A Practical Guide To Newsjacking

THE NEW RULES OF MEDIA RELATIONSA Practical Guide To Newsjacking

WHITE PAPER

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White Paper A Practical Guide To Newsjacking

1. Introduction 4

2. The basics of newsjacking 6

3. The perfect pitch 10

4. Newsjacking in the online age 14

5. Watch out for differences 18

6. It’s easy - if you think about it 22

INTRODUCTION

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Imagine you are a journalist, specialized in writing about the IT industry in - let’s say - Brazil. You receive at least fifteen pitches a day. It is very likely that fourteen of these are out-of-the-blue and are just not relevant enough. Whether they try to convince you to write about software firms in Argentina, or politics in Brazil; it’s close, but not quite close enough.

The fifteenth pitch is the one that is useful. The largest network company in Brazil has acquired the second largest one, which you already covered in this morning’s breaking news story. An independent IT consultant read this article, and contacts you to explain why this might hurt the industry and what it means for their mutual client base.

This is newsjacking; the tactic of quickly responding to a breaking news story by providing an expert opinion that sheds a new or different light on the subject. It is the smartest and most effective way to generate coverage. Journalists are more likely to listen to your side of the story, if they are already covering that story.

And the good news? Everyone can do it.

This whitepaper will help you to get started with newsjacking, or if you are already using the technique, get better at it. As well as discussing some basic principles of newsjacking, we will have a look at the subject from a journalist point of view: what makes a good ‘newsjack’? Newsjacking has changed considerably over the past few years, mainly due to the rise of online media such as blogs and social channels. We’ll also look at how you can make use of owned media to jump on the news bandwagon. Finally, we will look at differences in newsjacking: between PR and advertising, but also between cultures.

THE BASICS OF NEWSJACKING

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Newsjacking is like baking a cake: it requires the right ingredients and perfect timing to get the best results. These ingredients have been identified by Grant Hunter and Jon Burkhart, in their book ‘Newsjacking’ and on Urgent Genius, a blog dedicated to inspiring examples of newsjacking. Although most of these cases stem from the advertising industry (more about the differences between PR and advertising can be read in chapter 5), their seven basic principles also apply to PR.

Catch the waveDavid Meerman Scott, one of the first to use the term newsjacking, introduced a golden rule: You have only 48 hours to come up with a newsjack.

The need for speed is true most of the time. Some stories stick around lon-ger. For example, the horse meat scandal story was around for 5 or 6 weeks.

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When the horse meat scandal broke, aside from the discovery of unknown DNA in supermarket meat, hard facts were slow to surface. This creates an interesting dilemma: do you respond to what is little more than hearsay, or do you sit and wait, but risk missing the story?

With so many clients in the industry and without knowing the root cause of the problem, Manhattan Associates’ position was one of waiting for the right time to enter the discussion. The seriousness of the implications, combined with the lack of clear understanding of “how?” and “why?” suggested that this chance would come.

After a few days of speculation, the extent of the supply chain failure became clear. The media needed a supply chain expert to talk about how the breakdown happened, why and what could be done in the future to stop it re-occurring.

By articulating the pressures that supermarket retailers are under to deliver at lower and lower cost, Manhattan Associates established itself as a reputable source and provided valuable context to the discussion. This led to immediate results, with Craig Sears-Black, UK MD of Manhattan Associates, appearing on multiple broadcast shows.

The scandal itself ran for almost two months, on and off – unheard of in an era of throw-away media. New discoveries and new recommendations emerged on a weekly, or even daily, basis. It also cast questions on other industries and how they control their supply chains. Should we prepare ourselves for more of this from elsewhere?

As the issue broadened, so did the media commentary around it. The need for an industry insider enabled Manhattan Associates to continue being seen as an expert advisor on supply chain issues.

Shining A Light During A Scandal

Left: Jon Burkhart, Social Content Strategist at Real-time Content Labs. Right: Grant Hunter, Regional Creative Director APAC at iris Worldwide. Both are authors of the book Newsjacking - the Urgent Genius of Real-Time Advertising.

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Adopt an editorial mindsetThis is something that comes naturally for PR professionals; always think about the newsworthiness of your story. How would a journalist be able to include your expert opinion in the second paragraph of a news story?

Plan for spontaneitySome newsjacking can actually be planned for. Whether it’s a national holiday, a major sports event or a royal wedding; many news items are known long before they happen. When using a cultural calendar, you can plan well ahead and take the time to come up with a creative idea.

Often, however, newsjacking is about responding to breaking, unexpected news. Real-time news monitoring is an essential tool that can helps you to be the first to respond. By closely monitoring relevant keywords on social media, you are able to stay on top of the news. Next, make sure you have prepared a few sound bites that can be tweaked in order to react to a news story.

