Caroline James’ Post

🚀 The 2024 Global Comms Report is here! 💡 For the seventh year in a row, Cision and PRWeek have joined forces to shed light on the trends, challenges and opportunities ahead for PR and corporate communications teams. 🔎 Over 3,000 journalists were surveyed across 19 countries to help understand if the hype around AI in PR is justified, how to build trust in the era of "fake news" and why press releases still reign supreme. ⏬You can download the report below for insights on over 400 senior-level communicators worldwide.

Part I I’m hearing this a lot lately from comms teams and the C-suite execs they’re working with: We have a great story to tell, we’re in a white-hot space and we’re not getting the attention we think we deserve. How do we fix this? I say I’m hearing this a lot because as of last week I conducted my 25th media prep session so far this year, the vast majority of these have been with CEOs and this has been a consistent theme. I’ve seen a lot of clients try to tell an AI story, a broad innovation story, a funding cycle story, a story about the trajectory and growth of the company. Very few are simply trying to tell a “good story.” So, what makes a good story? What do reporters need and want to tell your story or include you in a story they’re already working on? Over the next few days, I’ll spend some time on the top three things you can do to maximize pitch and messaging traction, and the elements needed to help get your story told. Where do these come from? A few of these resonated with me when I was #CNBC’s Silicon Valley Bureau Chief and senior technology correspondent, and a few are the things that have worked best for clients I’ve counseled over the past 14 years or so. Let’s start with impact. Impact matters. It’s not just about your technology or innovation or product iteration. It’s about the impact of those things on your customers and your customers’ customers. In PR we all know the push/pull between comms and marketing. Getting a customer to talk, being able merely to name a customer can be really hard. But it’s really worth it. Even if the impact has to be anonymized there’s nothing better than showing me what your brand has enabled rather than merely telling me about it. Tangible impact, your ROI for your customer matters. Data matters. Demonstrate impact by the numbers, where you can. Revenue, margins, market penetration, payrolls, partnerships, acquisitions. You know the drill. If you know reporters need data to tell their stories, and they’ll need data to demonstrate impact, let’s give them some! And tell it all to me in natural, normal language that I can understand. Lose the corporate speak, breathe life into your brand and product by humanizing the story. So many companies have case-study landing pages. They can be so sterile, clinical. If you're really interested in a good story, revamp your dry case studies into something actionable, captivating, resonating and impactful. Which brings me to what's up next? The importance of storytelling. Meantime, I absolutely love what I do, and I can’t tell you how happy I am that I’ve been able to do so much of it so far this year. Please reach out to me at https://lnkd.in/gKVz65rS if the things we do can work for you.

Today is the Day... Join our distinguished lineup of guest speakers Tonya Khoury, Director at Acumen Media Management; Lukmon Oloyede, anipr, MCIM Founder & CEO BrandArena; and Beatrice Miangogo-Eneje Founder & Lead Consultant at Kora & Hive. As they delve into the theme “Crisis Communication Measurement: What PR and Communication Professionals Must Observe in 2024,” equipping participants with practical strategies to navigate intricate PR scenarios while underscoring the pivotal elements of transparency and trust. In a landscape where #publicperception and #reputation can shift rapidly, mastering these skills is indispensable. Click the link to join: https://lnkd.in/dwuSPf9n

“Do we speak up, or stay quiet?” “What if saying nothing makes it worse?” I get asked these questions by brands whilst navigating crises all the time. More frequently now than ever. I recently worked with a major retail brand in MENA that was caught in a boycott. The stakes were high, and never has it been more critical to know when to speak up and when to stay quiet. We’re operating in a highly polarised, emotionally charged environment. A sudden reaction can be detrimental, and there’s the real risk of being seen as performative if your words don’t align with your actions or at times your pedigree. Here’s what I tell them: Non-negotiable -> Make sure there’s a seasoned comms pro in the room—and when I say room, I mean the board room, where business decisions are made. This is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’; it’s essential. Three big questions to ask before taking any action: 1) Does the issue align with your company’s values and long-term goals? - If there’s alignment, pressure test and plan for every scenario. - But if it feels off, don’t force it. Inauthenticity is easily spotted, and trust, once lost, is tough to regain. 2) Can you genuinely make an impact? - Can your business back its words with action? - If you’re not ready for sustained effort, silence might be better than appearing performative. People remember empty promises. Don’t take them for granted. 3) Where do your key stakeholders stand? - Get a clear read on where your customers, employees, and investors stand. Full consensus is rare, but understanding the sentiment is key. - Vocal minorities can steer the conversation, so balancing influence and impact is critical. One last piece: Intelligence gathering and listening to your internal stakeholders is just as important as your public outreach. Rushing a statement without understanding your internal landscape can cause more harm than good. If any of you are facing a similar dilemma, feel free to reach out to me via GOOD DAY PR & Strategic Communications FZ LLC or simply DM me here. I’m happy to help you navigate it. #crisiscomms #strategiccomms #pr #prtips

🏃 In the dynamic world of PR and communications, staying stagnant isn't an option. Embracing this mindset of evolution not only keeps us sharp but also propels us forward in the ever-changing landscape. Thank you to John Harrington for including Brendon Craigie in this PRWeek UK article about why so many agency bosses are departing. 🛫 An insightful discussion on how agency leaders can unlock new levels of creativity and adaptability.    Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dryvQs6p

Your business’ success is all down to reputation. It makes up 63%* of the value of the UK’s leading companies. Not every problem is a crisis, but every crisis IS a problem. And no business is safe from one. To take control of information in a crisis, you need a strong team. Our crisis (or 'Brand Protector') team is made up of: 🗞️ Former journalists 🚨 Crisis comms and reputation management advisers 🧑💻 Digital and search specialists 💬 Internal comms experts 👥 Customer engagement consultants And the best bit? They're on call 24/7 to support you on customer, colleague or media comms. * The State of Corporate Reputation in 2020, Report by Weber Shandwick

International News 📰 Cision has launched its seventh annual #GlobalCommsReport, highlighting trends, challenges and opportunities ahead for #PR and #corporatecommunications teams. Supporting growth, strategic counsel, data and analytics insight, #crisismanagement and earned media are all cited as important areas for practitioners to better support their organisations. Read the report👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/efxQdhNC #ciprinternational

💭 Have a read of my first PLMR blog post here: https://lnkd.in/dpgPtUgw 📣 I look at the importance of media engagement in policy making, with a particular focus on the pivotal role the media played in fast-tracking the Water (Special Measures) Bill to Parliament. Let me know your thoughts.

Part III So far on our journey toward telling a good story, we’ve examined “impact” and “storytellers,” the “what” and the “who.” This final installment focuses on “timing,” the “when.” The greatest stories in the world can go unnoticed because of bad timing. Media attention is elsewhere or focused on what they think may be a bigger story. Or perhaps media covered a comparable story to yours, or a competitor, or a related issue in a similar industry just a week or two earlier and doesn’t want to risk looking repetitive by covering basically the same thing again. Timing can be tricky, but…   Timing is critical. I had two clients who both had pretty good stories to tell last week; one with a release at the ready, another who wanted to meet with reporters (welcome back traditional desksides, we missed you!) I counseled against both. Why? Because the news cycle was already very, very busy and neither of these brands stood much of a chance of being seen. Their news was interesting but not blockbuster. Neither had even the most remote or even indirect links to the news cycle. Last week, Apple, Amazon, Intel and others reported earnings. The Federal Reserve was meeting. The stock market was volatile (to say the least!) As both these clients would be targeting #CNBC, #YahooFinance, #FoxBusiness and #Bloomberg, and since there weren’t legal/regulatory/competitive requirements forcing outreach or a release last week, could we wait a week, or even two? The conversations were dynamic, constructive, and beneficial. They'll wait. Clients may be eager but part of our job is to take a step back, look at context, news, the competitive landscape, the media cycle, provide some perspective and engage and release accordingly. Pay close attention to timing and you have an added weapon in the arsenal to get your story told and your news covered. My posts this week sprang from the media prep sessions I’ve been doing this year, as much about technique as they've been about content. Hardly just a bridge and flag session, effective media prep also pressure-tests the messaging and works toward building out a solid story. And isn’t that what we’re all after? Great stories told by masterful storytellers, spotlighting the brand, highlighting differentiated ingenuity, engaging core audiences more authentically and converting interest and notoriety into commerce! These are the broad-brush strokes, and there’s so much more to share. I know we’re on to something over here at #GoldmanMediaGroup because of the 25 media prep sessions I’ve done year-to-date, 17 have led to storytelling exercises, master narrative projects, and pitch/outreach development review. What do you think makes for a good story? How do you maximize client opportunities to get their stories told? Feel free to leave some comments! And in the meantime, please reach out to me at https://lnkd.in/gKVz65rS if the things we do can work for you.

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