Speaker 1: Journalists aren't a different breed. They're human beings who live and eat like we all do. They are very busy and they have a different focus on life, but particularly in the trade media, they are interested in the trade they're writing about, so they'll be interested in your business. If there's something new or different, they get interested by that because they are intellectually interested themselves, but also they're interested for their readers. So the best thing is just to start talking, and it is a question of one's time. I think a good, there are a million journalists, 100 million journalists in the world, but a good start point is to think of the maybe top 10 or top 20 publications you would really like to be in. When I say publications, I don't necessarily mean a physical thing, it's online as well. Think of those places you want to be and start building a relationship with them. Think of them as someone you're selling to. So while you won't get a direct sale from talking to journalists necessarily, you're building your brand, but you're still selling to

Speaker 2: them. So think of them as another sales target. So if you've got your list of top 10, 20 journalists

Speaker 1: who you want to reach, personalise them, absolutely personalise your approach to them. Don't use templates. Emily, to your question, I hate using templates like that because I think it loses the immediacy. Writing a news release, there are certain things journalists expect to see. They expect to see news, they expect to see quotes, they expect to see some data, they expect to see contact information. So there is, to some extent, a formula. But I would never start anything, I'd never start writing something like that with a template in mind. I start with a formula of the things I need to include. But I think templates are dangerous, particularly when you're targeting a very small number of people. So if you've got, it might be that your target for between now and the end of the year is to be in your top 20 publications. So just, you've got to spend the time. There's no shortcut. It's a shame,

Speaker 3: but there isn't a shortcut. In response to that then, so if you don't use templates at all and you just use a personalised, conversational approach when you do get in touch, have you seen any things that you've had to mention or change or adapt in response to COVID? Have those messages changed, the tone of voice, what you mention? Or are you still using the same approach

Speaker 1: as you were before COVID? It's the same, because it's personalised. Because it's, there are, I mean, it depends on the sector, but in one particular sector, I've got a couple of clients I do a lot of work in. I know the journalists really well, I know them personally, I know about their families. I know, it's the old cliche of, it's your daughter's birthday today, I hope she's having a good day. It's that kind of cliche of knowing them that well. And so, no, I haven't, well, my approach adapts as they adapt, and they change, as opposed to because of what's happening, any external things. So, not specifically, no.

Speaker 2: There are two ways, and boringly, one of them is experience. And it's, we're all involved in some

Speaker 1: way or form in marketing. And the more we do, the more we learn what works best. And we all have our specialisations as well. So, my instinct is going to take me towards media relations quite early on in the conversation. But if that's not going to work, then if we discuss it and decide that's not the right approach, then that's absolutely fine. The other way is, which is how you build experience is by testing. And maybe you do some beta testing and see what sticks and what doesn't stick. And then I'm an absolutely firm believer in having the power to fail and to fail fast. So, if you try something that doesn't work, move on and try the next thing. Because as I just said, we all have limited resources. So, we can't do everything all the time. So, try one thing. But if you land on, say, media relations and think that's the best way of

Speaker 2: doing it, if you try it once, twice, doesn't work, move on, try something else. Case studies work well. There are two things that make it work well for media coverage. One is that

Speaker 1: the case study is relevant to your why. So, what's new? Why does someone do this? So, is it a better ROI? Is it a better exposure? Whatever your why is, your case study needs to illustrate that. The second point is that ideally you should have someone who's prepared to speak on the case study's behalf. So, someone from the client or customer who the journalist can talk to. I suppose, and it's the same as if you're going for a really big deal, it might be that you get existing customers to talk to the potential new one. It's the same concept. If you want to get the value of getting in an FT, for example, is huge. And so, you put a lot of effort into that. In the same way, you put a lot of effort into a big sale.

Speaker 2: So, it does come back to that same concept of think of it as a selling process.

Speaker 1: So, the first thing to do is build a list of all the things that could go wrong, and the things that wake you up at three o'clock in the morning with your hair on end. Think about those things. If something breaks and it causes all sorts of problems, or if something becomes public that's going to make your life very difficult, assume it will at some point. Assume the server will break at some point. Assume all these things that could happen, the worst case, and plan for them. Plan how you're going to react to them. And by reaction, it's fixing them if the server breaks, obviously. But also, it's what you're going to say. And have that ready, so that if it does happen, your first job isn't to scrabble around and think, shit, what am I going to say? I don't know what to say, help. You've actually got, you won't have the perfect thing to say there. You'll have, but you might get 80-90% of the way there. So, to be already, you're prepared. You're ready to say something, whether that's saying it face-to-face to somebody, whether that's saying it on social media, whether that's saying it in a written thing to journalists, whatever it might be. Have it ready. Be prepared. And the other thing is, the other part of preparation is practice. Practice delivering it. Because it might be that you get a phone call from a journalist saying, I hear your server's broken. What the hell's going on? So, or I hear you had some financial irregularities that are causing you problems. But if you've thought about what your answer is, and you're prepared to, and you practice saying it, then when you say it, you feel comfortable. And no, not comfortable. You're never going to feel comfortable in those circumstances. You're not going to mess it up. So, it's preparation. And when you're preparing these things, particularly if it's a crisis that's going to have a negative impact on people, think of those people first. So, rather than saying, well, it's not our fault, or it's our supplier's fault, say, I'm really sorry this happened, and I'm sorry it's disrupting your life. This is what we're doing to fix it. And by the way, this is the first time we've had a problem in X number of years, or whatever the thing is. And that's a, there's a lovely acronym for that, CAP, Concern Action Perspective. And when you're using that, your concern should be about 80%, and the other two about 10%. So, make sure that people understand that you're on their side. So, it's about preparation. And then, if it happens, when it happens, slow everything down. Move slowly, breathe slowly. Don't panic. It sounds obvious, but in a difficult circumstance, just a deep breath sometimes makes all the difference. When we do crisis simulation training, which we do for lots of clients, my favourite day of the year, when we do those, I love them. We often get, so we maybe have five people who are going to be on the, who are training that day. And we give them the first stage of a scenario. There's been a fire at your, one of your facilities, or whatever it might be. And we get them to arrive at different times. And as they arrive, we have a camera, like a big TV, big huge TV camera on a camera on the shoulder, shoved in their face. And we ask them aggressive questions. Some of which they can answer, and some they can't. And that is a very stressful environment. But if you practice for it, if and when it happens in real life, then while it's still stressful, at least you have an understanding of it. And you have an understanding of how you're going to react, what it feels like. And therefore, you can react in a calmer,

Speaker 4: more measured, more proportionate way. So, it is all about preparation.