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.

David’s PR prowess pips Henson

The Welsh rugby PR machine that made such a success of promoting the national side's new shirt is nowhere to be seen on page two of the Llanelli Star's current edition.


As a refreshing change from Henson-mania, the Star offers up a public relations nugget concerning a Welsh sportsman who's got something Gavin hasn't, a European championship win.

To highlight the National Lottery's fulsome backing of London 2012, 400m hurdler David Greene was happy to prepare for some Cardiff publicity.

Olympic

And the Star was good enough to mark the fact with its September 15 story Hurdler's Olympic Chat.

Only a few weeks ago Effective Communication was involved in another media task which saw Paralympian swimming champion David Roberts promote some South Wales National Lottery activity.

Publications such as the South Wales Echo and the South Wales Argus were more than happy to help spread the word.

It shows that there's more to PR life than a man who's not played his chosen sport for 18 months. And you ain't gonna see David Greene in dancefloor sequins any time soon.

Henson gimmick is a Wales masterstroke

Welsh expertise in marketing, promotion and PR has come a long way since John Toshack posed with Barry John and Gareth Edwards on the Cardiff Arms Park turf.

A black and white image of that early 70s rendezvous - with all three in loose-fitting cotton Wales rugby jerseys and Tosh clutching a brown leather oval ball - adorns a wall of Pontcanna's Cameo Club.

It was there for all to admire yesterday as Effective Communication colleagues met to discuss fabulous plans for a key area of our business.

I wonder if Gavin Henson's new promo shot for Wales' latest Under Armour skin will be in the bistros and cappuccino haunts of Cefneithin, Blaengwynfi and Tonyrefail in years to come?

Probably not - but it's everywhere now! A few puzzled sentences of reaction from past and present Wales internationals has ensured that.

Gimmick

Others have been a little more informed in their pronouncements: "It's a good sales gimmick."

And in Welsh rugby's professional era we should expect many more examples of such creative thinking, activity which encourages media-friendly mild outrage.

Those involved in top-flight Welsh rugby know the sport is a dog-eat-dog pressurised world of hirings, firings, hard-fought commercial deals, tight margins and underwhelming ticket sales.

The players know full well that promotional activity is key - if the Henson stunt does have a negative effect on the sensitivities of a few then more fool them.

Just contrast the number of fans at tonight's Ospreys-Treviso game with the number of people around the UK who know what Wales'new shirt looks like, who the sponsor is, who the manufacturer is and which rugby star's on Stricty Come Dancing.

No contest. Yet despite this being the Italian club's (slightly) historic first Magners League appearance on British or Irish soil what creative energy have the Welsh galacticos put into getting bums on seats at the Liberty Stadium today? Put up Scott Johnson and a few players at a Tuesday press conference by the looks of it.

It's 2010 not the days of It's a Knockout. Publicity images of three guys with a ball in front of an empty stand now do little to trigger merchandise sales and to raise profile.

The Henson stunt is a masterstroke. Well done to all concerned.

July 9's Swansea Bay Media Highlights

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For all those interested in & working in the Swansea Bay media
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Social Media Twitter #Swansea
06.00am - DaveTencin RT @WAFC_headlines: Jones staying with Wigan despite Swansea rumours - Wigan http://aggbot.com/docs/link.php?id=10031569&r=tw&c=54
02.36am - MAILfootball Coleman set for Swansea, Coventry eye King and Doncaster want Keogh http://bit.ly/9EuRuY
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Broadcast Scarlet FM 97.5fm Click
News - A new bowling alley could soon be built in Carmarthen thanks to an £800,000 funding boost agreed by the Big Lottery Fund and the Welsh Assembly Government.
Morning Show - Presenter Tommo greets Scarlets commercial chief Rupert Moon looking forward to the region's week ahead and to the July 19 season tickets launch.
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Online Western Mail Click
News - Hundreds of temporary jobs within the Assembly Government and quangos are being axed to save money in the current financial year, we can reveal. Click
Sport - Journalists Jon Doel, Simon Roberts and Andy Howell debate which Welsh players need a big season to make the World Cup. Chat about Gavin Henson, Dwayne Peel, Tom Shanklin. Click
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Links Twitter | Website
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June 1's Swansea Bay Media Highlights

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For all those interested in & working in the Swansea Bay media
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Print Western Mail Click
News – The private company which operates the Severn bridges has raised nearly £226m over the past three years - but spent only £15m on essential maintenance on the original crossing's damaged cables.
Commercial – Great Waterstones hook-up with today's WM lifestyle pull-out ... 25 top summer reads listed and detailed, including Look Back in Hunger by Jo Brand, The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy and Oh, Carol! by Carol McGiffin.
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Broadcast Swansea Sound 1170mw Click
News – Dyfed-Powys Police arrested eight people in Pembrokeshire after an illegal rave in Dale.
Commercial – Typical ad break: Days Ford, Digital Radio, Splenda, Leekes, Enterprise 2000, Mercedes Benz.
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Online South Wales Evening Post Click
News – Canadian singer Celine Dion, 42, is reportedly pregnant with twins after her sixth attempt at IVF, according to the Evening Post's Daily Mail sister site. Click
Comment – Gavin Henson and Charlotte Church are said to be devastated following the break up of their five-year relationship: "I feel sorry for these youngsters who've had to deal with the weight of expectation from the Welsh public and massive press intrusion," says Mayals' Tony Buckleigh. "Yes, they may be wealthy but we all know wealth can't buy happiness. I wish them well and hope they will be able to perform on the big stage and remind us all why they became household names in the first place." Click
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Links Twitter | Website
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