Stay originalSince lots of brands are involved in responding to the same news or event, it has become much harder to stay original. Always try to assess how other experts will respond, and look for an original angle.

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Invent your own eventIf there is no event you can use to create news around, you can come up with your own. Wonderbra made a smart move by declaring National Cleavage Day; every year people can vote for the best cleavage in the country. The WWF invented National Sweater Day in Canada. The message: Turn down the heat, turn up your sweater. Participants could even book a granny to knit a sweater for them.

It is important to make sure that the event represents your values and it’s about a topic that people are already talking about. Finally, you have to make sure that the event is not overly branded – this is news, not advertising.

Stay genuine and relevantLike with any PR tactic, you always have to ask yourself whether your organization has something useful to add to the discussion. If newsjacking looks like commercial exploitation and you are only in it for commercial gain, it is unlikely to work.

Create a platformThe ultimate goal of newsjacking is to build an online relationship with your audience. That is why it is vital to build a platform on which they can expect fresh content on a regular basis. In fact, the opportunities to create an online platform such as a blog or a video channel has had a positive impact on newsjacking. This will be discussed further in chapter 4.

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THE PERFECT PITCH

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So you’ve got the story. It covers the basics. Now how do you make the newsjack a success? Your pitch to the journalist is vital. Make sure you follow these four rules:

SpeedTime is a critical success factor. You don’t have to be there first, but the sooner you can get a reaction in front of a journalist, the higher the chance you will be included in the second paragraph of a follow-up article.

ProofNo matter how you respond, always make sure you have proof points to offer a journalist. If you can’t prove what you’re saying, it’s probably not worth writing about.

AudienceKeep the audience of a journalist in mind: what do they already know and what is the tone of voice? If a newsjack results in an interview with an organization’s spokesperson, they have to be aware of the target audience, what the journalist is looking for and what should be put forward during the interview. Prepare statements and help to ensure that those key messages are mentioned during the interview.

MethodThe next relevant question is how to respond. Is it better to leave a comment below the article, or to contact the journalist on the phone or by email?

Often the best way is to drop a line to a journalist, in which you make clear (a) what you are adding to the debate and (b) why you have the expertize to give your opinion. If your organization has a blog, an alternative is to respond on your blog and share it with the journalist. By doing so, you create your own, direct audience (more about online newsjacking in chapter 4).

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Ensure you add value to the discussion before you pick up the phone. Here are five key ways:

Disagree with what’s been stated in the article. For example, you are working for an IT security company and respond to breaking news about a new security threat: ‘You wrote that this computer worm will only affect PCs, but we have reasons to believe that smartphones and tablets are in danger too.’

Add something to the discussion that wasn’t mentioned before: ‘What was missing in your article is that this computer worm shares login information from your browser history.’

Explain why or how something happened: ‘This is how it affects your computer and what you can do to prevent it.’

Illustrate with examples: ‘I can put you in touch with a few organizations that have been affected.’

Predict the future: ‘From our data we can predict that another 100,000 computers will be infected within 24 hours.’

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The most quoted man in news

Knowing the right journalists and getting to them first is essential to newsjacking. These ingredients are so vital, that it’s easy to forget about the most important one: actually having the

expertise to be quoted on a certain topic.

Greg Packer has been quoted by media outlets nearly a thousand times since 1995. Without any apparent skill or expertise; he just managed to be at the right place at the right time. He talked to

reporters about subjects ranging from the war in Iraq to the introduction of the new iPhone. The Associated Press even sent a memo to the entire staff: ‘Mr. Packer is clearly eager

to be quoted. Let’s be eager too – to find other people to quote.’

NEWSJACKING IN THE ONLINE AGE

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The online age we live in has given organizations many tools to respond to news more quickly, and to get in front of audiences directly. In fact, there is a need to respond much faster than ever before.

Until a few years ago people would consume a large amount of their news via TV, newspapers and print magazines. Journalists would work towards a daily, weekly or monthly deadline. Responding to a news article meant thoroughly monitoring media on relevant topics and contacting journalists with a response statement on behalf of an organization’s spokesperson.

This worked particularly well for newspaper journalists: they want to cover the item in tomorrow’s paper as comprehensively as possible with expert opinions. Today, news is not exclusively distributed via newspapers and print magazines; online news channels are an important source of information for people all over the world.

With new channels, new rules apply.

Journalists are increasingly engaging in real-time reporting. To be able to compete with other media, a news story will be covered as soon as it breaks. Meanwhile, the journalist will start looking for additional information to add to the story. The article will be updated several times, adding more background information and expert opinions.

