Media relation has an important role to play in building a company’s image amongst the various constituents. Media is the most preferred channel through which companies convey their message to the constituents. The decision of making a choice of the right media is also very necessary. Maintaining good relationship with the media enhances the company to be open to the public and it leads to greater success as this shows that the company is not hiding any information from the constituents and the media. The openness helps the company to preserve its corporate image, enhancing reputation, and maximizing organizational potential. Earlier there was no much importance given to the media relation person or spokesperson but with the development of communication technologies their role has become very important and media relation is become crucial. The measures of success in media can me measured by the amount of Ink it gains whether by in-house professionals or an outside consultant.
While creating relation with media the company has to select the best people who are most likely to be helpful for the organization. Maintaining good relation and being open about the information most of the time creates a better image of the company, a strong public image can be observed rather than following the “no comments” policy with the media. Media relation helps the public to know and understand the company and its purpose of origin, its offerings to the public.
Organizations indulge in designing media plans. The plan is inclusive of the decisions as to what to convey to whom, how to convey the message, who will be involved in the activities and how much time should be taken, and how much money is budgeted for these activities. This plan is very important and should be designed by every company. Major step is to do research on the reporters and to finalize the target media. The next step is to handle the request for information by media. Many times when companies say “no comment” it can end up as a costly mistake for the company as using the “no comment “strategy might mean that the company is hiding certain information which might act as a negative impact on the company’s image. A well trained spokesperson should be made to answer to these requests. The other functions of the media relations department is to prepare representatives of the company for the media interviews, maintaining ongoing relationships, involving the media personnel in strategies and most important is handling the negative news effectively and trying to convert it into an opportunity.
The Coors case is considered as the best example for media relations, this company which never was open to the public once faced a crisis when there was negative news spreading across them and they were being accused of discrimination , and hence they got an opportunity to go to media and become more open and share information with the public and try to change their opinions. They did a great job by attending an interview on the TV and they created a good media relationship. This helped them over come the crisis and build in a strong reputation. I personally was shocked to see the Coors brothers in the video shown to us in the class, the Coors brothers handled all the questions put forward to them by the investigation in the right manner. They never gave any answer which answered as “no comments.
While creating relation with media the company has to select the best people who are most likely to be helpful for the organization. Maintaining good relation and being open about the information most of the time creates a better image of the company, a strong public image can be observed rather than following the “no comments” policy with the media. Media relation helps the public to know and understand the company and its purpose of origin, its offerings to the public.
Organizations indulge in designing media plans. The plan is inclusive of the decisions as to what to convey to whom, how to convey the message, who will be involved in the activities and how much time should be taken, and how much money is budgeted for these activities. This plan is very important and should be designed by every company. Major step is to do research on the reporters and to finalize the target media. The next step is to handle the request for information by media. Many times when companies say “no comment” it can end up as a costly mistake for the company as using the “no comment “strategy might mean that the company is hiding certain information which might act as a negative impact on the company’s image. A well trained spokesperson should be made to answer to these requests. The other functions of the media relations department is to prepare representatives of the company for the media interviews, maintaining ongoing relationships, involving the media personnel in strategies and most important is handling the negative news effectively and trying to convert it into an opportunity.
The Coors case is considered as the best example for media relations, this company which never was open to the public once faced a crisis when there was negative news spreading across them and they were being accused of discrimination , and hence they got an opportunity to go to media and become more open and share information with the public and try to change their opinions. They did a great job by attending an interview on the TV and they created a good media relationship. This helped them over come the crisis and build in a strong reputation. I personally was shocked to see the Coors brothers in the video shown to us in the class, the Coors brothers handled all the questions put forward to them by the investigation in the right manner. They never gave any answer which answered as “no comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment