Hello everyone, my name is Pamela and I am from Curtin Singapore. I embarked on my journey as a PR executive with Priority Consultants 3 months ago. Priority Consultants does B2B PR for major industries such as technology, manufacturing, oil and gas, security systems etc. Having some computer engineering background, I was enthusiastic about breaking down technical concepts into bite size business solutions for the clients Priority worked with. That enthusiasm slowly faded as 8 out of 8 media releases got rejected straight up!
Talk about feeling demoralised! After a good talk with my boss, the thing he said that stuck in my head was " What's the message? Who are you trying to get at? ". With that, he gave me another assignment to secure 10 media interviews for TruePosition, a location determination intelligence company in Singapore and Malaysia. I had 2 weeks to work on this. To be honest, I knew absolutely nothing about location determination intelligence but had to write a pitch to the media like I knew about the subject intimately.
Off I went to read up relevant verticals, business and technology and defence publications. The trick was to read the type of stories journalists wrote and to see how my client would fit in. Sounds easy? Well being a beginner with a recent confidence level the size of a pea, writing a pitch to hit the nail on the spot was definitely pressurising. The need to prove myself and get that creativity going was critical.
After spending more time with the boss and role playing how I would pitch to the media, the next task was to actually pick up the telephone and speak to journalists. Some were nice, some just wanted me to get off the telephone and some were honest. This was actually good practice, it made my skin thicker. I realised that a good pitch coupled with alot of background knowledge on the subject really went a long way.
By the end of two weeks, we got 10 interviews, stories to be published and a very satisfied client.
Now when I am tasked to write a pitch or a media release, I ask myself, what is the essence of the message? There can be many things that interest me but not the journalists. I just have to make informed choices about the type of message I want out there, keeping in mind my client's best interest at heart.
Have a wonderful 2011!
Pamela Philip
3 comments:
Hi Pamela,
Thank you for sharing your experience!! I feel that I am now not alone in writing press releases!
When I was tasked to write my first press release for my current internship, I had jitters and started thinking it will not be good enough. My lack of confidence does not help either.
I totally agree with you that research and understanding the writing style of the journalists are essential to pitching the stories. Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks and congratulations on nailing those 10 media interviews!
Cheers,
Ginny
Yo Pam,
I have not started writing my own press releases yet but my account manager said I should probably be taking over soon. Anyway, having a lot of background knowledge on the subject and knowledge of the publication is important in securing stories. I've been doing a lot of media follow up and having to pitch different angles for the same client. My managing director said I should always have the 5W1H (who, what, where...etc.) at my fingertips before I pick up the phone.
Aaron
Hi Pamela
That is an amazing experience you encountering there. I couldn’t agree with you more. Writing is never that easy more especially with the pressure of trying to prove oneself together with the feeling of newbieness.
" What's the message? Who are you trying to get at?".
I like these lines. First in pr we should always have a reason or purpose for any action and every action should be executed through the most effective way possible. That means identifying the target publics, selecting the right communication channel, selecting the right message, and also identifying the right time for communicating the message. All of which comes after a research of course. Thank you for your post, it is very educational.
Jabulani
Post a Comment