We had a stellar line up of panelists, from:
Helen Addis, Head of Features at ITV Lorraine
Lisa Douglas, Freelance Talent Executive at Steph’s Packed Lunch (channel 4)
Andy Austin, Talent Executive and Senior Celebrity Producer at GMB
Johnny Seifert, Showbiz Editor and Producer for talkRadio & Entertainment Producer for Times Radio
Pam Lyddon, Founder & CEO of Bright Star Digital
All sharing their top tips and secrets of how PRs, brands and retailers can win that golden piece of coverage and land their brand or product on TV & Radio.
180 of our brilliant community joined in live to listen to what the panelists had to say! AND it was so good, it’d be rude not to share some of the insights, so keep reading for some juicy pointers below:
Lead times:
Our panelists highlighted that with broadcast it’s very fluid as they need to be reactive to the current news agenda. However, if you have a star product or big launch planned in a few months time, you can always give them a heads up, but keep nudging them, nearer the date.
Lisa: “It's not always easy for us to plan months in advance... So certainly, in my experience, we were kind of planning about four weeks in advance. Some weeks, for example like now...we're pretty much booked until Christmas... just because it's a really busy period. But then there are other weeks where we can take a booking, you know, the week before a couple of days before. We like to be reactive as well!”
Helen: “So for the Lorraine show... even tomorrow's show isn't fully set in stone yet. And even at five o'clock tonight, it won't be so whilst we go into our weeks with our shows kind of roughly mapped out, they rarely actually go out as we think that they're going to a week prior.”
Another key takeaway from the panelists was, that if your product or brand is relevant to a hot topic news story that day or week, get pitching in immediately as that may very well just cinch you on the show.
How to cut through the noise:
A key lesson here is ensuring that there is a super compelling reason why they would feature your brand/ product on that day, at that time. If they can’t sell it into the team with a good enough reason, then it’s not going to cut the mustard.
Lisa: “If you can present us with...a range of coverage, or certainly a spread...saying this is where it's going to be hitting that will really help herself sell into our prospective editors”
Helen: So it's thinking, what is it about your product? And why is it unique? To my show? Not all of our shows, but to my show? And how am I gonna sell that in? For example if there’s an email that says “Angus has to have this”. I'm like ah, Angus is Lorraine's dog. What is it? It's a pair of dog mittens that's got Lorraine's face put on it, hilarious like she'll love that”.
Johnny: “Make it really short and succinct as well. So just put in literally like two lines”
Something to ALWAYS bear in mind:
The panelists shared that when it comes to products, they wouldn’t be able to share just one, say, amazing blanket. Instead, they would have to show at least 3 others in total to give a rounded view and do it as part of a gift guide round up.
The MAIN thing to note when working with celebrities or experts to promote your brand/campaign:
Pam: “It’s all about making the story well rounded and weaving into it the right spokesperson who has genuine and an authentic interest”
Helen: “lived experience” is essential “I cannot emphasise to you enough how much that makes a difference for us because it's the difference between someone just “helicoptering” in, who has no experience in that area.”
Andy: It’s whether the expert can help move the story of the day on for us...otherwise, you can just cover it...with your own talent, to be completely honest.
Pet Peeves:
Johnny: “Not knowing my name and what station I work for”
Lisa: “Not telling me that you've placed a guest on another show before you pitch to me”
Helen: “Spam cut and paste jobs…. I could see that you sent this exact same email to 100 other people...Unengaging press releases and when you've kept all the email addresses in the CC bit as well”
Pam: “Darling I love all PRs”
Andy: “Not telling me that not tell me what the brand actually is when you're on the phone to me”
So many wonderful tips and tricks above, but these are only just the tip of the iceberg from what was a very full, insightful, jam packed session. If you would like to hear more or view the webinar get in touch with one of the team today!
AND keep your eyes peeled for announcements of our upcoming webinars for 2022!
CIJ Team