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Sacke & Associates in the News
PR TRENDS IN TECHNOLOGY
From emergit.com, October 22, 2001
by Stacy King
The quality of a company's reputation can make or break its long-term success, and good Public Relations can play a key role in building a good name. Publicity for technology firms has changed almost as much as the technology itself over the last decade. Picking the right Public Relations firm requires an awareness of those trends in order to determine which agency will best represent your company's interests to the media.
This week, emergit.com speaks with John Sacke, Founder of Sacke & Associates, a Toronto-base public relations firm, about the current trends in technology media communications. With over 11 years of experience in technology Public Relations, Sacke has witnessed the evolution of e-communication strategies from mass faxing to modern techniques.
More than just facts
"Today, people are expecting a different caliber of news," says Sacke. "They expect not only the raw facts but some sort of analysis in the news release itself. As a PR practitioner, it has to take your understanding of what your client has done to a new level."
That expectation means that Public Relations professionals need to be well versed in a broad range of technology industry issues, rather than focusing simply on their client's business alone. When selecting a Public Relations agency, it's useful to find out what publications the agents read and study samples of releases written for other clients. This allows you to get a feel for whether they will be able to place your company's progress in context.
A New News Media
"The media community has also changed a lot," says Sacke. "What they're really looking for today is what I call narrow-casting. They want to be addressed almost as if they are the only ones in the audience."
That means more than simply customizing press release mail-outs with a "Dear Blank" in the opening line. Journalists at major outlets often receive upwards of 500 press releases a day, but can only select a few to report on. A good Public Relations agency should be able to demonstrate an awareness of the specific needs of the various publications where your company should be featured and know how to present your story in a way that will catch their attention.
"The media, contrary to popular belief, do have long memories," says Sacke. "They're demanding that they don't want to be pitched inappropriate stories or inappropriate ideas, so you want to take great care to make sure that you are targeting the right message to the right reporter, otherwise you are just wasting your time and theirs."
Targeted Mass Mailings
Email is a great boon to the modern Public Relations professional. Rather than the old days of spending hours faxing out releases to individual media outlets, a distribution list can allow you to blanket many publications in a single click. However, that simplicity can be deceptive.
"It's a big media community that we talk to," says Sacke. "It's difficult because a new product release announcement may not be of interest to a particular reporter, but news of a new Vice President of Corporate Communications is. You wind up with so many databases and so many distribution lists that it gets terribly complicated."
In-house champions
"I'm a big proponent of outsourcing what is not one's core competency," says Sacke. "With outsourcing, you need somebody on the inside of your client who is a champion."
Often, companies make the mistake of viewing Public Relations as a kind of poor cousin to Marketing. A good Public Relations agency will work with internal contacts to educate them about the agency's role, responsibility and processes. In order to be successful, the agency also needs someone within the organization to take on a role as their key contact, ensuring that the agency is updated about recent events and changes within the firm.
Make it Easy
"Rule number one is; don't be difficult." says Sacke. "I hear horror stories all the time about Public Relations agencies who don't return calls and don't do things they promised to do. Media people are busy people and you've got to respect their time."
It's a simple fact that people enjoy working with contacts that make their jobs easier to do. Reporters will often shun a Public Relations agency that develops a reputation for being slow to respond to a deadline. That means their clients are also overlooked, costing them valuable media exposure. Demonstrating respect for the deadlines that media work with is critical to building a good relationship and securing future coverage.
"One of media's biggest gripes is that PR agencies call incessantly to ask if they got the latest release," says Sacke. "If it didn't bounce back, chances are they got it. Increasingly, editors and writers don't like to be pitched over the phone, because they are so pressed for time. You have to respect those deadlines."
A good Public Relations agency needs to excel at building relationships both with their client company and with the media. Checking client references is one way of finding out how well the agency works in tandem with internal Marketing professionals. On the exposure front, an agency that is able to not only secure its clients feature stories but also arranges for frequent quotes to appear in trend or general industry coverage articles has likely built solid relationships with key media contacts.
Let us know what you think. Email John Sacke at johns@sackepr.com
Tell emergit what you think. Send comments to editorial@emergit.com
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