the earned media advantage: a blueprint for working with the news media
TRANSCRIPT
In the Next 30 Minutes…
1. The View from Corporate America:
Why Earned Media Works in Shaping
Perceptions
2. Success Stories: Lessons from
Chattanooga, Salinas & Charleston
3. Telling Your Story: A Blueprint for Success
A View from Corporate America
• Survey of Corporate
Executives with Site
Selection Responsibilities
since 1996
• Learn the Investor’s
Perspective on “What
Works” in Place
Marketing
Corporate Executives – 75%
Site Selection Consultants – 25%
Demographic Profile of Respondents:
91% M
9% F
356 Respondents
Under 39 13%
40 – 49 25%
50 – 59 40%
60 and Over 22%
Age
Manufacturing– 51%
Services– 49%
Less than $25 million 32%
$25 - $49 million 15%
$50 - $99 million 11%
$100 - $249 million 11%
$250 million - $499 million 8%
$500 million and higher 23%
Gross Revenue
Corporate Executives | Site Selection Consultants
I am a single practitioner
1-25 employees
25+ employees
Size of Company
45%
47%
8%
Q:What are the three leading sources of
information influencing your perceptions
of an area’s business climate?
Q:
Influencing Executive Perceptions:
Leading Sources of Information
44%55% 37%
Dialogue with
Industry Peers
Articles in Newspapers
and Magazines
Business Travel
Leading Sources of Information
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Dialogue with industry peers
Newspapers and magazines
Business travel
Meetings with ED groups
Rankings / surveys
Online sources
Word of mouth
Personal travel
Other
TV and radio
Advertising
Direct mail
Social media
55%
44%
37%
31%
24%
Where Are Executives
Getting their News?
NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES
65% Wall Street Journal
30% Local Daily Newspaper
24% New York Times
20% The Economist
15% Forbes
7% USA Today
6% Bloomberg Businessweek
6% Financial Times
ONLINE
26% WSJ.com
17% Google.com
15% Economic Development Websites
13% Bloomberg.com
11% Bureau of Labor Statistics
11% CNN
11% NYTimes.com
11% Yahoo Finance
Chattanooga, Tennessee:
Launching the “Gig City”
• Telling the story of the nation’s fastest,
fiber-optic broadband network
• Exclusive offered to The New York Times
• Subsequent coverage followed in 350 other
outlets
• Announcement received 9.8 million
impressions on Twitter in 24 hours
A Chattanooga Coda:
Taking on Iron Man 3
• Chattanooga depicted as
a backwater town with
poor internet access
• Set the record straight in
72 hours sending out the
pitch to tech outlets
• The story went viral 200+
results
Salinas, California:
Tech Goes Farming
• Loss of the city’s largest employer
• With Silicon Valley as the backdrop, DCI
positioned Salinas as the high tech capital
of agriculture
• Major stories in Fast Company, Financial
Times, San Francisco Chronicle and
KQED
Forbes Takes Notice
• Successfully attracted
“Forbes Reinventing
America Series” to
Salinas for the “AgTech
Summit” (July 2015)
Charleston, South Carolina:
From Tourism to High-Tech
• Charleston had tourism accolades, but high-
tech ambitions.
• Highlighted the region’s startups, clean
energy and aerospace companies to top-tier
reporters
• Placed 30+ tech-related articles with 22
million impressions.
A Few Words of Caution…
1. Highly Competitive Arena…Not every
city/region will be successful
2. It’s All About the Story…Answering a
reporter’s basic question: “How can my
readers profit by this knowledge?”
3. Not All Press is Good…Lack of control
working with the media and a negative story
is always possible
Telling Your Story:
A Blueprint for Success
• The Foundation
• Engaging the Right
Tactics
• Importance of a Strong
Media Network
• Measurement/ROI
The Foundation
• Discovery/Packaging of
5-7 Story Themelines
• Identify the Right
“Storytellers”
• Finalize a “Most
Wanted” List of Target
Media Outlets Engaging
the Right Tactics
Building a Strong Media Network
Peter Grant
The Wall Street Journal
Rosemarie Ward
The Economist
Peter Coy
Bloomberg
Businessweek
Kurt Badenhausen
Forbes
Jennifer Reingold
FORTUNE
Dan Gross
Newsweek/
The Daily Beast
Catherine Rampell
The New York Times
Aaron Weisz
60 Minutes
Measurement/ROI
• Advertising Equivalency
is a Common Measure
• Ability to Penetrate the
“Most Wanted” Media
Outlets with Your Story
• Survey to Determine
Target Audience
Change in Perceptions
Summing It Up
• Media relations is one of the most
cost-effective ways to communicate
a community’s story to business decision-
makers and their advisors
• Editorial content has a much higher level
of credibility than paid media
Two Ways to Get the Report
1. Email me and we’ll send
you a copy via snail mail ([email protected])
2. Download from the DCI
Website (aboutdci.com)