Editors and reporters have less and less time to listen to press pitches and a few precious moments to scan news releases. They’re wearing multiple hats, working on unforgiving deadlines – especially as news organizations continue to lay off employees.

Every second counts when pitching the press these days, which is why at CCA we’ve developed an e-media kit.

Our e-media kit is an innovative way to open doors to newsrooms. It presents an easy and fast way for an editor to get a comprehensive snapshot of a news opportunity, providing everything from a client’s current news release, to FAQs and company history, to recent news clips, to management bios and head shots, and the company logo. In short, everything you would put in a traditional printed media kit, plus video clips and sound bites! All of it ready to download in seconds.

I was on the phone with a producer for a national broadcast news program last week. She initially said she didn’t have time to talk to me, but I asked her to log on to our client’s e-media kit, and we were soon in conversation. Our new approach converted “no time” to “tell me more.”

We’ve designed our e-media kit along the line of a web site’s home page, displaying branding and links to top line information and resources, and news releases and fact sheets, and video clips in an attractive design that fills the screen without the need to scroll. Reporters instantly see everything they might need, right at their finger tips.

This innovation has proved so useful that we expect it quickly to become the norm. And it’s no coincidence that we developed the first one for an alternative energy client—-eliminating the need for paper and printing required for a traditional press kit.

No folders. No stuffing. No postage. No sealing yucky tasting envelopes. No rushing to the post office. No reprinting to fix typos or to update information. Send it out 24/7, anywhere in the world. An unlimited supply. The digital media kit is here it’s all good.

Everyone wants to make the most of a media opportunity, yet much preparation goes into a successful interview. At your best, you finish up knowing that you said what you wanted to say, the way that you wanted to say it. At worst, you’re uncomfortable, say the wrong thing, or after the fact wish you’d made points that didn’t occur to you in the moment.

The goal, then, is to be ready – to be proactive rather than reactive. Here are three critical steps in preparing for an interview that can help you convey your thoughts more clearly and confidently:

Think

Knowing your audience, or audience analysis – is primary. Who’s doing the interview and what do you know about this person? Also important: who’s your target audience, what do they care about and need to hear about? The more you can find out on both fronts, the better.

Write

Potential questions
Think about and write down the questions you expect to be asked. Consider the context of the interview and what’s been going on and write down everything that come to mind. You also need to face up to questions you dread, that you hope not to be asked – the ugly and awkward, the embarrassing and controversial, the ones you have no idea how to answer. If you do this step, you’re half way home.

Potential answers
Now look at those questions and jot a few notes. Don’t write out answers and memorize them – you’ll sound scripted and phony. For questions you have no idea how to answer, turn to the people who can help you – with facts and an approach that is positive and neither apologetic nor defensive.

Key messages
Sometimes reporters don’t know much about your business, or choose to take the interview in a negative direction. Yet you know what your audience needs to hear your story. Jot down a few points you intend to get across. Then, listen for opportunities to work these messages in during the course of the interview. This helps shape the direction of the interview that simply responding to the questions as given will not. It also enables you to move from defense to offense when the going gets tough.

Talk

Practice, but don’t rehearse. You don’t really know what you think until you hear what you say. Have someone ask you the questions you’ve written down and see how it goes. Better to hear what you’d like to say differently in practice rather than wait until the interview and be surprised at what comes tumbling out of your mouth.

Media interviews can have a significant impact on your story, your company and your reputation as a leader. Take time to prepare effectively and you’ll likely have a positive media experience.

A column in last week’s Wall Street Journal highlights the Oreo cookie’s journey from America to China and what it finally took for Kraft Foods to find success in appealing to the most populated country in the world.

In 1996, Kraft introduced the Oreo to China – hoping the popular cookie would be as big a hit as it has been in the U.S. But sales remained flat for more than 10 years until Kraft began to rethink its marketing strategies, or lack thereof, and decided on some new approaches.

“Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity — doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results –- ‘characterized what we were doing,’” according to Shawn Warren, vice president of marketing for Kraft Foods International.

