AbilityOne Communications Webinar

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AbilityOne Communications Webinar

• Welcome
• Barbara Van Allen
• Vice President Chief Marketing Officer
• NISH

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Welcome/Objectives

• Welcome to all of you.

• This webinar is designed to help you and your
  agency
• promote your NPA and AbilityOne
• through the media and
• leverage the AbilityOne brand through
• tough economic times.

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Housekeeping

• Please use the Questions option on the Control
  Panel to submit questions or comments to the
  presenters. Also, we will have question/answer
  periods during the event where you will use your
  phone.
• Please mute your phone while you are attending
  the webinar (until the question/answer period) as
  conference presenters and other participants may
  be affected by the distraction.
• The event is divided into two parts. This first
  part will run from 1100 am to 1200 pm EST and
  the second part from 100 pm to 200 pm EST with
  an hour break in-between.

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Getting Publicity and Brand Usage
in Tough Times
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide

• Darlene Snow
• Senior Vice President, Public Affairs

Nicole Mezlo Account Director, Public Affairs
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Agenda

• Challenges
• Media
• NPAs
• Changing media landscape
• Generating visibility for your NPA
• Maximizing your resources
• Assessing the value of an opportunity
• Bringing your story to life with key messages

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Overview

• How you can continue to generate visibility for
  your NPA and increase awareness of the AbilityOne
  Program in the media
• Tips for building relationships with the media
• Resources to help you prioritize your existing
  resources and potential media opportunities

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NPA Challenges

• Fewer/smaller contracts
• Fewer opportunities for employees
• Limited resources
• Limited funds for program promotion (advertising,
  events, media outreach)
• Fewer media opportunities
• Bad news environment
• Shrinking beats
• Fewer dedicated reporters following nonprofits,
  disability, etc.
• More analysis, less straight news

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Media Challenges

• 24-hour news cycle
• Disappearing/changing beats
• Outlet closures
• Fewer reporters to keep up with the news cycle
• Fewer resources to research, fact check
• Greater competition from online news, social
  media

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Changing Media Landscape

• Traditional Media
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Radio
• TV
• News wires (Associated Press, Reuters, etc.)

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Changing Media Landscape

• Social Media
• Bloggers
• Internet broadcasters
• YouTube Technorati
• Wikis
• Twitter
• Facebook
• MySpace

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The Media Universe
Blogs
Social Media
Newspapers
National Media
Internet broadcasts
Local Media
Radio
YouTube
Newspapers
Magazines
Local Access TV
Radio
Magazines
TV
University publications
Wikis
TV
Twitter
Facebook
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Your Media Universe

• Lets define your media universe
• Local paper (usually weekly)
• Daily paper
• Local television stations
• Local radio stations
• Trade publications (i.e. disability, military,
  government procurement)
• University/School news outlets
• Local access television
• Online/interactive

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The Media and You The Symbiotic Relationship

• They need you
• To help them tell the story
• To help them understand the story
• For basic information
• For great story ideas
• For quotes and sound bites
• For compelling photos or video

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The Media and You The Symbiotic Relationship

• You need them
• To reach your audience
• To explain your issues
• To give information and content
• To create and sustain a public image

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Understand What Media Want

• Light at the end of the tunnel
• Trend (and anti-trend) stories
• Economy
• Homeland security
• Green economy
• The total package
• Spokespeople
• Photos/video
• Statistics

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Prioritize Your Resources

• Emphasize your people
• Pursue low-hanging fruit first
• Announcements, events, easy to package news
• Minimize media spend, maximize attention
• Letters to the editor vs. TV ads
• Seasonal media tours instead of regular outreach
• Leverage other community resources and events to
  tell your story

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Create a Media Opportunity

• Penetrate your media universe
• Have a cup of coffee or lunch
• Get an e-mail relationship going
• Develop a habit of calling reporters to give them
  information
• Become a resource/subject matter expert for them
• Invite media to tour your facility
• Use op-eds, guest columns and letters-to-the-edito
  r pages
• Introduce yourself at community events where
  media may be present
• Find state/local hooks or trends that will give
  your news even more relevance
• Send updates and news releases to your media
  contacts

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Assess the Value of an Opportunity

• Return on investment
• Is it a positive story?
• Is your NPA receiving prominent placement in the
  story?
• Will this story provide opportunities for NPA
  exposure/visibility?
• Can this story be used as a tool to attract
  additional employees, contracts?
• If an opportunity does not meet these criteria,
  politely decline.

