That entrusted phrase that if you once mentioned within an agency or to a client, would instil excitement and thrill. Over the 13 years I have been in and out of broadcast PR, I have witnessed hundreds of radio campaigns; some good, some bad. But the truth of the matter is, I can tell with all of my old, current and hopefully soon to be clients, that the passion for a radio campaign is dwindling.
Before I continue, I would like to point out that this blog is not meant to be offensive, but constructive. The views are my own and not that of my employer.
WHY?
An obvious but somewhat misunderstood reason is lack of change. The media landscape has changed; online and mobile media are growing at a speed nobody could predict, the need for PR professionals to understand content and social media is demanding. We all have new things to learn and frankly, broadcast has been put to the back and is somewhat forgotten.
With all these demands on agencies from clients and leaders of in-house teams, a lot of trust has been placed on the companies that ‘Radio Days’ (which I much prefer to call Broadcast Campaigns) are a speciality. Is that trust misplaced? Are you feeling that you cannot ‘trust’ that partner to deliver what is required to appease your client/boss? Worse still, do you put trust in them and then have to ‘fire-fight’ to repair a lack of coverage and message delivery. Something you have promised to deliver.
That last paragraph is a statement I have heard too many times, and much to my dismay as somebody with a real passion for the power of broadcast and what it can do for you and your brands. I have spent much of my time of late, analysing the way that I work, the way that the agencies I have worked for work, but more importantly, looking at the broadcast industry - to try to understand why it is slowly becoming a less respected and utilised commodity by public relations.
I thought you might like to hear the outcome of my hours of deliberation on this subject. It certainly has changed the way that I work, and may just do the same for you.
CHANGE...
I am going to give you an example of a typical client approaching a broadcast agency for a campaign:
“Hi, I want to book in a radio day. I need 15 items of coverage. I have got research that has gone to field, will be regionally focussed on TV regions, gender and age. I’ve got professor Blah from Blah from 8:30 until 1pm. I’ve got £Xk. Can I book this in for [DATE].”
Sound familiar?
It sounds all too familiar to me! Ok, let’s break this down and analyse where we are going wrong…
- “I want to book in a radio day” – Ok, so just radio. Have you thought about TV? Do you have a story that is even worthy of a ‘day’ of interviews?
- “15 Items of Coverage” – since when is items of coverage a measurable in the grand scheme of things? Is it not about targeting? Reaching the widest possible audience within pre-set targets; Gender, Age, Locality? How do you even know if 15 broadcasters exist to interview your spokesperson? Do you have that much knowledge at your fingertips?
- “I have got research that has gone to field…” – I hear this endless times. The research makes the story, granted. Your messages and hooks will be in there. But what about messages and hooks that will work for broadcasters? You have to remember, the results of the research have to formulate an interview, with a presenter that delivers the results you need. Not only that, but your spokesperson will need to have a firm understanding of the results. In various forms based on locality, gender and age. Would it not be better to have discussed this before sending out your questions and spending huge amounts of money doing so?
- “…focussed on TV regions” – at what point are TV regions a geographic breakdown? Radio stations, strangely enough, do not fall into TV regions, EVEN BBCs! Stations have regulations from OfCom on their content – to be local to their transmission area. Regionalise it, OK. County, OK too. Cities and large towns…now you are talking! Would you have known that before you sent the research to field if I hadn’t told you? Perhaps! Would you have thought about it when under deadline and pressures, possibly not!
- “I’ve got Professor Blah from Blah from 8:30-1:00pm” – That’s fabulous. I am sure Professor Blah is really looking forward to it. Especially if there is a fee involved! How much do the broadcasters know about Professor Blah? Is he a good interviewee? Is he credible in his field? Was he on 25 radio stations talking about something two days ago and is frankly always doing broadcast for a quick buck. Also, again, how would you know unless you are talking to these broadcasters every day? 8:30-1:00pm? Yes, that is the most likely timing for a traditional 'radio day' but how flexible can they be - broadcasters work all hours, programmes are all day, news channels are 24 hours. Should this not have been discussed before?
- "I’ve got £Xk” – I think discussing budget before approaching the agency to book is a definite must. I am sure if I said to a PR professional, here is £Xk go get me 2 tabloids, 2 broadsheets and 12 local press publications by this date, with a story they haven’t seen yet, they would be a little nervous too? Right? A broadcast PR agency, is a PR agency too. We think no differently to any other – we are just a little niche!
I think you may be starting to understand where I am coming from. A broadcast agency, 95% of the time, is a project based company, only as good as their last project. They will want to impress and deliver, just as you do. The prolific difference is, unless you offer a working relationship that is fair, open and trusting, they will be scrambling to do what they can for coverage to please you, with a story they have never seen.
Evolution
The answer to the issue: EVOLUTION.
It is time to evolve the way that PR people work with broadcast PR people and the way we ALL work with broadcast journalists, producers and presenters. With the right working platform we can change the way we feel about broadcast coverage, the way that we feel about broadcast media and the way that we feel about each other.
How?
This blog is becoming a thesis, so I am going to summarise a few things that I have EVOLVED in the way that I work, the way that my employer has EVOLVED, how services have EVOLVED and how the broadcast media have EVOLVED.
The power of Evolution – it could be the saviour of 'Broadcastkind'!
The EVOLUTION of BROADCAST PR
- It’s a PITCH not a PROCUREMENT – Shop around for creative not costs!
- Effective Broadcast Partnerships – working together from a seed of an idea to nurture and grow a project that flourishes
- Trust, Honesty and Belief
- Consultation, Research and Development
- Proactive and Reactive
- The Death of the CUE SHEET
- Multimedia Pitching and Delivery
- Personality and Presence
- Pitch Perfect – All singing from the same Hymn Sheet
- Delivery – Right Place, Right Time in Excellent Condition
- Results – Expected and Respected, Quality not Quantity, Targeted and Appropriate
These are buzz words or phrases that help to present why I still love Broadcast PR and where I see the future.
Maybe, in time, with more people working in a newly structured, evolved way, we can re-instate the trust, excitement and pleasure that comes from a cracking radio campaign.
But we can only do this together!
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