Paul Mathews HM Revenue & Customs UK How to write, implement and evaluate a successful proactive media strategy Paul Mathews HM Revenue & Customs UK

Proactive v Reactive Reactive Respond to enquiries Media set news agenda Standard approach: media briefing ‘Sit back and wait’ Proactive Sell your story Help set news agenda Many different approaches ‘Get up and go!’

Proactive Media Strategy Before you start you must have… A news story or angle – something new, unusual, a change, an update or reminder etc Time and resources to draft, implement and evaluate Someone who can manage the project through to completion The agreement of your officials/operational staff

Proactive Media Strategy Key Elements Objective Key Messages Target Audience Target Media Activity Risks Evaluation

Objective What are the key aims of your media strategy? What do you want to achieve/ people to do? Good Examples: Raise awareness of the dangers of counterfeit goods Encourage the public to report suspected fraud Bad Examples: To get some positive publicity for our organisation Our director wants his photo in the newspapers

Key Messages What are the key messages of your campaign? Short ‘soundbites’ in order of importance Can be general and/or specific Good Example: Fake toys can harm children Bad Example: EU Directive 745/1A, issued in December 2004, prohibits the sale of counterfeit products.

Target Audience Who are your key messages aimed at? You can have several target audiences Different target audiences can have different key messages Examples: The general public Retailers Manufacturers

Target Media Which media will you use to communicate key messages to the target audience? Consider national, regional and local media Consider press (newspapers and magazines), broadcast (TV and radio) and websites/online Examples: National consumer correspondents Trade press e.g. clothing, toy magazines Consumer magazines/websites

Activity The key part of the strategy – what will you actually do and when will you do it? Can be short- or long-term Should ideally include key events / milestones Lots of different options: News releases / quotes Press conference / briefings / spokespeople TV footage/photos Case studies/examples Articles Statistics

Risks Identify any risks to successful implementation of the strategy Make sure you list an ‘Action’ for each ‘Risk’ Examples: Risk: Recent stories on EU’s inability to tackle fake goods could influence media coverage Acton: We will explain the EU’s extensive work at the press briefing Risk: Key officials are not available on launch day Action: Offer interviews with officials before launch day.

Evaluation How will you judge/demonstrate the success of your proactive media strategy? If you can’t evaluate, you can’t show other people the value of your work Examples: Media coverage report Number of calls/emails Downloads/website visits

Summary Every strategy needs a news story; a reason for the media to be interested The best strategies are long-term and have a number of different events to help build awareness over time Be proactive – don’t sit back and wait – contact media and sell your story Review regularly and change your approach if necessary Evaluation is the key