Concluding the first week of our Marketing for manufacturers series, Brent Whyte shares some advice on speaking to reporters.
Preparing for an interview can be something of a daunting task for managing directors or others charged with the task of communicating with the media.
There are natural fears about how your company, product or situation will be represented, especially when you do not have control of the approval process for the message that goes out.
Often these days, interviews happen by telephone, because the resources of industry media are increasingly stretched, and they can’t always send a friendly, familiar and knowledgeable journalist out; while the daily media wants its answers to a deadline, preferably immediately.
As a rule of thumb, the bigger the media organisation you are dealing with, the less notice they can give you to think about your message in advance – or to review your message after you have spoken.
This can be important if you are talking not only about new advances, but also about evolving safety situations, health issues or other specialist subjects, community interest issues or corporate changes. There are a number of things you can do to ensure your comments are clearly represented. These include:
Brent Whyte is Managing Director of Whyte Public Relations, working alongside Senior Consultant Jack Mallen-Cooper, who joined the company in 2012. Whyte Public Relations works with local and international companies operating throughout Australasia, South Asia, Europe, America and China.
@AuManufacturing’s Marketing for manufacturers series is brought to you through
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