The Media Mindset: A Modern Approach to Media Relations

If you told Mr. Doshner, my high school science teacher, that I was going to end up working in any profession where the word science would be used, even if only occasionally—he would say you were nuts and throw you out of his classroom.

If you saw some of my grades in his class, you’d undoubtedly agree with him.

I’m a PR man today, one that’s not embarrassed to sometimes call himself a publicist or even a “spin doctor.” You’d probably think that’s a far cry from science, but you’d be wrong.

The profession of public relations may not have been taught in Mr. Doshner’s class, but it’s a science just the same, albeit a social one. In fact, it can trace it roots back to the teachings of Dr. Sigmund Freud whose nephew, Ed Bernays, is widely considered the “father of public relations.”

Bernays felt that excellence in public relations could be attained (in part) by understanding human behavior and “what makes people tick.” There’s a lot of science in that, especially with the emergence of new technologies today.

But what does that have to do with media relations and establishing lasting media relationships? Quite a lot.

I didn’t always know that, despite studying PR as an undergraduate student at NYU. I thought you just pitched reporters, threw a few parties and got lucky. If you had great clients, then luck was only part of the equation. That’s not true and never has been. I’ve learned you can have household name clients and still have an uphill battle landing stories that matter—stories that “move the needle” for a client and drive forward business objectives.

I’d like to say that I had this strategic awakening on my own, but it was far from it. My way of thinking about media relations and storytelling for clients was the result of a phone call from a vendor. Let me explain.

My first client was RICOH, a leading consumer electronics manufacturer. Our assignment was to conduct a media campaign for their home office products division, including promoting the use of fax machines at home (stop chuckling, it was a long time ago).

We got media results, but mostly in trade publications. That wasn’t what the client was hoping for when they hired us. Here’s where things changed.

RICOH was launching a new fax machine called the PF-1. The “PF” stood for personal fax, and it was small enough to fit in a briefcase or –wait for it—be used in tandem with a car phone. As part of the launch, we wrote a news release and in the lede we audaciously declared that the new machine was the “world’s smallest fax machine.”

As the release was being sent out a sales representative from the mailing house we used (yes, we mailed things then, too) called. He wanted to know what third party said that we had created the world’s smallest fax. I took a deep breath before saying, “the client said so.” Our representative then quickly said he wasn’t trying to question us, but he had an idea. He went on to say that he had the mailing address for the Guinness Book of World Records. He wanted to know if he should send them the release. If we really were the world’s smallest fax maybe they’d include a mention in the next edition. I laughed and said, “whatever.”

A few weeks went by and one day a large white envelope with lots of stamps arrived in the mail. It was from London—from the Guinness Book of World Records. In the Queen’s English the letter said, “We are pleased to accept your claim as a new record and the details will appear in the next edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. We thank you for drawing the matter to our attention.”

The client was over the moon and soon changed their entire ad campaign to focus on innovation. Our media strategy gained traction, too, including a placement on the Today show where we sent a fax while driving in a limo!

But where’s the science in that? It’s this: listening. As public relations professionals the cognitive skill of listening is too often overlooked. I doubt anyone in the media – outside of the trades – would have cared about our product launch if we weren’t able to add the Guinness reference. That credibility allowed us to foster new relationships with technology reporters and top-tier, consumer-facing media. I know that never happens if I hadn’t taken the time to listen and act on what I was hearing (even if I did so begrudgingly).

And here’s the thing: Today there are so many tools at our disposal to help us listen, whether that’s stakeholders, the marketplace, influencers or something else entirely. Back then our sales representative had a mailing label for Guinness, but today our data & analytics team might have an insight that could connect us to a new idea or third party that can add new layers to the story we are trying to tell.

That’s science, and when combined with the art of media relations it produces better results.

But what about media relationships? Isn’t successful media relations contingent on who you know in the media? Yes and no.

Relationships of any kind also revolve around human behavior and understanding that is a science (and also an art).

I had this breakthrough on a job interview. I hated my first job and was actively interviewing for new opportunities. I was able to get my clients media coverage (like what we got for the launch of the RICOH PF-1), but it was draining because the way we pursued media relations was still very “smile and dial”, while plastering reporters with long-winded news releases and pitch letters.

One of the agencies that I interviewed with was infamous for being a “publicity shop”—a place a client turned to when getting media coverage was basically all they cared about. During the interview I was asked how I approached media relations. I’m not sure why, but I told the interviewer they were thinking about it the wrong way. It wasn’t about media relations it was about media relationships. I got the job.

A few days after I started, I was asked what I meant. I honestly wasn’t sure at the time, but I said something like this: Successful media relations professionals need to use both their left and right brain. The left brain is focused on the story your client needs to tell—finding ways to do that in ways that your audience will find engaging. The right side of the brain needs to focus on the needs of the reporter—what they need to have to tell a story and when. When both work together they form a connection that can result in a meaningful relationship.

I think I was making that up at the time but looking back I’m amazed by how right I was. But here’s the thing, these relationships don’t always last very long. Few public relations professionals have meaningful relationships with dozens of reporters—that type of thing only happens on television shows or in the movies.

The reality is that media relationships can be fleeting. They matter in the moment, but when the moment passes the reporter, and the publicist, most often moves on. And that’s ok because if you approach the relationship in the right way then when you need to reach out again the journalist will be more likely to entertain a conversation.

Months later my theory was confirmed by the agency’s CEO. He brought us all together for a breakfast meeting to talk about how to succeed at the agency. In that meeting he gave what I call the “five friends speech.” He told us we didn’t need to know everyone in the newsroom. It was more important to have a few relationships” that could help guide you when needed, but far more important was the ability to tell a good story.

Later I worked for another agency that was hyper-focused on getting media results. That agency’s CEO also had a message for his team. Actually, it was more of a question. When developing a media relations strategy he’d often stop and ask, “What’s the move?”

He believed a successful media strategy was like a well-played chess match. There was always a move to make, you just need to look at the whole board and make the right one. Perhaps there’s nothing more cerebral or scientific than that.

Back then we used to rely on gut instinct in determining “the move” we were going to make. Today, we have lots of tools at our disposal to figure things out, to identify the white space, to target the right media outlet, to craft a message that will allow our client to be differentiated in the marketplace.

But it’s all still a very methodical combination of science and art. A media strategy fueled solely by data and analytics will fail just as fast as one driven by gut instinct. Combing the two—using both our left and right brains—is the winning approach.

So, Mr. Doshner, wherever you are, I may still not know much about chemistry or physics, but I’ve learned a lot about human behavior, whether that’s in a newsroom or a boardroom, and what makes people tick. And that’s science.

As for the art part, that takes time to develop but you can get better at it by reading as much as possible, asking questions, and just being curious. I think those are the type of people we all want to have relationships with—I know journalist so, and so do clients.

By Ken Kerrigan

Photo by Digital Buggu via Pexels