|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Good, effective public and press relations can support building credibility in a company's products and services. And it is one of the most cost effective marketing activities available to a new company.
A PR professional is critical to handling and promoting your company's
product and services to the media. Our public relations and marketing
programs ensure that publicity, promotion or advertising is not the end
result, but that each is part of an overall effort to better support
sales and maximize client’s ROI.
We secure top-notch media coverage.
The initial press kit is critical to effective public relations. Having a press kit that shows off your company, delivers professional, well-written information that the editor can put directly into the story, and provides the editor with easy, quick facts is the beginnings of long-term professional relationships with the press.
A professional press kit will include:
- A fact sheet - the editor's quick reference guide to your company, product or service
- A corporate backgrounder - your company's history and development
- Biographies and photos on key personnel
- Your latest release (if current)
- Other notables like a human interest backgrounder, testimonials, and other items specific to your industry
Press Tours
An effective way to get the press to always come to you is to first go
to them. An intense, hard-hitting press tour will get your message
in front of key press effectively. You get maximum exposure for your
dollars spent. And you get not only immediate exposure, but long-term
exposure that will pay you back time-and-time again because the press
has now "put a face" with your company.
Press tours are intense, grueling events that require advance preparation, tour support and follow-through to be effective. Azania will:
- Develop a list of, contact and secure appointments with editors and industry writers,
- Organize the logistics of seeing 2-4 or more industry editors and writers in the space of a week or two,
- Develop effective pitches and sub-pitches targeted to the editors and writers you are meeting,
- Advise your employees and train them on the nuances of working with press, support you on the tour at each briefing, "close" on what result the meeting has achieved,
- Follow-up with each and every editor and writer to provide additional information, confirm editorial publication dates, continue to maintain the relationship.
Press Story Pitches
Press story pitches differ from hard news generated by press releases
because they end up in the columns and features sections that a publication
puts aside for these items. A good editor is often looking for more
than hard news stories; stories with market interest, business interest
or human interest.
It is Azania's job to "pitch" these stories to editors, hoping that one or more of them will find the story interesting. The strong relationship with editors and reporters that Azania brings to you and will develop for your company increases the success rate of these stories getting published.
Besides getting you quoted in articles, it may be advantageous for you and your representatives to speak at conferences, tradeshows, community and international social events. Plus, we will train you and your team to maximize the message they deliver at those events. Finally, we will craft your message for the audience you're speaking to, each and every time.
Winning Press Releases
Press releases provide the editor with current, time-sensitive news.
A press release can be used to launch a new company, report the success
of your product or service, announce an event, etc.
Press releases will be developed based on important happenings at your company. The press release must be credible in their news value so editors respect and value information released from your company. Many companies flood the market with releases, but at Azania we believe - no, we insist - on keeping a credible, respected relationship with the press by distributing only real news and timely media alerts.
And once the calls from press start coming in, we carry you though this process by managing all follow-up interviews and resulting stories.
Crisis Management
You can't avoid it. There will come a day when you have to respond to
some crisis in your business. When a crisis hits, Azania moves fast
to help you control the damage.
In a crisis, often doing the thing you most don't want to do at the
time is the best solution. Azania will be objective enough to point that
out to you. A company that steps up to the plate during a crisis and
takes the issue head on, who chooses to apologize rather than barrel
on as if nothing happened, are all the hallmarks of companies who customers
think favorably of, and continue to buy from even after a crisis.
For more information on doing business in SA and other enquiries, call us at +1.917.340.8987 USA, +27.82.420.4260 RSA or email info@azaniapr.com