my 30 grizzled years as a reporter, editor and communications practitioner, I have yet to see a single case where, outside the confused and muddy world of political reporting, an exclusive has ever been in the client’s favour. As a reporter, I might have enthusiastically embraced the proffered exclusive, assuring my source that giving me advance access would secure better treatment for the story. The reality was and is that the lineup in any publication generally is beyond the reporter’s influence, often beyond even the editor’s influence. It is, rather, determined almost entirely by what else needs to get into that issue, and space and placement are rigorously assigned according to news value.

Okay, that’s a little black and white, but, in the main, it applies.

As a tech PR practitioner interested in the long-term opportunity to tell my clients’ stories through the media outlets that genuinely influence their markets, I traffic in exclusives at my peril and at the peril of my clients. The outlets I favour with the exclusive simply are not going to give me significantly better treatment while those that I shut out are going to nurse a grievance against me and my client as only the competition-fuelled egos that populate an average newsroom are capable of nursing. It ain’t pretty.

Let me give you an example.

In the more-than-nine-year history of inmedia, there has been only a single client ever that took its business away from us and gave it to another agency, and it was entirely over our refusal to acquiesce to the marketing vice president’s insistence that we play favourites with a piece of news by giving an exclusive to certain media outlets. It was in the hothouse environment just prior the telecom meltdown in the U.S. and a fiercely competitive set of trade and business media was scavenging for any and every scrap of news emanating from the rash of optical systems startups that, like our client, were working on the brave new frontier of optical communications. The announcement was minor, and we simply saw no value in pissing off most of our valued contacts in favour of getting maybe an extra column inch or two of coverage in two or three of them. In fact, we saw it as running sharply counter to our client’s long-term interests, and told him so.

He disagreed, fired us and brought in a replacement agency that carried out his wishes. The wholly predictable result was that the news received the scant line or two it deserved in the publications that were favoured with the exclusive, and I spent the morning fielding angry calls from trusted editors and reporters all across North America and Europe who were understandably peeved at having been shut out.

Bottom line: Exclusives are a betrayal of the mutual trust that needs to be nurtured between PR practitioners and their media targets, they sour relationships that take a long time to cultivate and may never be repaired, and they contribute little or no added value. Don’t fall prey to their seductive but empty charm.

Technorati Tags: public relations, PR, media relations, embargos, embargoes, exclusives,

Further to my post from a few weeks ago asking if journalist burnout was the reason for the escalation of the hacks vs. flacks war, I’ve done a little bit more digging in order to hopefully gain some insight into what job satisfaction ratings are like in the PR industry. Interestingly, the most recent figures that I could find point to very high job satisfaction amongst PR professionals, certainly higher than those indicated by journalists in the prior study. The International Association of Business Communicators, an association for public relations professionals, conducted a survey in 2006 and published the results last year. According to Communication World, the 2007 Profile salary survey was sent to 724 accredited members of the IABC, 125 of whom responded. Though a smaller sample size than the next most recent survey, conducted in 2002, the results from this study reflect an upward trend in both salaries and job satisfaction. In addition to the salary data gathered, respondents indicated the following:

Respondents to the pulse survey somewhat or strongly agreed with the following statements:
-If I had to do it all over again, I would choose a career in corporate communication (84.8%).
-Corporate communication is more respected by the media now than it was five years ago (63.2%).
-My salary compensates for the number of hours I am compelled to work (70.4%).
-I am satisfied with the opportunities for career advancement at my current company or organization (60.8%).

This analysis, coupled with the salary data collected, would seem to indicate that the PR industry is generally contented and well compensated. Perhaps my assumption that PR flacks can claim some of the same complaints as journalists is just attributed to the grumpy (and most vocal) contingents of both industries, those hoping that indeed the “squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Then again, a small survey is not necessarily representative of the entire industry, but still, it does give us some valuable, if limited, insight into the current state of the PR nation.

Since that original post, we’ve also received word from Simon Owens pointing us to his blog where he’s dug a little deeper into the original study that I referenced and interviewed the researcher who authored the original study on journalist burnout.