This opportunity isnt a good fit for us at this
time, but if youre writing a story on people
with disabilities in the workplace, wed be happy
to talk to you then
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The Message Is Key

• Your audience and the reporter only have the
  capacity to remember two or three points
• You need to be clear about what your message is
  before you begin the interview
• Stay on message from start to finish
• An effective message should be
• Short
• Salient
• Simple
• Credible
• Repeatable

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Bring Your Messages to Life

• Use physical objects/analogies to illustrate your
  message
• Sports analogies Modernizing JWOD would be a
  home run for AbilityOne.
• Terrains/proportions of land/bodies of water
  The number of working-age individuals with
  severe disabilities who are unemployed is
  equivalent to the population of
• People in a room Its as though 9 out of 10
  people in a room are

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Use Bridging Phrases

• I cant speak for (X), but what I can tell you
  is
• While I cant provide details in that area, what
  I can tell you is
• Thats an interesting question. What most people
  dont know is
• What youre really asking me is

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Use Clichés

• Given this economy and number of unemployed
  people with disabilities, the handwriting is on
  the wall
• Our CRP is jockeying for position to ensure that
  we can secure more federal contracts
• The need to modernize JWOD has been a wake-up
  call for many on the Hill
• Were getting the ball rolling by creating even
  more opportunities for people with disabilities

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Prove It

• Statistics use only as needed. Statistics
  should be clear or in easily understood terms or
  charts. Example One out of three rather than
  33and 1/3 percent
• Quotes from the Experts third-party statements
  and endorsements lend validity to the message
• Analogy or Comparison to add clarity to a story
  or highlight key content, a common frame of
  reference, or an example from mainstream life
  is helpful
• Personal Experience first-hand experience with
  the issue or product helps readers relate to the
  message, helps to build the face of the program

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Response

• Be Quotable
• Avoid corporate speak
• Use clichés
• Use a good analogy
• Use an interesting way to phrase your point
• Choose your words carefully
• Tell the reporter why he/she should care
• Put your comments into context

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Cautions

• Reporters may use the following tactics to get
  you off message
• Paraphrasing Reporter echoes words back to you
  to manufacture a quote. Listen carefully. If you
  like your new quote, say yes if you dont agree,
  emphatically and clearly say so, No, that is not
  what I meant
• Negating Do not repeat a negative word. Famous
  example Mr. President, are you a crook?
  Answer I am not a crook! Probably not how
  President Nixon wanted to be remembered.

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Summary

• Understand and reach out to your media universe
• Prioritize your low-hanging fruit
• Create opportunities
• Assess the value of media opportunities
• Leverage existing community resources

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Questions?
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• Tips for Media Interviews

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Tips for Phone Interviews

• Have your messages and interview tips laid out on
  your desk
• Dont become open and careless, merely because of
  the intimacy of phones
• A journalist is a journalist regardless of how
  familiar you feel. Remember that you are working.
• Get used to it! Most interviews will be over the
  phone

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Tips for a Face-to-Face Interviews

• Body language and presentation style counts
  (smile / use gestures naturally)
• Eye contact is critical (avoid looking up / avoid
  shifty eyes)
• Avoid using notes or cue cards
• Create a conversation / interaction
• Feel free to provide hand-outs and information to
  the reporter
• Try to keep track of time during the
  conversation limit your interview to 15 minutes.

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Tips for On-Camera Interviews

• Look your interviewer in the eye and call by
  his/her first name 
• Don't cling to furniture or cross your arms
  tightly
• Gesture naturally, and vary your gestures
• Keep answers to 10 - 15 seconds
• Wear calf-length socks so that no bare skin shows
  when legs are crossed
• Wear a blue or pastel shirt avoid white.
• Avoid sport jackets with patterns (such as
  herringbone)

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Interview Tips

• DONTs
• Do not handle it alone
• Do not use jargon or acronyms
• Do not speculate or guess
• Do not answer on areas outside your
  responsibility o knowledge
• Do not position your personal platform as the
  organizations
• Do not repeat the negative
• Do not over-answer
• Do not say No comment
• Do not assume anything is off the record
• Do not comment on rumors

• DOs
• Always prepare for an interview
• Know the news outlets focus, background on the
  reporter and primary readership/ viewership
• Establish 3 key messages and an agenda for the
  interview
• Anticipate difficult questions
• Be conversational but stay in control of the
  conversation
• Budget a specific amount of time for the
  interview and stick to a schedule
• Be succinct

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• Tips for Writing
• a News Release

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Basic Elements of a Media Release
Contact Name, phone and email address
Headline Should describe the release and grab
the readers attention
Dateline Where the news originated
Lead Should be concise, to the point, and the
news of your release
Second Paragraph quote from an authority about
the event, program, research, etc
Third Paragraph Details on the issue, event, or
program
Boilerplate Basic organizational information
End of the Copy
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Tips for Writing Media Release

• Remember the Five Ws
• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• Why

Provide the media with useful information about
your organization, product, service, or event.
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Tips for Writing Media Release

• Write releases in pyramid style, keeping the
  most important information near the top of the
  piece.

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Tips for Writing Media Release

• Ensure your announcement has some news values
  such as timeliness, uniqueness, or something
  truly unusual.
• Different today than yesterday
• Surprising, unexpected, counterintuitive
• First, biggest, most comprehensive
• Raises new issues, problems, or solutions
• Linked to what is already in the news
• Intriguing to your neighbor

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Tips for Writing Media Release

• Keep in mind the primary reasons why you
  communicate with the media
• Reaching key audiences
• Helping the general public understand your
  position
• Helping the media understand the story correctly
• Generating support for your issue or cause

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Stay Tuned

• Please come back and join us for Part 2 of
  Getting Publicity and Brand Usage in Tough
  Times from 100 200 p.m., EST.
• We will be joined by Paula Scanlon, NISH
  Director, Marketing, who will share suggestions
  for Leveraging the AbilityOne Brand in Tough
  Times.