Corporate PR

A big announcement calls in for a Press Conference. The key word here is “Big” as the announcement needs to perceived as a big one by the Press. Press Conferences are normally conducted when big corporate and business decisions are involved such as introduction of a new technology, new or current plant expansion, bagging a big business contract, changes in the management / leadership team, mergers and acquisitions. The core team at Mind Matters has extensive experience in conducting numerous press conferences in many geographies across India. The right judgement call of opting for a Press Conference influences its success the most. Mind Matters has an enviable experience and an awesome track record of press coverage for any press conference or press release. A majority of this press coverage is spread over the creme de la creme of media - print, TV and online.

Press Releases are disseminated if the objective of the news is to share information. Press Releases may or may not get coverage in terms of proverbial “square centimeters” but the reach is widespread. The coverage with Press Releases is usually in ‘’Briefs’’ columns / sections in publications. Mind Matters has drafted and disseminated national and city-specific Press Releases ranging from mergers and acquisitions, new leadership team appointments, financial results, certifications, business achievements like bagging of prestigious orders and for global events.

Press first is the golden rule in Press Relations. Media or Press Previews are organized from a day to a few days before the official launch or inauguration. The media is given a preview of anything new that the company is all set to offer in the market. The idea behind the media preview is to get the media to see, experience first-hand and then write about the new offering thereby building curiosity and anticipation in the run up to the actual launch. These previews are mainly done when a company launches a new technology, new products, inaugurates a new plant or demonstrates an innovation etc. Mind Matters has organised numerous Media Previews in many geographies across India from metros to Tier II & III towns across India. Selecting the appropriate Press interaction makes the difference between impact or the lack of it. Exclusive interviews are not as common as other tools of Press interaction, hence the name. Pre-planned interactions in glossy supplements or select pages like the Edit page or prime time TV slots are usually reserved for exclusives. While choosing to go in for an ‘’exclusive’’ it is important to keep in mind that you are targeting a niche audience with exclusive messaging or opinions that will be shared for the first time during the interaction. The person being interviewed is the most senior executive of the company such as the global head of the company who may be visiting another country or your company is amongst the leading companies in your industry vertical or the CMD/ MD / CEO of your company is counted as a key influencer whose opinion is valued by the Government, industry associations and the corporate sector. Exclusives must be identified carefully and they need to be rare to create the desired impact. Also keep in mind that while choosing to go in for an exclusive with one media you are eliminating, for that message, the option of sharing it wider with other leading media. Mind Matters has conducted Exclusives for clients which have been published in leading glossy supplements of print dailies and on prime-time TV news too.

Selecting the appropriate Press interaction makes the difference between impact or the lack of it. Exclusive interviews are not as common as other tools of Press interaction, hence the name. Pre-planned interactions in glossy supplements or select pages like the Edit page or prime time TV slots are usually reserved for exclusives. While choosing to go in for an ‘’exclusive’’ it is important to keep in mind that you are targeting a niche audience with exclusive messaging or opinions that will be shared for the first time during the interaction. The person being interviewed is the most senior executive of the company such as the global head of the company who may be visiting another country or your company is amongst the leading companies in your industry vertical or the C/MD/CEO of your company is counted as a key influencer who’s opinion is valued by the Government, industry associations and the corporate sector. Exclusives have to be identified carefully and they need to be rare to create the desired impact. Also keep in mind that while choosing to go in for an exclusive with one media you are eliminating, for that message, the option of sharing it wider with other leading media. Mind Matters has conducted Exclusives for clients with leading glossy supplements of print dailies and on prime time TV news too.

Press announcements are often not an either-or decision in the context of selection of media tools. Permutations and combinations can be very effective. For a big announcement you can opt for a combination of a Press Conference alongwith one-to-one interviews on the sidelines. For another announcement you can opt for a Press Release alongwith one-to-one interviews. Or then you can identify different angles to the same announcement and choose to go in for one-to-one interviews alone. Importantly, one-to-one interviews are usually organized when the nature of announcement does not qualify as ‘’hard news’’. In the case of one-to-one interviews, on most occasions, you are not sharing a press release but leaving it to the judgement of the journalist to pick up your key message/s and report on it. Since the information being shared isn’t hard news and doesn’t call in for immediacy, the coverage could take longer to appear than in the case of a Press Conference or a Press Release. The space allotted to such interactions is usually more than that for a Press Release and could be less or more than that of a Press Conference. We regularly organize one-to-one interviews for our clients.