Technorati Tags: media relations, public relations, public relations practitioners, PR, journalism, journalists, hacks vs. flacks, job satisfaction, IABC, Simon Owens

When a technology company approaches the date of a significant news announcement, the possibility of offering the story to media under embargo is often raised. For those unfamiliar with the term, it simply means giving selected media advance access to the news that you will be distributing, usually on the understanding that they do not publish anything until after your news has been issued. Although some publications have a policy not to accept material under embargo, the majority of news-oriented media tend to like them a lot and for good reason. Most editors and reporters that have to deal with breaking news are swamped every day with a deluge of potential stories, all of which demand on-the-day coverage. By receiving information on a news story in advance, they are able to conduct interviews at a time that is convenient for them and produce their article over the course of a few days, rather than in the fraught few hours available on release day.

But it should be noted that using embargos is not a valid strategy unless you are already convinced that your story is going to be regarded as worthy breaking news on the day. Embargoing a story that would normally be rejected on launch day for having little news value does not suddenly give it the prospect of receiving blanket coverage. Indeed, it will probably be rejected even quicker if you try and do so.

Similarly, make sure you are targeting the right people with an offer of embargoed news. You’ll be wasting your time speaking to an editor about a week-long embargo if he or she doesn’t go to print for another month! Embargos have to provide some advantage to the media before they’ll be interested.

There is often a fear among tech companies that the media may break an embargoed story before the agreed date of release. Most media are very accustomed to working with embargos but, at the end of the day, it is only a verbal agreement that can easily be broken, intentionally or otherwise. While such an event is a potential risk, it is a very uncommon occurrence - the media know that their continued enjoyment of the benefits of embargoed news is predicated on such agreements being adhered to.

So please use embargos, but do so wisely, and the media will thank you for it.

Technorati Tags: embargos, embargoes, media relations, public relations, PR, news releases, pitching, journalists,

What does an RFID infrastructure company from St. John’s, Newfoundland, have in common with the Livingston, Scotland, outfit that makes the world’s most advanced prosthetic hand? Well, besides being inmedia clients, Cathexis Innovations and Touch Bionics both find themselves this week at the same trade show, Arab Health 2008 at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre in United Arab Emirates.

Touch Bionics is there to exhibit its i-LIMB hand, the world’s first artificial hand featuring five individually articulating digits that has been been fitted to scores of patients worldwide since being launched this past summer. Cathexis, whose mobile RFID reader IDBlue is also a world first, is demonstrating its event-management application at the show, a massive undertaking billed as the largest science gathering in the Arab world.

I can’t help being tickled by what I’m going to do next — email Cathexis’s CEO Steve Taylor and Touch Bionics’ marketing director Phil Newman and suggest they look each other up. At the risk of sounding — hell, let me be honest, at the risk of being — a bit self-promotional, it’s a lovely example of both the broad range of technologies represented in our client portfolio and the truly global scale on which these companies operate. I only wish I could be in Dubai to personally introduce these two chaps to each other.

Technorati Tags: Arab Health 2008, Touch Bionics, Cathexis Innovations

Many moons ago, I had the great pleasure of taking a communications course with Dr. Eric McLuhan, son of world famous media theorist Marshall McLuhan. A well-respected author and professor in his own right, Dr. McLuhan’s course was designed in order to provide the students, who were studying a range of topics in business management, with a solid language base upon which to establish themselves as competent writers and communicators.

Through course material, we were taught the wonders of styling sentences and how to properly use punctuation. These sound like fundamentals and they are, but the amount of proper grammatical and punctuation training included in a typical primary and even secondary school curriculum is positively lacking. This post-secondary course had us circling grammatical errors, doing word puzzles, correcting punctuation, and learning the true value of a semi-colon among other activities in the name of strengthening our communications abilities. As a result, I feel that each student in that class ended up a better writer and although I’m not certain of the whereabouts of the majority of my classmates, I’m confident that they’re better communicators today because of it.

