Traditional media crucial to PR

Hands up if you'd recognise these guys if they walked in the room ... George Michael ... Jimmy Page.

Michael is a musician who has sold over 100 million records. His band was Wham! Page is a musician who has sold over 100 million records. His band was Led Zeppelin.

Hands up if you can tell me which business brands these fellas are most associated with ... Richard Branson ... Ingvar Kamprad.

Richest

Branson is a businessman who's the 212th richest person in worth around $4bn. His brand is Virgin. Kamprad is a businessman who's the 5th richest person in the world worth $22bn. His brand is Ikea.

Hands up if you recognise these names ... Gavin Henson ... Simon Culhane.

Henson was an international rugby player who never appeared at a World Cup. Culhane was an international rugby player who holds the record for the most number of points scored in a single RWC game - 45 when New Zealand beat Japan 145-17 in 1995.

Why?

So why do you know Michael, Branson and Henson? And not Page, Kamprad and Culhane?

Is it that Michael, Branson & Henson have more talent that Page, Kamprad and Culhane? Is it that they've achieved more in their speciality fields?

I suggest not. I suggest it's because Michael, Branson and Henson have been splashed all over the newspapers. Not for all the reasons they would wish - but my straw poll illustrates - to some extent - the power of the press.

Positive

And it's that in which Effective Communication specialises. Our job is to ensure that our clients get the most possible positive exposure in the press.

We harness that power for you.

It's not the only thing we do - yes, every press release we write goes to the media ... but it also becomes a story on our website, a news item on the client's website, a Tweet if required, a Facebook posting, the basis for a blog and perhaps a video clip for YouTube. We also create all-encompassing marketing plans - but that's not my focus today.

Profile

Let me explain briefly how we save you time, raise your profile and improve your profits.

We save you possibly hundreds of hours a year by dealing with news hungry journalists and aggressive, revenue-chasing advertising executives from across the media.

In Swansea Bay alone there are at least 50 media businesses with an interest in your stories (good and bad) and your marketing spend.

New

They range from small brand new operations such as Eye on Gorseinon to the rather more well-established and slightly better resourced BBC.

They range from community radio stations such as Port Talbot's Afan FM which has a well defined geographical market for those aged 12 to 25.

Phone calls, circulars, emails, cold calls ... at some point they'll head your way. Journalists are even likely to call at bad times: when the company's downsizing substantially, being attacked in court or suffering a human tragedy of some kind.

Pain

We save you the pain of dealing with all this because we know the media people, we know their plans, we know their needs, we know how they work, we know their journalists - and we know their ad team's discount structures.

In short, we can plan any media campaign to suit your business. That's everything from the one-off press release for a newly-launched business to a lengthy media campaign which uses editorial, advertising and promotions to deliver the right messages at the right time for the right price.

And we do it for any type of business. This week I was helping rebuild the public reputation of a small motor garage owner who's got on the wrong side of the law ... this afternoon I'm working for Camelot. They want to publicise this Friday's £82m Euromillions jackpot so I've arranged – and will oversee - an interview between an Evening Post features writer and a Llanelli Lotto millionaire. The feature will appear in Friday's paper.

Valuable

And one thing we always stress is that hard-won editorial space in a newspaper is so much more valuable than advertising space - the public know that you've paid a few thousand pounds for a page in the Western Mail ... but they see an editorial feature on the next page as a sign that a team of journalists and their editor see great merit in what you're doing.

Managed properly, your media engagement will make you attractive to journalists seeking expert comment on topics within your sphere; it will have influential individuals such as editors talking about you in their own networking circles ... and it will make you appear to be a very credible employer when you begin a recruitment drive.

As George Michael, Richard Branson and Gavin Henson know, exposure in the media can help make you very high-profile and very marketable.

As I said, traditional media isn't everything in a marketing mix - but it's a very important part. Media coverage is a cornerstone of building your brand – please don't forget it.