At the first BMC of 2019, the East Midlands contingent gathered at Accelerate Places in Nottingham for an evening of good food, booze and lively discussion. The evening’s exchange was kicked off by OpenWrks head of marketing and event organiser David Coghlan, who opened with the question ‘are we experiencing purpose overload in marketing?’.

Dave’s enthusiastic intro referenced Bloom’s Brand Ladder and explored the notion of ‘What is the meaning of the brand in our life?’. Giving examples of the Pepsi’s brand disaster and Gillette’s recent attempt to join the #MeToo movement, heavily slated by Mark Ritson, Dave pointed out that both brands have tried to move up the brand ladder but  used a purpose at odds with their product and positioning and as a result lost customers.

Positive purpose

To keep things on a positive note, the one brand who seems to get hearts and minds right every time was praised. Nike. With the recent Colin Kaepernick campaign they nailed it by making a narrative that resonates with the core principles of their brand. It also spoke specifically to Nike’s target audience, so even while there was some outrage online with people burning Nike shoes, that was an acceptable risk with non-core customers and actually strengthened the relationship with their core audience, thus making complete commercial sense.
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Mark Saxby talks ‘humanising social media’ at East Midlands BMC

So, how can B2B marketers translate purpose and make it relevant in our marketing?

In a series of insightful presentations, brand and language strategist Ben Afia gave an educational and entertaining overview of how language reveals your truth, can unlock doors and make brands more human.  Mary Harmon  lead designer from OpenWrks shared design insights from start-up land and top tips for being human in design. To close the show, Mark Saxby, founder of Status Social rounded off with a warning about robotic social media and the pitfalls of posting for the sake of it.

Couldn’t make it to the event? Read the full write up to learn more about how not to communicate and adopting the language of the tribe.

Fancy coming along to the next BMC event? To join in the discussion about ‘Is B2B marketing boring?’ Sign up here.

The post The Rise of the Humans – Are we experiencing purpose overload? appeared first on Big Old House.

That’s why Big Old House jumped at the chance to join a recent ‘Meet the journalist’ event hosted by Enterprise Nation at Nottingham Trent University.

The prestigious panel of professionals included Andrew Lynch – assistant business editor, Sunday Times and the Start Up List; Sam Metcalf – editor, East Midlands Business Desk; Kevin Stanley BBC Radio Nottingham presenter; John Collins, NTU lecturer and freelance broadcast journalist at BBC and Notts TV and Greg Simpson – Nottingham Enterprise Nation Ambassador and Press for Attention owner.

Speaking to an auditorium full of freelancers, micro businesses and established start-ups eager to get press tips from the experts, the group took questions from the audience. Giving a brief overview of their respective outlets, they shared tips and tricks for making contact and offered honest accounts of how they like to work with businesses and PRs…

What makes a good story?

For East Midlands Business Desk editor Sam Metcalf, a good story is something that stands out as extraordinary – either in a good or a bad way. A newsworthy story is about more than just doing a good job; it has stats, growth or job creation. It goes a step further and explains why something is different or better or what can you do now that you couldn’t do before as result of it.

Broadcast journalist John Collins, shared that for him and the outlets he represents, a good news story is about change. It’s about being cheaper, easier, harder, better, quicker or safer, rather than “we did XYZ”. A story needs to explain what has changed for the wider community as a result of the news and what impact that has had on its audience.

“Think like a reader” was the advice from Press for Attention’s Greg Simpson, who advocates getting the “What’s that about?” buzz going amongst your target audience.

As a broadcast journalist, BBC Radio Nottingham’s Kevin Stanley is interested in people telling their story rather than just the written word. For him, great people make great stories, so anything with human/personal/public interest angles works best.

And a bad story?

A contract win, a gimmick, attending an event, self-promotion, well, anything that…isn’t really a story!

Identifying the right news outlets

Greg Simpson emphasized how essential it is for businesses to identify their correct target audience. The best way to do this is to ask your customers what they read. Once you know this, read and research the publications and don’t be afraid to get in touch.

The panel agreed that it was vital to know your press – what articles they run, the types of things they cover, how they like to work. Research is the only way that you can achieve this, but it pays dividends in the long term – whether you do it yourself or do it via a PR agency/freelancer.

Finding contact details is not as difficult as you might think. Every commercial radio station has a public file on the website where you can find relevant contact details. Email addresses can often be found in journalist Twitter bios and bloggers with specialist interests can be found through web searches or using hashtags such as #journorequest on Twitter.

Getting in touch

There’s no ‘one size fits all’ method for approaching the press, so it pays to know how journalists like to work.

Most of the panel welcomed email contact or businesses getting in touch through social channels including Twitter and LinkedIn. BBC Radio Nottingham was happy to chat through story ideas on the phone via the newsdesk.

Andrew Lynch from the Sunday Times shared that he prefers email contact on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. He also recommended that all stories were sent to Peter Evans (enterprise editor) and cc’d to him.

He added that The Sunday Times business team would rather speak directly to business owners/entrepreneurs. Approaches from PRs or external communications agencies isn’t ideal, as they would rather develop a direct relationship. They also prefer hearing from start ups who have created a bit of buzz about their business with local inward investment agencies, as they have already convinced other people that they have a story worth telling.

Become the ‘go to’ person for comment/opinion in your industry sector

Experts that have proved themselves to be consistently reliable and newsworthy will become a journalist’s long-term ‘go to’ resource.

Kevin Stanley shared some helpful interview tips for getting the the best from your story and communicating your key message effectively, these included:

• Making sure you share the relevant points you want to convey
• Presenting your background – get your facts about yourself and your business prepared in advance
• Being a good interviewee on a particular topic, as this will get you asked back again and again

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You won’t get approval, so get your facts straight

Most interviews are the start of an ongoing relationship and good stories develop from a two-way dialogue, but don’t expect approval on a piece prior to publication.

When asked if the panel would gather approval on a piece in advance of publishing, it was a resounding “no”. And here’s why:

• Journalists and publications need to retain independent editorial control
• A good journalist will fact check
• Journalism is an honest and honourable profession –  journalists are not out to get you
• It is up to you to get your facts and your story straight in your approach

Will you lose control of your story?

You may not get chance to approve the story, but the panel were keen to express that building a story was a two-way process. John Collins was quick to point out that it could (and should) be a mutually beneficial partnership with a journalist to develop a story.

The panel also agreed that there were several phrases it pays to remember when talking to a journalist:

• “On the record” – Suggests it is OK to publish everything discussed
• “Off the record” – If you say it, it could be quoted but won’t be attributed to you directly
• “On background” – All conversations are completely confidential as there are sensitivities around the story and you should not be identified as the source in anyway

The event uncovered many more useful tips, tricks and insights about making friends with the media – keep a look out for the next event with Enterprise Nation. Until then, do your research, find the right contacts and start building a relationship.

If you want help navigating the world of media relations, why not get in touch? And, visit our blog for more press tips from the professionals?

The post Making friends with the media, with Enterprise Nation appeared first on Big Old House.