Managing your brand with an effective press office

The emergence of social media has had a dramatic effect on traditional media. Now, more than ever, consumers have a platform to voice their opinion and that, combined with the digital age and establishment of ‘interactive journalism’ as a term, has led to them being able to directly contribute to the story. 

With information available 24/7, gone are the days when people have to wait for the weekly paper to land on their doorstep from the paper boy. Now, headlines are created and circulated in minutes and news outlets are even using footage captured by the general public in their reports. 

Nowadays organisations are having to be more transparent and react quicker in order to control messages and having a press office is one of the ways to manage brand reputation. 

What is a press office? 

A conduit between an organisation and the media, a press office acts as a ‘middle man’ for both reactive and proactive activity. Whether it’s drafting a press release, dealing with a crisis or managing a national campaign, regardless of size, the team can handle it all.

Why do I need a press office?

Journalists are notoriously tenacious – it’s their job to be and if a business doesn’t have a press office, they can be left open to scrutiny, waste a lot of time dealing with incoming enquiries and are at risk of not handling a situation correctly. 

Much the same as paying a lawyer to fight your corner, a press office will, with your permission, speak on your behalf and become an extension of your marketing team to effectively manage your brand. 

For this reason, it’s important that you have a team which is well versed in dealing with journalists…more to the point their tenacity and relentless questions. 

Getting started 

Setting up a press office isn’t as complicated as you might think and if you work with an agency, they will have a set of procedures that they follow to get the ball rolling. 

Initial setup is incredibly important to get right, and although this can be slightly time-consuming in the short term, you’ll feel the benefit in the long term. 

Step 1 – induction 

Before anything happens, the team will need to be briefed on the business and its requirements. For example, is there a crisis that needs managing? Has the brand been damaged? Does the company want to improve or reposition its image? Remember the press office team will be a representative of the organisation, so they need to know things – warts and all – to enable them to speak on your behalf. 

Step 2 – back office functions 

The next stage is to create a suite of assets that the team can work to. Dependent on the scope and scale of work, this could include cementing a process, key message matrix, crisis communications plan, target media list and press pack – a document which provides a company background, key products (if applicable), key spokespeople and contact details. Press packs are handy for exhibitions and media visits/desk drops. 

At this stage it’s important to inform all staff that a press office has been created, so they can direct any enquiries that slip through the net (this also gives them a ‘get out of jail free card’ for any sticky situations!)

Step 3 – implementation

This is where the roll out happens. The team may proactively go out to the market to say they are representing you, either with a press release, statement, event or simple introduction, or the business will simply add their details to their website, either under the news or contact us section, so journalists know where to direct their enquiries.

Regardless of whether you manage your comms internally or externally, it’s vital that when you are approached for information or comment, you consider your response and provide it in a timely manner. 

There is nothing worse than ‘the company was unavailable for/declined the opportunity to comment’ as this will put you in a bad light. However, if you have an effective and responsive press office, then you’re much more likely to turn the tide on otherwise negative situations.  

Remember that whenever you are speaking to a journalist, you are ALWAYS on record, so choose your words wisely…or better yet, let us choose them for you!

If you’re interested in hearing more about the One PR team and what it can do for you, why not drop me a line on 0161 968 6938 or send an email.