Having always had a love of language and reading, I consider myself quite the philomath and get positively giddy at the prospect of learning a new word (being in technology PR, this opportunity presents itself quite often, as you can imagine.) Dictionary.com’s Word of the Day email has been coming into my inbox for years now. Having had no idea that I would end up in public relations as my career, my strong feeling is that no matter where I ended up career-wise, I would have been well served by my love of knowledge and language, in part fostered by the course taught by Dr. McLuhan.

Writing is predominantly what we do here at inmedia. Although we may not subscribe fully to the idea that the medium is the message, I feel lucky to have been educated in part by Dr. McLuhan and to this day still make use of some of the reference materials provided in that class. Everyone, even professional writers need to “sharpen their saw” on a consistent basis and I’m glad to have these tools at my disposal. So, thank you, Dr. McLuhan.

Technorati Tags: Marshall McLuhan, Eric McLuhan, writing, punctuation, grammar

Launch day is always busy, usually requiring us to spend all morning, if not the entire day, contacting the media. On launch day, the news release is sent out, follow up calls are made and pitching for coverage begins. On this day we start mining for both immediate and future opportunities. We begin investigating the potential to secure coverage in our most important media outlets, enquiring about upcoming opportunities and what is required to deliver on them.

On launch day, we need to be on top of our game, ready to rhyme off endless facts about the company or product we are representing. Our knowledge of the client and its technology must stretch far beyond the information included in the news release. We need to know exactly whom we are calling, why we are calling and how to make the pitch relevant to them. Before we can pick up the phone, send out the news release, or schedule a single interview, there is a great deal of work that needs to be done.

Launch preparations often consume the weeks leading up to the launch and are in some ways are more intensive than the launch day itself. During the ramp up period of an initial client engagement, we attend briefings and learn everything there is to know about the client and its technology. In an ideal world, we then have some time to digest the information before developing the required media materials, although often, due to tight deadlines, we need to dive into this process immediately.

The rigorous process of researching, drafting, editing and finally gaining approvals on the materials gives us the requisite level of knowledge we need to hit the phones. It is only after finding the right words to communicate the story coherently to the relevant media audience that we can show up to work on the morning of a launch with all of the information we need to make that first call.

Technorati Tags: media relations, public relations, PR, media launch, PR launch

In my post about analysts back in December, I promised to expand a bit more on the differences between the large analyst companies and the smaller, boutique firms.

The large, global analyst firms that publish all those high-profile industry reports are the undisputed top dogs. They command huge consultancy fees and can have a significant influence on companies looking to make technology decisions. As such, these firms are usually the first to be mentioned when technology companies start thinking about getting in front of analysts.

This is completely understandable, and engaging with these analysts may well prove to be a good decision, but tech firms embarking on their first round of contact with analysts should not put all their eggs in one basket. For almost every technology discipline, there are also smaller analyst firms that specialize in research and analysis of those sectors.

These firms, while not necessarily commanding the same level of influence as the big boys, still present a potentially valuable option to tech companies. Their tight focus on an industry sector can mean that they are better equipped to share advice and insight with companies operating in those sectors.

The smaller firms’ sphere of influence among the companies that represent your prospects is likely to be less than that of the larger players, but it should not necessarily be assumed to be so. I have worked with boutique analyst shops that had the ear of IT executives at some of the world’s largest organizations.

Ultimately, the big firms may still end up being your preferred choice for pursuing an analyst relationship, but companies should always look closely at all the players that are out there before making their decision. Taking the time to find out more about the analysts your space may result in some pleasant surprises.

Technorati Tags: analysts, analyst firms, analyst relations

Yesterday’s Bulldog Reporter had an insightful piece suggesting that the model for PR is broken and some suggestions on how to start trying to fix it. It struck me that the author was suggesting a best practices approach to PR, something to which we’ve long adhered, but that sadly, the industry as a whole is being judged by our weakest link: those agencies and practitioners that are doing a shoddy job and dragging our reputation down with them.

