Making the Most of Media Relations
Why every executive should be concerned about the care and feeding of the news media.
Nancy Coffey
Every executive wants to see his or her company's products and organization portrayed positively in the press. It's good for business and for the soul.
But great media coverage doesn't happen by accident. Not only must a company have a great product, it also must cultivate good relationships with reporters. "Good relationships with reporters" doesn't mean that every time a reporter calls, company executives must drop everything and provide every piece of information sought. Instead, it means that when a reporter contacts a company, someone on staff immediately returns the call, is cordial, and respects the reporter's deadline. Companies that help reporters and are available to them help themselves as well.
The Payoff
As any company executive who has refused an interview and then seen his company described in less-than-glowing terms in the national media can attest, reporters will define a story themselves if a company doesn't provide clear, compelling messages on the reporter's timetable. It is in a company's own interest to grant interviews because those interviews will connect the company to the audiences it wants to reach: customers, investors, regulators, and other influential parties. While some companies prefer to deliver messages to these audiences via advertisements—which allow companies to retain complete control over the content—audiences pay much more attention to news stories because they're perceived as being more objective. Good news coverage can do more for a company's bottom line and image than even the highest-priced advertising campaign.
The savviest companies deliver their stories to the media with the help of what public relations professionals call "third-party validation," which means someone credible outside of the newsworthy organization agrees with the company's perspective and is willing to go on record with that opinion. For example, if a company that has just developed a new heart monitor is successful in getting the American Heart Association to endorse the efficacy of the device, the resulting media pickup and impact will be greater than if the company merely announced it has developed a new product.
As exciting—or nerve-racking—as it may be to get a call from The Wall Street Journal or TV's Dateline, medical device companies should be certain to recognize the importance of trade journals to their media relations efforts as well. The editors and reporters at trade publications understand the medical device industry and follow it closely. They devote more time and more space to such products and technologies and will provide a ready platform for medtech companies' agendas. Yes, trade journalists know the tough questions to ask, but they are also more likely than other reporters to be fair since they know people at the company, understand the complexities of the industry, and need medtech cooperation to stay on top of developments in the sector. Another great reason to cultivate relationships with the trade press: the best business reporters for both print and broadcast media often read trade journals for definitive information and story ideas.
Getting Reporters' Attention
While trade reporters for the medical device industry will seek out medtech companies' latest news, getting general-interest reporters to pay attention may require more work. Reporters need to know how a product makes a difference in people's lives. Adding a human face—especially a child's—and explaining the life-enhancing benefits of a product or technology in everyday language will go a long way towards increasing story pickup.
A number of medtech companies succeeded in doing this several years ago when the controversy surrounding silicone breast implants threatened the supply of raw materials for other medical devices such as hydrocephalic shunts and other medical devices that are made with silicone or use a silicone coating. Medtech companies pitched stories that dramatized the plight of children and vulnerable adults to the media, and these stories helped persuade lawmakers to grant raw materials makers liability protection when their materials are used in medical devices, thus ensuring a continued supply of silicone.
Who Should Do the Talking
When a story is in the making, reporters will inevitably want to talk with the top executive—a CEO title adds more weight and credibility to any statement. Of course, CEOs don't have the time to speak with every reporter who calls—and many such calls may not warrant the CEO's attention. There may be occasions when the timing is wrong and the subject matter unsuitable. For example, if a company is in the midst of clinical trials with a new product, it would be inappropriate to comment on patients' outcomes until after the trial is completed.
When reporters want to learn about a new product or financial development, sometimes the CEO should do the interview, and other times someone else in the organization may have more time and be a more appropriate contact. Obviously, if FDA has just made an important ruling affecting one of a company's products, the CEO should be available to answer reporters' questions. On the other hand, if a story is focusing on the technology behind the development of a new product, an engineer may welcome the opportunity to talk with the media. In general, in addition to the CEO, a company's CFO and other senior managers should all feel comfortable with—and be prepared to speak to—the media.
While many CEOs feel that they are just too busy to talk with reporters who, admittedly, can sometimes be a bit abrupt or nosy, a little time invested with reporters can bring dividends. In today's highly competitive market, it's crucial for companies to tell physicians and patients about their products, and the news media can be a very cost-effective, compelling way of doing that. To borrow from a popular ad of a few years back: when CEOs talk, people listen. Making the CEO available raises the profile of an issue and gives a company's agenda more clout.