PR professionals that want to make it to the second paragraph of real-time media, have to make sure they get to the journalist first. Search plays a big part here, with a lot of research taking place online. The more a company expert has already written about a subject, the bigger the chance they will be approached by a journalist on the matter, simply due to search engine rankings.

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In summary, real-time journalism has changed the way the PR industry can (or should) hijack a news story in three ways:

Speed is more important than ever, since news stories develop real-time.

It is critical that company experts can build their online reputation on a corporate blog for example, so a journalist will find, and use them for additional information.

Organizations no longer solely rely on external influencers like journalists, analysts or bloggers to get a story in front of an audience. By utilizing their own online channels such as a blog and social media, they are able to act as publishers - often called brand journalism (you can read our white paper on brand journalism for more information on this topic).

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REACTION

INTERVIEW

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JOURNALIST

TARGET AUDIENCE

JOURNALIST +BLOGGERS

FOLLOW-UPARTICLE

SOCIAL MEDIA

PRESENT

REACTIONON OWNED

MEDIA

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TARGET AUDIENCE

Owned Media Change the Lifecycle of a News Story

WATCH OUT FOR DIFFERENCES

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Advertising versus PR Brands are increasingly embracing the concept of newsjacking. This is not only true for PR. In advertising, newsjacking has become very popular in recent years.

Digital design tools have become much easier and faster to use. This gives creative professionals the opportunity to create an advert or video within a few hours of a news story breaking. The popularity of social media allows the distribution of these creative newsjacks. When it goes viral, a newsjack can even reach many more ‘eyeballs’ than traditional advertising, and create a positive sentiment around a brand.

There are three fundamental differences between newsjacking in PR and advertising:

OwnersWhen responding to a news article and trying to make it to the second paragraph of a follow-up article, the message is always owned by an expert. In advertising, newsjacks ‘belong’ to a brand.

ContextMost advertisements that respond to news are funny - or at least have the intention to be. The wittier a newsjack, the more likely it is to be shared and generate views. In PR, the content of the message is either disagreeing with news, adding a new dimension to it, giving examples, explaining it or predicting the future (see chapter 2). In general, you could say that newsjacking in advertising aims at a positive brand association (a brand that is funny is more likeable). In PR it is more about claiming a topic and thought leadership.

AudienceThe target audience of advertising always equals the target audience of the organization (customers). PR is often directed at influencers, like journalists. This leads to a different approach. In the online age however, PR campaigns are increasingly aimed at the target audience, the end user, directly.

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One of the things that newsjacking in PR and advertising have in common, is their ability to get people talking. Newsjacking expert Gonnie Spijkstra, who has been writing about the topic for years on her blog Versereclame.nl explains: “If you compare regular advertising to newsjacking, it’s like talking about your stamp collection at a birthday party, compared to something that everyone is talking about. The reason why is obvious: news gets around, so brands can easily become a part of this conversation. That is, if they do it well – at the right time, with the right tone-of-voice and with a relevant connection.”

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Cultural differencesThere is no single approach to newsjacking that applies to all countries. You should always be aware of cultural differences and sensitivities when it comes to newsjacking.

One of the main differentiators is the extent to which media depend on the opinion of experts for the interpretation of news facts. German journalists, for example, tend to rely on a third party such as a university or research institute to provide comments. If vendors or manufacturers are interviewed, then they will always look for a second or third contrasting opinion, to ensure there is no subjectivity or favoritism.

The Dutch media landscape, on the other hand, is known for its dependency on expert opinions. Whoever has an opinion can comment on news stories and claim an expert position. Be careful, however: when your argument is weak or flawed, other experts will not hesitate to bring you down ruthlessly.

IT’S EASY - IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT

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As news stories break quicker than ever before, real-time monitoring and newsjacking are great tools that can help to claim thought leadership. Newsjacking is similar to other PR and social media practices; it’s not always rocket science, but you have to keep doing it to get it right. There is no single way to guarantee that your newsjack will be successful - you always have to apply trial-and-error before you get the hang of it. Just remember that journalists are always looking out for input from people that know more about a topic than they do. Chances are high that you are more knowledgeable about your profession than any journalist who writes about it, simply because they don’t have the day-to-day experience you do.

The introduction of blogs and social media have made it easier for anyone to comment on news. This makes it harder to stand out of the crowd, but easier to give it a try and see what works and what doesn’t.

Always bear in mind that you should add something to the discussion, or shed a new light on a topic, that the journalist (and his or her audience) might really find interesting and useful. So again, practising on ‘owned’ media, like a blog, is a good start to see what people think about your expert opinion. If it really stimulates debate, next time a journalist may even get in touch with you for a reaction.

Now that’s a result.

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A Practical Guide To Newsjacking