The reminder at the start of the piece about the recent escalation of the hacks vs. flacks war was fresh in my mind when I saw a story on Gawker about the high incidence of journalist burnout. This study made me wonder about this chicken and egg scenario: are hacks hating on flacks because they’re dissatisfied with their own jobs? I certainly don’t think that this is wholly to blame for the friction between the two camps but is certainly something worth noting. Also worth noting is the irony that the vast majority of the complaints registered by journalists could easily be voiced by PR professionals as well. It would be interesting to see the results of a similar study on how satisfied PR practitioners are in their careers…

Technorati Tags: media relations, public relations, public relations practitioners, PR, journalism, journalists, hacks vs. flacks, job satisfaction, reputation

Today, over on SearchEngineWatch, Marty Weintraub posted an interesting comment warning marketing chiefs against creating “an IT marketing fiefdom”.

His point is that just because your IT guys do the techie stuff, doesn’t mean they should be the ones in charge of search engine marketing.

“In too many cases, you’re wasting loads of money on elaborate systems with no vision; well-installed machines absent timeless marketing principles; and fiefdoms of executive elves who need some basic training in SEO 101.”

Marty’s advice can be applied even more broadly in certain cases. I’m thinking of those entrepreneurial gear heads who start technology companies and feel they can do it all themselves, including marketing. In most cases, a very bad idea.

Technorati Tags: SEO, IT, marketing

A few months ago, Karen Russell of The Teaching Blog made a list of a dozen things she wished PR pros would blog about. Since I am on the receiving end of many, many enquiries from people seeking employment here at inmedia, most of which utterly fail to dazzle me, I thought I’d tackle this one, five ways to dazzle a potential employer.

Truth is, I feel sorry for today’s university grad or early- or mid-career person looking for that first or next position, especially if they’re responding to a job ad or board posting. Information technology has made it easier for resumes and cover letters to be machine-scanned, with only those that meet specific requirements making it through to be read by human eyes. Further, everyone knows that personal networking and connections are extraordinarily powerful tools in any job search and, if you don’t have them, you’re at a terrible disadvantage.

So, I’m not sure I can counsel anyone on how they can break through those barriers when seeking employment at a big company. But here are five things that would certainly put you several steps ahead at a small company like inmedia.

1. Present as though you actually know who I am. I admit I have one of those gender-ambiguous first names, but that’s no excuse for addressing me as Ms. Moran or, even worse, Dear Sir or Madam. A simple phone call is all it takes.

2. Also present as though you actually know what my company does. Telling me all about your political science education, or your years of sales experience, or what an incredible engineer you are means you have done absolutely no research whatsoever into who we are and what we do. We have a web site and, now, a blog, both of which should tell you everything you need to know about us, what we do and a whole lot about our culture and approach. The better an understanding of that you exhibit, the more you’ll dazzle me.

3. If you truly want to dazzle me, draw clear, compelling connections between what you know and what we do. Tell me how your education, experience and interests would make you a superb technology media relations practitioner.

4. Dazzle me with your writing. Writing is what we do, and we set extraordinarily high standards for it. Everyone, from clients to media, consistently comments favourably on our writing. You won’t survive a week here if you’re not a superb writer, and your cover letter won’t survive a first reading if it’s poorly written or contains spelling or grammar errors. As unbelievable as this may be, if everything is spelled correctly and there are no grammar errors, you will be in the top percentile or two of all the enquiries I get. Shocking, but true.

5. Try to rise above the noise. When I was younger and looking for a job, I often used some gimmick to attract attention to my application. I can’t say it ever worked for me, but the very first person I ever hired when I set up my first agency about 15 years ago enlarged his resume and cover letter to poster size and sent them to me in a mailing tube. He got my attention, and the job.

Bottom line — and here’s the real nugget for anyone seeking a job in public relations: These five suggestions just happen to constitute a solid handful of best practices in media relations itself. Know your media targets and why you’re pitching them. Get the story right and write it well. Do what you need to rise above the newsroom noise. If you can apply the fundamentals when you’re applying for a job, you’ll engender a lot of confidence that you’ll be able to apply them if you get the job.

Technorati Tags: applying for a job, job applications, resume, CV, job hunting, how to get a job at a public relations agency, public relations, PR, media relations