A Company's Story Must Carry Impingement Value To Obtain Widespread Publicity
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In two previous columns, we talked about how quality management attracts Publicity, or PR. Nearly every organization is constantly trying to attract the attention of the media. What brings the media to some company's door? That's what every public relations man or woman would love to know. For that is what PR folks get paid to obtain for their clients.
Quality management is certainly a key motivation in attracting a reporter's attention. This helps persuade the reporter or a radio/TV producer that the proposed interview is not planning being with someone who has "nothing to say" or just rehashing a clich or tired, old story. The higher the title and also the far better known a company, the greater the "impingement" a PR pitch (that's what publicity people use to sell a reporter) impacts upon a member from the media. If someone from the publicity department at Microsoft calls Fortune magazine to ask about profiling Bill Gates, the pitch will have major impingement value. Couple of names have this sort of clout, either personally or corporately.
In any event, the senior editor with the main magazine will nevertheless inquire about the story angle. The editor will want to know, "What are we planning to talk about?" Ultimately, it can be the exceptional story that sells magazines or newspapers, not just the large name. Not all such stories involve a large name speaking or spouting his thoughts for the day. Often, much better stories evolve when there is certainly a strong newsworthy angle. Let's look at two recent stories - one which involves a uranium business and one more one about a coalbed methane (CBM) business, which we've covered in this column.
On Thursday, Pacific Asia Chinese marketplaces Energy (PACE) was featured inside the Financing section of Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper. Headlined "High-Energy Performer," the opening sentences told us why the reporter was interested: "PACE holds contracts to help Chinese marketplaces explore for and produce its coalbed methane (CBM) resources - fuel China Marketplaces needs to help satisfy its energy demands."
The huge story, which drew the newspaper to Pacific Asia China Energy, was Chinese marketplaces. PACE piggybacked that story due to the fact the company may be helping to offer a legitimate solution towards the country's power mix. Part of the big story may be the possible size with the recoverable gas, estimated in the technical report by Sproule International being as large as 11.2 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Those people two items enhanced the reporter's interest in PACE. China needs alternative vitality sources, such as CBM, to improve their energy mix - from a near total dependence upon coal. And, PACE has a potentially massive resource, which could last a great number of many years. Such a gas resource could be sufficiently large to make an impact on Chinese marketplaces. Right after all, China Marketplaces has proven reserves of slightly more than 30 trillion cubic feet. Another 11 trillion cubic feet, should the prospective be proven up, would represent a significant increase of available gas in a very large country. By itself, this could later create into a main international energy story, reported upon by a great number of news media. An additional impingement about the reporter is possessing the satisfaction of reporting upon a excellent story, nicely before others write the story.
Chatter within the newsroom: "Did you hear about PACE's gas discovery in China, Bob?" Bob's Reply: "Oh that one. Yeah, I wrote about it eight months ago!"
As a result, you will find multiple impingement points in this story. Each "draw," or a reason to attract eyeballs for the story, is one more point the story must score, for the reporter and his editor, to overcome the hurdles of being featured inside a main publication. Chinese marketplaces is a draw. The size of the PACE coalbed methane gas resource is really a draw. The prospective impact upon China's vitality mix is really a draw. Writing about it before the rest with the pack jumps on the bandwagon? That's a draw, too. In this case, four draws sufficiently attracted media coverage for this little CBM development business.
Sometimes, the timing is just perfect, and also the overpowering "big story" accidentally introduces a lucky guy onto the world's stage. On the exact same Thursday, the PACE story was carried inside the Globe and Mail, the Chief Executive of a tiny Canadian uranium business impinged on a Russian news service reporter in Hong Kong. Such was the good fortune for Craig Lindsay, a Certified Monetary Analyst, who has spent much more than 16 years in corporate finance, investment banking and enterprise development, according to the website of Magnum Uranium, for which he now serves as Chief Executive.
While Magnum has a marketplace capitalization of about $15 million, and Lindsay is neither a geologist nor engineer, RIA Novosti news agency touted him being a "well-known vitality expert." Admittedly, Lindsay gave an excellent speech in the Hong Kong Club for foreign correspondents. Cleverly, he announced, "Uranium may be the next oil," throughout his speech. As numerous other industry experts have predicted, Lindsay also forecast uranium "may hit $50/pound by the end of the year." So several are now announcing this it is likely to become a self-fulfilling prophesy.
What elevated Lindsay's publicity was not what he said in his speech. Most of his commentary may be previously been reported in numerous publications, including in our columns. (What reporters really hate is rehashing old news to give someone publicity!) It was to whom Lindsay was speaking, and especially the "timing" as to when it was said. Here is how Craig Lindsay got his "15 minutes of fame."
About six hours earlier, the extremely exact same Russian news agency reported that Russia and Kazakhstan had signed a uranium offer worth $1 billion. The photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appeared as the photo op which goes with such truly huge stories. This was a main event involving two very huge names, and among the biggest names and countries in the uranium sector. This was also Russia's very first contract to import uranium; Kazakhstan could be the world's third biggest uranium producer. All of this is "big news."
The clever Russian freelance reporter, who attended the Lindsay speech in Hong Kong, possibly text-messaged or emailed his editor by Blackberry, tried to piggyback the Russian-Kazak story with his own story. Yes, that is how timing works. As soon being a main event takes spot, other journalists rush to piggyback the event with "their" story. The Russian reporter scored points with his editor and got his story filed (slang for published)
Two cunning gentlemen, the Russian stringer (slang for freelance reporter), and Craig Lindsay (whose name was spelled Kreig Lindsay within the write-up), both accomplished their purposes. Mr. Lindsay got his organization into the world's spotlight. The Russian stringer got a great story. The reporter threw up a softball question, for which Mr. Lindsay supplied the desired answer.
What was the question the reporter asked Lindsay? That's quite obvious from what the reporter published in his write-up. Here can be a clip in the Moscow News write-up:
Foreign traders are ready to invest in Russia's uranium business, if Moscow wants this to happen and establishes a necessary legal base," Lindsay said. "I believe that Russia is one of the most promising directions for this kind of investments, it is an undeveloped industry, full of opportunities. My business will be the first to come to Russia, if the necessary conditions are created," he added.
Nowhere in Lindsay's speech did Magnum Uranium's Chief Executive discuss investing in Russia. However, the reporter NEEDED a great quote. It had to tie-in with "investing in Russia for uranium development." Lindsay accommodated. He didn't commit to investing in Russia, but he kept the door open. Magnum Uranium recently announced the acquisition of a 1,080-acre land package in Converse County, Wyoming. The company is also exploring for uranium in each Wyoming and the Athabasca Basin. Its finances are probably previously stretched from both exploration and acquisition activities. Magnum's market capitalization would most likely be insufficient to launch investments into Russia, at this time.
However, Lindsay did a great job obtaining his company this caliber of publicity. And he got the uranium sector excellent publicity. He capitalized upon an impinging story - a story that did show up about the world's radar - by correctly supplying an answer the Russian journalist was trying to prod out of him.
That is the essence of how journalists and publicity-seekers function with each other. If the PR person gives the journalist the story angle he is trying to find within the greater story, chances are it will appear in print. Piggybacking a "main event" is probably the most common way to increase one's impingement value to a reporter. And by being a cunning interviewee for his Russian reporter, Craig Lindsay just got Magnum Uranium into this column as nicely!
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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