So Kraft went to work and during its research learned, for one thing, the Chinese weren’t big cookie eaters. Traditional Oreos were too sweet for Chinese tastes and the packages of 14 Oreos priced at 72 cents were too expensive.
The company developed 20 prototypes of reduced-sugar Oreos and tested them with Chinese consumers to come up with the right formula. A new taste and the repackaging of fewer cookies at a reduced price, combined with major grassroots marketing and PR campaigns, began to generate sales.
While the remade Oreo looks almost nothing like the original (the new Chinese Oreo consists of four layers of crispy wafer filled with vanilla and chocolate cream, coated in chocolate), the new concoction is now a best-selling treat. Over the past two years, Kraft has doubled its Oreo revenue in China, with those sales contributing to revenue that topped $1 billion worldwide for the first time last year.

In the end, Kraft overhauled the entire essence of its 96-year-old Oreo and it worked.

The Chinese version of the Oreo cookie is a powerful reminder to all of us, namely:

• Invest in the necessary research & homework up front before launching a product

• Know your consumers and give them what they want; focus on your target audience for the most important information.

• Remember other cultures often have vastly different preferences than Americans

Finally, when a tried and true recipe doesn’t appeal to a new audience – or no longer works for the same audience – it’s time to come up with new ingredients for success.

Cora Nucci of Information Week http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/04/blogging_as_fas.html gives some credence to The New York Time’s recent story that suggests the stress of blogging may have contributed to the heart attacks of three well-known tech bloggers, two of whom died.  While Nucci does say it’s impossible to know for sure whether blogging played a role in the heart attacks, she points out that “some days, blogging feels like breaking rocks in the hot sun.”  Certainly, blogging, like any form of writing in this era of digital media – which can be likened to speed dialing – brings a certain amount of stress.  It seems a stretch to believe that blogging itself would take such a serious toll on a person’s health without factoring in additional underlying health problems.  I could understand how reporters before the 1970s might suffer a heart attack. These writers had to literally pound the pavement, investigate their stories with limited resources, then write their articles and get them perfect the first time – on typewriters. No spell check, no cut and paste, no online thesaurus, no whitepages.com. No Google.  No working from the beach (as one heart attack victim blogger did) or from one’s living room.   Nucci also says, “the burdens of blogging can be felt by anyone who blogs, even amateurs. The urgency to express an original thought and to post it first, is constant.”  The urgency to express an original thought?  Isn’t that what inspires and motivates journalists to get into the world of writing in the first place? Sadly, it sounds like the heart attack victims had critical health issues.    

While public relations and marketing experts use different methods and media to communicate their messages, the goals are the same: to get maximum visibility for clients and generate responses from target audiences.

When well planned, PR and marketing are a dynamic duo. PR leaves off where marketing should pick up, and visa versa. In fact, it should be a continual tag team of picking up the client’s ball and running with it.

If one agency handles both PR & marketing, the client is positioned to be ahead of the game – both strategically and financially. When PR & marketing are not under the same roof, it’s critical the client asks each firm to communicate and work with one another, or the risks can include mixed messages, misunderstandings, and missed opportunities.

Here are two examples of a well integrated PR-marketing team:

• A client gets a great interview in a highly visible publication or with a major news station. Once the story has run, the PR and marketing team will keep it alive for as long as possible. The interview will turn into reprints for company brochures and press kits, as well as links and podcasts for the company web site, social media web sites, and news releases, etc. Mentions and/or portions of the interview are used in advertising and/or branding campaigns, and the news piece is highlighted in company backgrounders, press pitches, future media opportunities, and proposals for prospective clients.

• A marketing department holds a major event, with proceeds benefiting a charity. The role of PR is to publicize the charitable aspect of the event and work toward media coverage. Each function is promoting the same event using different avenues to generate responses and engage different participants. When PR and marketing work in sync, the chances are greater the message will cover more bases that reach a larger audience.

And, with PR and marketing working as a team, an added value to the client is the brainstorming sessions from “two sides of the house” (as we say here) that result in fresh and innovative approaches, ideas, and campaigns. When pooling creative resources from different areas, the agency launches more initiatives in a more efficient way – which leads to more success for the client.

A former coworker once told me that managing multiple projects is a lot like to balancing your grandmother’s best china in the air and making sure that you don’t drop any of the plates. 

Whether you’re trying to meet the needs of your clients, your bosses or your staff, you need to be organized.  As soon as I have a firm deadline, I use my outlook calendar to record notes about what I need to follow up on each day. It’s kind of an electronic “To Do” list that pops up for me each day.  I check with the designers, clients, vendors multiple times on any given project to make sure things are moving along as expected.  I try to set realistic expectations for everyone.  We can’t do a good job for clients if we are not given an appropriate amount of time.  If a client wants a 12 page brochure in 3 days, it is my job to let them know that is not likely to happen.

