Your News Crystal Ball in Tech PR

Good PR is about being fast, smart and creative.  You want to get a sense of where the
media will go next, and be
there waiting and ready to help them build their stories, a step ahead
of everyone else.

Any good PR play book will attempt to do this.  Part of blocking and tackling in PR is calling the plays that anticipate the defense’s (i.e., media’s) next move. Pitching stories, not ideas means having the right stories lined up and ready to go.

But no one has a crytal ball, right?  No one can predict with any
certainty what news will break (unless it is your news, of course).

So, short of having that truly groundbreaking announcement, how
does one boost the odds of guessing correctly where the media will go
next?

Actually, you are probably already doing this without thinking too
much about it.  If you have been smart, paying attention to editorial
calendar items, getting to them early and anticipating the fairly
predictable stories, you are doing this.

Here are a few examples of obvious stories (that may or may not be
reflected in ed cals).  Just as surely as the calendar turns every year,
there will be year-in-review stories in December.  If you are in tech
PR, as I am, you will observe end-of-year awards and “best of” stories,
and what worked and what flopped in certain solution areas.  You will
see broad stories about technologies that broke through and those that
came up short.

Ever pitch your employer or client’s participation at a trade
show?  Doing this is generally based on the fairly good odds that
certain segments of media will be writing show round-up stories.

Aggressive, fast and smart PR teams will anticipate these types of
opportunities and go after them far enough in advance to make something
actually happen.

“Got it!” You say.  “Nothing new here, just PR common sense.  What about that crystal ball?”

While I unfortunately can’t help you tell the future, I can share
some additional ideas for anticipating where the media will go next.

Here I am thinking about the major stories that affect news
coverage across beats and different types of media.  These stories may
or may not be tech related.  And in most cases your client will not
play into the headline news and first round of stories (actually, that
is a good thing if it is negative news).

But every major story creates ripples of follow-on coverage as
long as the news remains relevant.  Media outlets compete to stay one
step ahead and bring to light new info and fresh perspectives.
Similarly, the tech media and bloggers will be looking at tech focused
angles.

Why not make a friend out of a reporter by helping him or her find
and break that next hot story, ahead of the rest of the media pack?

Part of PR planning and brainstorming should be taking this into
account and determining if your employer or client may have some kind of
play in these areas.  This means discussing the idea with stakeholders,
and then – if it is a go – getting ducks in a row as far as assets that
can help the reporter build the story (e.g. executive commentary,
customers, friendly third party influencers).

This all may sound very abstract, so let me provide some specific
examples.  First I will cite the headline news, followed by the types
of stories and technologies that could have a play in follow on
coverage:

NORTEL bankruptcy: Impact on telecom equipment market and customers, convergence, telecom vs. enterprise networking and switching equipment

Banking and broader economic crisis: Risk management technologies

Obama inauguration and other major “pop-up” events: security solutions and mobile / wireless communications infrastructure