Media relations professionals can help reduce the amount of time their CEOs need to spend with reporters by making sure the reporter is up to speed on the industry and product before the interview. Staff members should fully brief reporters before the interview and give them background material, including fact sheets, corporate backgrounders, and issue summaries. Reporters often just need a quote from the top official—not a lot of time.
First Things First
At some point, everyone has made a comment they have regretted. In media relations, the goal is not to do so on camera or in print. Therefore, many communications experts consider media and presentation skills training a basic job requirement for anyone who may have to talk with reporters or address important audiences. While medical technology professionals possess great knowledge about their subject areas, media and presentation training helps industry experts identify, select, and distill the kind of information that an audience of patients, physicians, regulators, or the general public will find compelling. Media training helps clients prepare for any kind of news encounter from a promotional opportunity to crisis and litigation coverage.
Presentation training should focus on both content and delivery. Content is king—not even the best delivery technique will save a company that hasn't developed and delivered a solid, coherent message.
Messages are not slogans or ad copy. Rather, messages help define a company and promote its image. They tell people what a company is and why it's better than the competition; they explain both what a company does and why. Strong messages reflect not just a company's objectives and purpose, but resonate with the target audience. An important exercise for company executives is to describe what the company does and why it is special. Executives should then review those messages to see whether they could be equally true of their competitors. If so, the messages need to be refined and enhanced until they are unique to the company.
Developing a company's core messages is not as easy as one might think. And because developing core messages can be difficult, it's a step that many executives put off until it is almost too late—until they're about to meet with reporters. The best-prepared companies discuss and agree upon what messages the company would like to send to which audiences before their executives undergo media training.
Companies should develop their key messages at the same time they are conducting early public relations strategy sessions. Ketchum Communications Center (Washington, DC) trainers act as facilitators in sessions that help clients identify their objectives, key audiences, and core messages. This preparation allows Ketchum to better target its media outreach, focus its communications training, and guide clients to more-successful news interviews.
Recently, Ketchum was preparing a CEO to meet with the nation's top financial reporters prior to an initial public offering. It quickly became clear that the company executives could not agree on their key messages or even a single sentence that could explain what this successful company does.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Too often staffs make the mistake of assuming that top executives are too senior and too busy to bother with message development and then everyone wonders why at the last minute executives reject or ignore staff-developed messages. The tone and substance of key messages should be set at the top, from the beginning of any public relations effort. Because core messages are meant to define the very essence of a company, it is essential for the firm's top officers to participate in their creation and have "ownership" of those messages.
When a Crisis Strikes
Despite a company's best efforts to develop positive messages and opportunities for the press to cover, it is inevitable that some day, in some way, some challenging news story will threaten a company's stellar reputation. This is the time when a company's ongoing efforts to maintain positive relationships with reporters will earn their weight in gold. If reporters have been treated with honesty and respect in the past, they'll be more likely to trust that a company will treat them with the same honesty and respect during a crisis as well.
Every company should prepare a crisis plan before such an event occurs. This plan should identify a team of key people within the company and outside advisers who would be alerted as soon as a crisis strikes. These people will be responsible for creating the strategy for dealing with the crisis, and they will stay within close contact throughout the event via frequent conference calls and meetings. In addition to placing at least one senior communications person on this crisis team, companies should also choose their spokespeople and make sure all are media trained. Internal fact checkers and investigators should also be appointed.
In addition, companies should assemble a separate crisis communications team that will have assigned roles. Some members will draft messages and press statements; others will be the point of contact for reporters. A senior member of the communications team should be present whenever the spokesperson is interviewed.
In good times and bad, it is far better for a company to speak for itself than to have others speak for it. Smart companies do not stonewall reporters; even if they don't say a lot, they say something. If a company refuses to comment on a situation, the public will assume the firm is hiding something, and it will be much harder to regain its trust.
As soon as a crisis develops, it is essential for a company to show concern, to tell the public what is being done about the situation, and to assure the public that all findings will be reported as soon as possible. Company communicators should not let other companies or people define the issue, the crisis, or their company. Part of a crisis communications plan should address how the team will not let a day or a news cycle go by without answering any accusation hurled at the company.