It is also about prioritization, as everyone knows. That is where experience can come into play…I know which projects I might be able to squeeze an extra day or two out of, but I also know which projects have “drop dead” deadlines and obviously those you don’t want to miss. Working with different clients, different products, different designers, different vendors each day…well that’s what keeps the day exciting. 

As an account supervisor, it is my job to make recommendations to our clients and to offer different options or solutions to help them achieve their marketing objectives.  Most clients recognize that the experience of the entire agency is behind those recommendations, and we offer solutions based on successes we have had over a number of years. I try to convey that. That being said, if a client is insistent about trying something which we don’t recommend, we will still assist them. In the end it is their right to decide how to spend their marketing dollars.  And you never know, we might learn something in the process.

I know that many people will roll their eyes at the news of another company, or product “going green.”  Green has evolved from the color of a friendly frog on T.V to the ultimate buzz word. 

At CCA we had a few employees who cared enough to really get the company moving towards this eden of “green.”  The thought was that small businesses create so much waste, and use much more energy than a typical household.  As a marketing firm we were using massive amounts of paper, and ink, as well as the typical energy costs of printers, computers, heating, hot water, lights, phones, and much more.  Cutting down on waste isn’t easy or cheap….but it is very effective.

CCA’s first step was to implement a recycling program.  Paper, cans, bottles, cardboard, and all the usual things that get thrown away at a business are now being collected and brought to recycling centers.  Our President, Bob Fields put new energy efficient windows in the building and had electricians install more efficient ballasts.  These changes, along with new insulation and energy efficient light bulbs have really made a dent in CCA’s power consumption and waste creation.

CCA employees have proactively led the charge and have taken the initial steps to ensure that we work with certified “green” vendors and recommend recycled materials to clients using direct mail and other paper-heavy marketing efforts.  There are a growing number of recycled and eco-friendly inks and papers that, while a little more expensive, make a huge difference in waste products and tree harvesting.

While these steps are not the secret answer to out environmental problems, we really believe that if all small businesses made a concerted effort to use less energy and make less waste, it would benefit us all.

The world of campaign politics provides a stern proving ground on which to learn and practice the skills of crisis communications.  Looking back on years of experience in some very tight, very public situations, a few guiding principle emerge.  In crisis, which usually arrives suddenly and with little opportunity for preparation, keep in mind some essential principles when the crisis starts to break (since your mind is likely to be spinning and overwhelmed when crisis hits, best to give it some thought while you’re relaxed and thinking clearly).  The steps you take in the initial moments will shape what happens as events unfold over the ensuing hours, days, and weeks:

Act in a timely manner: Information travels fast these days, but particularly when there is a vacuum into which misinformation and disinformation can be sucked, and once gone, it is very hard to retrieve.  Ever minute counts in the 24 hours news cycle.  Act with care, act with thought, act with a plan—but act fast.  If your words get out there first, much the better for the days ahead.

Don’t shoot from the hip: Acting fast is not the same as acting rashly.  Always take the time to gather a few key folks whose opinions you respect (by phone or email or blog or all three) to ask what they would do.  Then, assess what they have to say, and make a plan.

Don’t say too much: As important as saying something appropriate is knowing when to stop talking.  You job is to fill the information vacuum with just enough to bring things into immediate balance.  No need in the early moments of crisis to say it all, answer every question, satisfying every inquiring mind.  Get it done, and get off the stage to plan the next step.

Learn everything you can: You need to know as much as you can about the situation in order to manage it properly.  Ask, probe, demand—be the reporter, be the cop.  Get all the facts as soon as you can.  The more you know, the better you can plan. 

Nominate a skilled spokesperson: It’s no coincidence that politicians, movie stars, and high profile people in a jam have someone to stand out in front from them.  Whether it’s an attorney, a PR pro, or the college debating champion, a person with the ability to take the heat and stay cool slows everything down and shields less experienced people from the innumerable pitfalls of making a public statement (or answering questions). 

Set a deadline to return with more: Let folks know when you’ll be back with more complete information.  It might be in two hours or two days, but without a deadline they will be incessently nipping at your heels.  Then, of course, you have to meet that deadline, have something further to say, then set the next deadline. 