Planning a Press announcement calls in for identifying the target audience first and then selecting the appropriate Press tool. Your target audience may be readers of only a few dailies and not the entire media based in a particular geography. In that case a Press Conference is uncalled for. You need to invite only those media whose readers will find your announcement relevant and useful. It’s about valuing their time as much as yours and also ensuring that you are streamlining your budgets. Then nature of your announcement too will influence the journalist you would like to invite. For a business announcement, a “business beat” journalist will be best positioned to understand and write about your announcement. For a technology announcement, a journalist who writes on “technology” and not a “business” would be best placed to do justice to your announcement.

There are separate sections like ‘Guest Columns’ and ‘Opinions’ in most publications which accept articles authored by senior company executives on a variety of topics. Authored articles convey thought leadership. They are an integral part of Corporate Communications today. From highlighting industry trends, issues and challenges to drawing the attention of policy makers Authored Articles are a powerful tool in building and influencing opinions. When done consistently, the target audience perceives the author / company to be an influencer. The benefits of authored articles extend to Digital PR and Social – Professional Media Networking too. At Mind Matters we work in close co-ordination with Editors, corporate communications and leadership teams simultaneously to meet media requirements while meeting the clients’ objectives. Mind Matters encourages the use of this important media tool in building the profile and reputation of companies ultimately contributing to achieving “Leadership Positioning” for the authors / companies.

One-to-one interviews can be done telephonically or via email. Remote interviews are common and with technology improvements, they are easy to conduct, record and transcribe. This style of interviews are preferred when the journalist and spokesperson are based in different geographies. To facilitate better coordination in the context of appointments and meeting deadlines, these interviews are gaining traction even when both are based in the same city. With journalists working on ever-shrinking deadlines this style works as well as a face-to-face interview. Email interviews are preferred and a safer option as the spokesperson’s views can be clearly spelt out in text leaving minimal scope for misreporting or misinterpretation. When the interview involves sharing of facts and figures its always better to conduct email interviews. Telephonic TV and Radio interviews are common, more in the context of sound-bytes. With video calling technologies improving in quality combined with enhanced emphasis on connecting / meeting remotely, video call interviews will become more mainstream.

Share-of-voice stories are finding more space in the media. These stories include quotes from company CMDs / CXOs on trends, forecasts, issues, or challenges. Being included in a share-of-voice story is often an indication that your opinion influences or impacts the industry and / or the economy. Likewise in TV, share-of-voice pans out in the form of in-studio panel discussions or through sound-bytes. Being invited to share your perspective for a story implies that you have registered a good brand recall with editors and journalists either as a business leader or as a company or as both together. This translates into higher brand familiarity with readers and viewers too. Investing in Press Relations through a strategic, systematic and well-planned approach that includes discreet use of different tools at the right time gradually builds up familiarity and trust with editors and journalists which is reflected through increased requests for being part of share-of-voice stories. We at Mind Matters don’t wait for incoming requests alone, we take the initiative and proactively look for such opportunities in the Press. Not just that, for our retainer relationships our Press strategy is designed to enhance higher recall with the Press from Day 1.

The objective of every Press initiative cannot be and should not be to get only Press coverage. Building and sustaining long term relationships with journalists and editors lays a strong foundation for good PR. Media Management Luncheons / Relationship Meetings are aimed at establishing a rapport between the leadership team / company spokesperson and the key media, usually editors. These meetings could be open-ended or with a pre-defined agenda but not limited to the journalist doing a story as an outcome of the meeting. Relationship meetings help to convey perspectives and opinions of the leadership team / company on matters affecting the company directly or indirectly on account of developments in the industry, economy or the socio-political landscape. This is undertaken within corporate communication guidelines. Such meetings also contribute to higher recall of leadership teams, CEOs and spokespersons by editors and senior journalists leading to better opportunities of the company being part of Share of Voice stories or the CEO being invited to write a column by the publication. At a broader level, such interactions places CEOs as influencers within the media and eventually with the readers of the publications.