Value of Information: The Importance of Knowing

When I was attending to my internship, one of my duties is to monitor the media's publications. Having said that, these publication types can range from prints to broadcasts disclosures. When I first started my internship at LEWIS PR Malaysia, I was not aware of the importance media monitoring. At times, I even missed several coverages in regards to my lacking of attention to details. I have always questioned such a task, I mean, why is it so important to know? Personally, I am not a person who would pry into others' business. Therefore, it was really hard for me to need to know about competitors and the trends in the industry.

On the other hand, I am familiar with the importance of knowing your clients' scope of operations. I mean, it is only rational to know your clients in order to succeed in pitching to them any PR plan you have devised. I mean, that is one of the important attempts that brings bread to the table. When I was brought to a pitch meeting with Samsung, I finally realised how important it is to know what your clients' competitors are doing and the trends that are shaping the industry with which your clients are operating in. 

My manager was the one pitching to the client and she was asked a lot of questions. She turned to me occasionally for information that she did not have as I was supporting her in monitoring the media. We were asked about Samsung's competitors and of course the evolving trends of smartphone technology. By then, I finally realised that you need to know not only about your clients' competitors, the trends in the industry is just as important as well. 

After the pitch with Samsung, I dissected and digested the entire pitch interview and have drawn several conclusions from it. With that said, I believe that if you have the information at your disposal with regards to the industry, you can then devise a PR plan that is much more competitive than what competitors are doing. These competitors include the companies that your clients are competing against and the consultancies that your company are pitching against. When you present a competitive plan to your clients, naturally, they are bound to accept your proposal if it is better than the ones your competitors are presenting. 

To make it easier, put yourself in your clients' shoes, think about what you would like to see and hope to achieve over your competitors. I believe this can be related to commitment and empathy as well. In this case, after putting myself in my client's (Samsung) shoes, I thought of wanting to gain a competitive advantage over Nokia, Apple, Hua Wei, and other smartphone providers. With this in mind, I can then effectively come up with a PR plan that is competitive, taking into consideration what the competitors are doing. In a way, this promotes confidence in your clients which guarantees your pitching success over your competitors. 

To sum up, after the pitching experience, I started following media publications closely in order to avoid missing any crucial information. At the same time, this is to keep myself updated with the happenings in the industry. 

I have added additional articles for you to read at your convenience with regards to my post. 

I hope what I have written is useful for you and thank you so much for your time.

Have a pleasant day ahead.

Adrian.

Additional Articles

1. 5 Traps You Have To Avoid When Pitching Bold Ideas

2. 7 reasons why your agency pitch doesn't work

3. Good PR is the Careful Balance of Confidence and Empathy

4. Top tips for a perfect pitch

5. The seven secrets to pitching to new clients

   

The Art of Media Calling: Challenges and Key Learnings

It is no surprise to many that one of the challenging tasks assigned to a Public Relations practitioner is to maintain media relations. When I was at LEWIS PR Malaysia, I was tasked to call up the media for several reasons. The objectives behind media calls are to ensure the master media database for internal use is up-to-date, to secure a confirmation of invitational reception, and to acquire an indication of an RSVP for any corporate activities. 

As easy as it may sound, I find it really challenging at times to get in touch with the media in order to accomplish the tasks that I was allocated with. It was a learning curve for me to juggle between priorities such as who to call first and who to call later, taking into consideration of the deadlines given by my managers. By calling the media, I learnt that there is a "perfect time" in a day to call certain publications in order to get through to the person you intend to talk to. From my experience, I have came up with a few time slots that I believe are ideal in getting in touch with the media in Malaysia. 

1. Magazine Publishers - Between 10.30am - 12.00pm
2. Newspaper Publishers - Between 2.00pm - 4.30pm and 5.30pm - 6.30pm
3. TV Broadcasters - At around 11.00am and at about 4.00pm

Taking the ideal time slots in mind, not only was I able to get in touch with the media effectively, but I was also able to establish positive relations with the media.

Additionally, being patient is also just as important as calling the media at a good time. When I was calling the media to get a confirmation of receipt and RSVP for Samsung Galaxy S5's product launch, I was able to talk to people with different personalities. These personalities can range from kind and friendly approaches to feisty and agitated responses. Although a time frame was there functioning as a guide, at times, you might be calling the media at an unfavourable time. The key approach to a negative response is to be patient and to put yourself in the media's shoes. In other words, you need to understand that the media has got duties to attend to as well. At the same time, this does not mean you need to take a bullet yourself. It was hard for me at first, but in the lapse of time, I was able to get the confirmations and updates I needed in order to accomplish the duties I was tasked to achieve. 

Thirdly, it is crucial for you to humanise your approach in order to get a feedback out of individual willingness. In other words, you would have to be friendly when calling the media, just as how you would talk to your mates. Having said that, you would have to make an effort in remembering names and details about the person whom you have talked to. Thus, not only you can achieve your objectives, but you can also establish and maintain positive media relations. A friend of mine from Edelman whom I met at an award giving ceremony once gave me this important tip has helped me in many situations. With these in mind, I usually get positive responses from the media in regards to achieving my objectives at hand.

To sum up, the art of media calling has been an interesting learning curve for me as an intern and I am glad to have acquired multiple key learnings from the opportunity provided by the course unit. I have also provided you with a few articles that I believe to be helpful and relevant with regards to managing media relations. 

Thank you so much for your time and have a pleasant day ahead.

Adrian.     

Articles

1. Is media relations still the most important part of PR?
2. Why media relations is important
3. The Importance of Interpersonal Communication in Media Relations
4. The Role of Media Relations
5. Importance of Media Relations for your Business

Jaded by Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension: The Role of Power Distance

Before starting off in the Public Relations industry in Malaysia, I made up my mind only to apply for an opportunity at PR consultancies in the country. Not long after my application was sent in, I received a call from the Talent Manager confirming my position as an intern at LEWIS PR Malaysia. Headquartered in the UK, LEWIS PR is a consultancy that focuses on communication in technological sector.

LEWIS PR Malaysia was built approximately a year ago, because of this, the company is lacking of manpower and relevant facilities still. With that said, I worked at the Malaysian office with an Account Director and with two Account Managers. LEWIS PR Malaysia consists of four of us in its entirety.

Personally, I find it quite daunting to share an office with my director and managers, as they can be quite intimidating. I was once told that I should set a boundary in between my manager and myself. She claimed that I was being “too friendly.” What is wrong with being friendly with your manager? I personally do not see anything wrong with it as I had been there for nearly two months, it would be odd to not even know whom you are working with.

Subsequently, I took that as a learning curve in a positive manner, thinking that time will change everything. I believe Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension theory that I have learnt in International Public Relations supports this situation. I mean, because Malaysia possesses a high power distance, the organisational structure at LEWIS PR Malaysia is hierarchical in nature. In other words, what you do and what you think are assessed in an unfavourable angle unless you have a prominent role in the company and extensive past experiences to support your credibility, not leaving out the “recognition” that you are expected to give to your managers and director.

In short, going through such an experience really opened up my eyes as I never knew that what I learnt in class could play such an important in the PR industry. It may have not turned out well, but I believe I have learnt a few things from it.

I have also attached a few articles that I find interesting to read in relevance to my post. Thank you so much for your time and have a pleasant day ahead.

Articles

1. Hofstede’s Cultural Constructs and PR
2. Global PR and cultural dimensions