1. ‘Effective media communications’
– PPC Media & PR Needs 1

2. Effective media communications - agenda
Introduction
Communications challenge
Understanding the media

3. An introduction
Peter Davenport – Managing Director Acceleris Marketing Communications
25 years as a senior journalist – Daily Mail & The Times including as Defence Correspondent
Reported worldwide from USA, India, Middle East and the Falklands.
Covered terrorist campaigns in Ireland
Covered major domestic stories including the Miner’s Strike, Hillsborough, Lockerbie, Toxteth and Moss Side riots.

4. An introduction MD of PR and Communications agencies for 15 years
Advised major public and private sector clients including:
The Police Federation on the Soham Murders
Combating Government spending decisions in housing
Service shake-ups in the NHS
Currently Managing Director of award-winning agency Acceleris Marketing Communications

5. There’s no such thing as bad publicity...?!

6. The communication challenge
Four key communications priorities:
To enhance the profile of the newly elected Police Commissioners
To create awareness of the new post and the role of Commissioners
Provide public accountability
Deal with the 24-7 media

7. The communication challenge
Relationship with Police forces
Who says what and when?
Chief Constable or Commissioner?
Oversight -vs.- operational
Political ambitions -vs.- police procedure
Relationship with the Media
Possible confusion over role and responsibilities of Commissioners and Chief Constables
Expectations of media access
Public accountability

8. The communication challenge
Communications strategy should include:
Analysis of key audiences
Creation of core values and messages for the public and media
Establish communication objectives with targets
Challenges of operating in a political environment
A SWOT analysis of situation (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats)
Establish chain of command and procedure for dealing with the media
Investigate and appraise suitable means of communication
Create framework for evaluation to track effectiveness of campaign.

9. Resourcing Communications
There are three possible solutions to resourcing the communications function:
Comms handled by existing police press office
Employing in-house communications staff
Employing external communications consultancy

10. Police Press Office Pros Cons Most cost effective solution
Existing Police knowledge, organisational structure and media contacts already in place
Cons
Potential conflict with Chief Constables
Need to share resources
Additional burden on comms team
Potential for confusion between Commissioners and Chief Constables

11. In-house resource Pros Cons Complete control of activity and messages
Specialist knowledge and full time, dedicated resource available
Cons
High cost - full time staff needed with associated costs e.g. pensions, administrative costs etc
Potential for accusation of political bias
Will there be a need for a full time resource?

12. External consultants Pros Cons
Flexible approach to working – can be employed as and when
Access to senior, experienced advisors
Benefit from national focus and experience
Cons
Potentially high cost especially if out of hours service required
Less specialist knowledge and one client amongst many
Potential negative reaction to use of consultants

13. Recommended Option
Employ an in-house communications manager with authority to engager additional external resource if required
It is anticipated that the media will have a strong interest and commissioners must be able to hit the ground running once in post – effective comms will help this process
It is important to foster a good working relationship and understanding with the media at an early stage.

14. How would you handle similar issues?

15. Understanding the media

16. The role of the media To inform To entertain To educate To expose
To hold to account

17. UK Media – Facts & Figures
There are 1,200 regional and local newspapers and 1,600 associated websites in the UK read by 33 million people a week.
The National press sell 10m papers a day
47.6m adults, or 92% of the population, tune in to their favourite radio station each week
BBC news website had 11.14m online readers/viewers
45 million people watch TV news in the UK

18. The impact of the media explosion
Information overload
Instant reporting – 24/7 deadlines
Rumour becomes fact
Increased media requirements
Raised public expectations
No secrets
Increased opportunities for comment

19. A new landscape Increased media demands but also opportunities
Instant comment to unfolding situations
Media may try to create divisions between Chief Constable and Commissioner
Social Media – Facebook, Twitter
Greater public expectations but increased cynicism

20. An information tsunami
125 million press releases issued every year.
London Evening Standard receives 2,000 every day.
The Government has 1,500 press officers and issues 20,000 press releases a year.

21. The communications challenge

22. Media opportunities
A recent paper by Cardiff University studied the content of four quality papers
It found that 60% of their home news stories were wholly or partially from wire agencies, (mainly the Press Association), or PR material.
There are now more PR practitioners 47,800, than journalists, 45,000.

23. The Communications Revolution
The PR Toolbox…
Media relations
Investor relations
Press trips
Stunts
Advertorials
Stakeholder relations
Internal communications
Brand ambassador activity
Surveys
Conferences
Photography
Competitions
Newsletters
TV interviews
Press briefings
VNR
Events
Crisis management
Press releases
Audio features
Radio interviews
Guerrilla activity
Reputation management
White papers
Brand publications
Interviews

24. Just got even bigger! Press releases Webchats Internet Radio
Corporate/Brand blogs
Competitions
Forums/Boards/Comments
Advertorials
Guerrilla activity
Media relations
Press releases distribution
Search Engine Optimised Releases
Investor relations
Stunts
Online media centres
Podcasts/Vodcasts
Social media releases
Internal communications
Stakeholder relations
Social Networking
Online Reputation management
Brand ambassador activity
Surveys
Photography
Online surveys
Conferences
Stakeholder mapping
Viral WOM
TV interviews
Newsletters
Blogger relations
Skypecasts
Online media relations
Events
VNR
Press release distribution
Press briefings
Search engine optimised releases
Crisis management
Social network APIs
Audio features
Radio interviews
WIKI’s
Reputation management
Social Networking events
Webcasts
Internal blogs
Brand publications
Search Engine Optimised
Brand publications
Interviews
White papers
Online monitoring
RSS feeds
Press trips

25. An Age of 24-Hour News

26. London Riots 2011

27. Greater Manchester Police 24hr Twitter
In 2009 Greater Manchester police "tweeted" every incident it dealt with over a 24-hour period – 3,205 tweets sent
Designed to give the public an idea of the workload officers face and the types of activity handled by the Police
Novel idea using new technology to connect with people
The GMP Twitter profile went from having 3,000 followers to more than 14,000
Received a generally positive reaction with widespread media coverage and greater understanding of the Police force’s work

28. Soc media stats 500 million active users in World
UK – Facebook has 24 million active users
Facebook accounts for 50% of all visits to social network sites
Over 3 million UK Twitter users
80% of twitter usage is on mobile phones
Flickr hosts more than 4 billion images
YouTube has 2 million views every day with 24 hours of video uploaded every minute.

29. United Airlines – ‘The Guitar Song’
United Airlines became the victim of the rise in citizen journalism and social media when a passenger criticised the company in a song posted on the internet
The airline failed to respond to the criticism in a timely or effective manner causing a small incident to mushroom into a major incident y
The song became an international phenomenon with more than 5.5 million views on YouTube
The resulting bad publicity caused the company’s share price to temporarily plunge by 10 per cent, costing shareholders $180 million

30. United Airlines – ‘The Guitar Song’

31. How you could use social media
Twitter – Create a dedicated twitter feed to encourage real-time discussions and conversations
Facebook – Create a page to provide information and easy access to the commissioner. Opportunities for live Q+A with Commissioners
LinkedIn – valuable resource to communicate with police and media professionals
YouTube/video – upload video news releases and interviews for media and public consumption.

32. Can You Ever Trust a Journalist “off the record?”
NO!
Never tell a journalist anything you would not wish to be known or would be embarrassed by its publication.
It’s not their job to keep your secrets!

33. Q&A

34. Effective media communications
Presentation © Acceleris Marketing Communications
September 2011 34