Marketing and Business Strategy

Dealing with the Press -3
Develop long-term relationships. Developing good relationships with the press takes time. Press relations is a process not an event. Pressing the media for an immediate article will rarely succeed. Most major business stories take months, even years, to evolve. Companies must be patient.

Companies should view press relations as a continuing investment. It will pay off with time. Once you establish good relationships with the media, you will be able to present new products more effectively. Moreover, you will be able to participate in broader articles about industry trends, and you will become less susceptible to speculative stories. Journalists will seek your side of the story before going to press.

Look beyond products. In new industries, the press typically focuses on products. The stories are generally naive and superficial. Most of the coverage comes from the trade press. But as an industry matures, so does press coverage. Journalists learn, question, dig into the “news behind the news.” The business and general-news media become increasingly interested. Companies must deal with the business and general-news media differently than they deal with the trade press. There should be much less emphasis on product performance and characteristics. Seasoned journalists know a technological advantage is short-lived.

Companies should explain how they fit in the present and future business environments. When products are discussed, they should be placed in a broader context, such as “The Office of the Future” or “The Factory of the Future.” The press is fascinated by glimpses of what lies ahead.

Be honest about bad news. When bad news strikes, it’s not worth fighting the press over it. As a politician once told me: “Never pick a fight with someone who buys his ink by the barrel.” Being honest scores points with the press. In negative situations, a company’s character and style will greatly influence how the press perceives and writes about the company.

It almost never makes sense to hide bad news. It is best to get the bad news out, so it’s over and done with. If you try to hide the news, it will fester and go on forever. Three Mile Island is a classic example. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission withheld information, and public confidence sank lower and lower. On the other hand, Johnson & Johnson was very open with journalists during the Tylenol scare, and Tylenol has since regained its credibility in the market.

Dealing with the Press -2

Get the infrastructure ready. Most journalists practice what I call “he said, you said” journalism. Rather than present their own analysis, they simply quote what other people say. And who is it they quote? Most often, they quote members of the industry infrastructure-financial analysts, consultants, distributors, early customers. The infrastructure serves as a type of filtering mechanism, helping journalists separate fact from fiction.

Companies should take advantage of this filtering mechanism. They should educate and win over members of the infrastructure before going to the press. If a company tries to go to The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal without first developing the infrastructure, it could run into big problems. Reporters will go to members of the infrastructure, and the company might not be happy with what the people in the infrastructure say. Clearly, what people in the infrastructure say about you matters a great deal.

Meet with journalists one on one. Many companies build their press strategies around press releases and press conferences. But these are not the most effective ways to communicate a message. National magazines get thousands of press releases every week. It’s tough to get heard through all the noise. Many press releases are thrown out without being read.

Nor are press conferences very effective. There are two problems. First, journalists are reluctant to ask their best questions at a press conference, because they don’t want to tip off the competition. Second, different parts of the media have different interests. Byte magazine wants to hear about nanoseconds and megaflops. The newsmagazines want the broad trends and social implications. It’s impossible to satisfy everybody. There’s a lot of information, but not much good communication. A press conference is a nice spectacle, but the press loses out-and so does the company.

Instead, companies should meet members of the press individually. A one-on-one meeting takes more time, but it makes more of an impression on the journalist and it delivers the message more efficiently. Messages can be tailored for the audience: one for the trade magazines, another for the business magazines, a third for the general-interest press. Once again, the 90/10 rule applies: 10 percent of the press influences the other 90 percent. So select the most influential members of the press and meet with them.

Educate the media. Press relations should be seen as an education process. Fast-moving industries are becoming more diverse, fragmented, complex, and difficult to understand. At the same time, there is more information available about every facet of every industry. For most journalists, these industries are becoming more and more confusing.

Companies need to help journalists create order out of the chaos, so journalists can present a cogent description of emerging trends and technologies. Rather than simply pitching ideas to the press, public relations people must be willing to spend time and educate the press. Companies should treat journalists as well as they treat their major customers. It’s not enough to hold a new product up to a press conference of 600 people and say: “Here it is.”