Shape the dialog from the beginning: The first words you use, the first story you tell, will have a powerful effect on whatever else happens.  Be purposeful about what you say, make in clear, state it strongly, and share as much real information as you can (be careful here…).  The difference between murder and self-defense can be established in a sentence or two, and if it is stated at the outset, then you have framed the dialog in an important way. 

Tell the truth: Not necessarily the whole truth, however, nothing but the truth.  It is virtually impossible to recover a public crisis from a deliberate lie.  This rule is simple.  Never tell a lie.  Never.  Never.  Never.  Never.  Never.  Got it?

Just one more piece of advice.  Call us first.  You’ll be better off that way. 

As a young marketing and PR professional I jump at every chance to learn more about my profession, and to hear from industry pro’s who are doing great work.CCA recognizes the value in this, and sent me to the Convergence conference in New York City. It was a great chance to hear case studies, participate in breakout sessions, and network with others in the marketing, PR, and advertising fields. As the name suggests, the theme of this conference was how the convergence of marketing, PR, and advertising is affecting agencies, clients, and us.

One of the most interesting case studies was presented by Bruce Ertman, corporate manager for consumer generated media at Toyota Motor Sales. Bruce and his team jumped on the social media bandwagon and have seen some impressive results. They harnessed the power of blogging to navigate the treacherous waters of potential product defects in the Camry and FJ Cruiser.

Instead of covering up problems, Bruce’s strategy was to be open and honest with consumers, detailing what was wrong with the cars, and how they could go about getting the problems remedied. Although there were some negative responses, overall it seemed like consumers were impressed that Toyota came out ahead of any news story to admit a problem and help solve it quickly.

To me, this is exactly how marketers should approach any outreach to social media. Blogging communities are often made up of outspoken people with strong opinions on the subject (cars, in this case) and will not react well to typical PR spin. It is important to let them know who you are, who you represent, and then engage them a 2 WAY DISCUSSION as educated consumers. Speak with them, not to them! Do not expect a blogger, or anyone who reads bogs to be especially receptive to your company if you don’t have your own forum for discussion. In other words….start a company blog NOW.

Bloggers can drive brand credibility in a big way. 76% of consumers say a recommendation is the most influential factor in any purchase. 51% of journalists use blogs to help them with story research, and according to Jupiter Research, 26% of top search engine results are consumer generated media. So don’t betray the trust of bloggers; they have the trust of consumers. Listen to discussions, participate, be open, be authentic, and be honest. Consumer generated media has a lot to offer. Listen first, and then dive in…the results may impress you.

As someone who’s worked in the PR field for more than 20 years, I’m often amazed at the ever-changing and expanding menu of communications strategies used to pitch and promote clients.  Amidst blogging, social media strategies, trade wires, and email blasts — all immediate avenues for reaching target audiences — I have to stop and remind myself that faster is not always better.  

My colleagues and I embrace and practice the latest and greatest PR tools. But no matter how advanced the technology, we know the message itself can be substantially more meaningful if we dig a little deeper. By this I mean taking the time for some good old-fashioned listening.  Sitting back and tuning in to what the client has to say provides the opportunity to grab hold of a seemingly fleeting yet innovative idea, or, the chance to identify a potential trend at its earliest stages.  This is often what leads to successful PR campaigns and press hits. 

Whether it’s a first-time presentation, a weekly input call, or a working lunch, good listening skills lead to effective communications, which will lead to exceptional ideas, which then lead to results.  From my experience I’ve learned the power of listening can:

• Reaffirm to clients how much I value what they have to say
• Help develop ongoing and meaningful dialogue
• Help develop relevant questions about topics I previously didn’t consider
• Help tap into hidden intellectual resources and talent I didn’t know existed
• Help me better understand what the clients’ needs are

When I first started working in PR I used a fax machine to distribute releases. Today, a news release can reach a global audience in a millisecond. One thing hasn’t changed. Putting up the antennae and taking good mental notes. While working as a reporter, I learned that every person, every small business, every large corporation has a story. And while it’s the quarterly reports and Fortune 500 lists that make for good financial news, it’s the story behind the people that make for impression-building news. It’s still my job to be an investigative reporter and discover that news. 

To unearth the buried treasure, I know to pay close attention to what the client is saying. Then, like a reporter, ask a few questions, sit back, and listen again. I’m always amazed at what I discover. Namely… invaluable golden nuggets of information that could have easily passed me by if I was too busy talking.