Sometimes a company's legal strategy can seem at odds with its objectives to reassure the public and win its trust. Medtech firms should look for a public relations agency that has specialized expertise in litigation public relations. Such a firm can work with the company's internal public relations staff and attorneys to mesh the company's public relations and legal strategies. These public relations professionals work closely with lawyers, understand the nuances they must deliver, and can help companies communicate more effectively with reporters. A few more quick lessons:
- Don't deny the obvious. Companies that do so will lose credibility, and the public may refuse to believe anything else such companies say.
- Don't let the story hemorrhage. Communicators should try to make bad news a one-day story. Companies' reputations suffer when bad news dribbles out day-by-day as reporters or others discover new details.
- Companies should gather the essential facts quickly and deliver them to the public. Tell the truth, tell it first, and tell it yourself.
In the court of public opinion, if a company apologizes early and tells people how it will prevent the situation from recurring, it will more easily win forgiveness and trust.
Take-Away Message
It should almost go without saying: reporters can make or break a company. From reporting on a company's newest products and financial results to describing why a facility was closed, the way journalists shape and report a story can influence how important audiences—including patients, physicians, and regulators—will perceive an event. Companies that treat the media with respect and honesty, whether the news is good or bad, will build relationships that will withstand even the stormiest times.
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To develop strong, positive working relationships with the media, corporate communicators should: Create a lead. Just as reporters lead off with a single sentence that sums up the newest, most interesting, and most noteworthy development about their stories, so, too, should companies when writing a press release, calling a reporter, or answering a reporter's question. Write news releases, but do more. To make sure a story is picked up, communicators must follow up with individual calls to reporters. Be newsworthy. Just because a company wants to sell a product doesn't mean a reporter wants to write about it. "Buy an ad" is a common sarcastic reaction from reporters when they get calls that they consider empty sales pitches. Communicators must look for an angle. Is the company the first to market this product? Has it revolutionized or advanced a product? Is the product a forerunner of a new trend? Does the product have some relevance to something happening in the news? Don't overdo news conferences. Medtech companies should reserve news conferences for announcing new or major changes in product lines or business strategies or for briefing all reporters at once during the middle of a crisis. Know what is happening in the world. Before an executive is scheduled to talk with a reporter, smart communicators will check on the latest developments in the industry and the news to avoid being blindsided or unprepared for any questions. Install a gatekeeper with an open-door policy. The communications director or public relations firm should be the point of contact for reporters who want to interview company executives, but it's important to facilitate, not inhibit, good media relations. Staff should initiate, field, and manage reporter contacts in a way that makes reporters feel welcome even when they are not. Ask questions. When a reporter calls, it is important to ask questions: Who do you want to talk to? What information do you want? What is your story about? Who else have you talked to? When will the story appear? And most important to the reporter, what is your deadline? Honor reporters' deadlines. Even if a company can't or won't give reporters the interview or answers they are seeking, staff must get back to them in a timely manner both to maintain the company's credibility and its relationship with reporters. Do your homework and theirs. Communicators should assemble all the materials a reporter might need to understand issues of importance to the company, including fact sheets, charts, backgrounders, industry analyses, and press releases. Would a tour or demonstration help? If company executives are being interviewed by television reporters, communicators should think of good visuals and backdrops that will give reporters the pictures they need while conveying the image the company would like to present. Be concrete. Don't talk in generalities. Reporters value case studies and specific examples that illustrate key points. Recruit credible outsiders. Communicators should compile a list of success stories and happy customers who would be willing to speak to the press. Praise from an outsider is much more persuasive than kudos from someone who works at the company. Be prepared. To make sure their answers will have the desired effect in print or on the air, even highly experienced spokespeople prepare and practice often through formal training or refresher sessions. Invite company. Spokespeople should not do an interview alone. Communications professionals should accompany spokespeople to interviews and listen carefully to both the questions and the answers. Often a third person can spot a misstatement or a misunderstanding that should be corrected. |
Nancy Coffey is senior vice president for media relations and training at Ketchum Communications Center (Washington, DC).
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