 |
 |
 |
           |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
Asian Media Relations: Increase Your Profile and Image in China
China's media is booming creating opportunities for marketing-savvy businesses. But many companies have little understanding of how to harness the power of the media in the world's most populous country. The following are ten points to consider when embarking on a media relations strategy in the Chinese market and identifying with the Chinese media. 1. Understand cultural differences. Be sensitive to local communities and understand the complex and varied structures of the Chinese media. They are not uniform and often controlled at a local, provincial and national level. Improve your cultural literacy by understanding the culture and history of those you're doing business with. Respect these differences and don't impose your own values and perceptions on how the local media should treat you. Never make assumptions, do your research. 2. Use a local spokesperson. Depending on the news value of the story, you will have a better chance of gaining media coverage the more Chinese you make your message. Using a local spokesperson will give you greater credibility. For example in PR campaigns for Nokia and IBM in China, they use local Chairmen who are Chinese because they are well respected and have deep Chinese roots. 3. Know your point of difference - what you do in your own backyard you also have to do in new markets. Find out what makes you or your service or product unique in the Chinese marketplace? How will it stand out from the competition. In the past cultural differences have been used as an excuse for dubious practices not acceptable back home. This has changed. Be accountable as your actions will automatically be associated with your company's offices regardless of their location. 4. Clarify your communication objectives? What do you want to achieve? To inform or entertain? To provide information? To build a profile? To influence public opinion? Personal marketing? Marketing or launching a new product or service? How will cultural diversity and differing news values influence this? News values differ in China. Often issues will be reported one or two days later and not with the urgency or timeliness of the Western media. By understanding your objectives you are more able to set tasks to achieve them accurately and will gain a better understanding of the processes involved. 5. Define your target audience? Who is your target audience? General public? Customers? Competitors? Suppliers? What age are they, what level of education, what beliefs and values, geographical location, how do they use the local Chinese media? How credible is the media your target audience uses? Does it still have credibility even though it is controlled? The media is evolving and becoming more respected. Never assume similarities between similar markets in different countries, do your research, this not only helps define your objectives but offers cultural insight. 6. Identify the best channels of communication. What is the best way to reach your target audience? TV, Radio, Internet, newspapers - local or national? Do your homework on how news is structured and gathered. Investigate who is reporting on what. Find out the nuances. TV has the highest penetration, while the Internet is growing amongst younger Chinese. Each market will be different and it is important to be specific and focused on these individually as well as collectively. 7. What is your key message? The media is becoming more competitive and market driven. They need readers and viewers to stay viable in the new economy. How can you make your message appealing and newsworthy? Distil what you want to say into three key points. Always check translations of media releases. Have them retranslated back into English to check for accuracy. Be careful with tenses and cultural influence particularly when using humour. 8. Build your case. When building your case look for the China angle. What are the features, advantages and benefits of your message for your Chinese targets? What evidence do you have that is seen as credible and independent within their cultural belief system? Always use a local angle, even for an international venture. 9. What is the China hook? What will make your message or news release stand out from the rest and appeal to the values of Chinese journalists? You are not successful in China until the local market tells you. Giving money to Chinese journalists is no longer acceptable. Use more legal and ethical incentives such as providing transport, lunch or a gift or souvenir item. This isn't to be used as a bribe however, rather a hook, something to capture their interest and should be mutually beneficial. 10. Develop long-term relationships with the media. Visit and meet journalists face to face. Network, get to know them and involve them in the story. There is now a focus on the interactive brand experience. For example in one successful mobile phone campaign local journalists were involved in trialing the product prior to launch. They were asked for their feedback and engaged proactively in its development providing them with ownership of the product and subsequent story. Relationships and personal connections, or guanxi, are very important in China and especially so in cultivating good media contacts. Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries. You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com. Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom's blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com
MORE RESOURCES:
PR - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Publicity: Show a Reporter You Care by Inviting Them to Fact-Check Just like a financial planning client fears not having enough money for retirement, reporters fear getting their facts wrong in print.Inaccuracy isn't tolerated in newspapers or magazines. Driving Near School Buses in Company Vehicles School BusesWhen approaching a school bus: Slow down; If the amber lights are flashing, the bus is about to stop; If the red lights are flashing, the bus is stopped; In many states it is against the law to pass a school bus with flashing red lights and/or an extended stop arm.Do not upset school bus drivers. Dont Put Up With Junk PR In public relations, "junk" is more about attitude and lack of understanding than a measure of quality.Hopefully, if your public relations mission is yet to be accomplished, you agree that its primary thrust MUST be to take advantage of the fact that people act on their own perception of the facts before them leading to predictable behaviors. Does the PR Blueprint Work? Managers, please take a minute and read two sentences: People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished. Inoculate Yourself Against Bad PR What is bad PR?Well, if you're a business, non-profit or association manager, bad PR does nothing positive about the behaviors of those important outside audiences of yours that most affect your operation.It fails to create external stakeholder behavior change leading directly to achieving your managerial objectives. Advertising Is Dead. Long Live PR Although I still believe there is a place for advertising as a brand maintenance or brand affirmation tool, I am convinced that to build a brand today, you need PR. At one time advertising did build brands. Creating Event Magic through Planned Video Production Once upon a time, there was a young, stressed out corporate events planner called Tanya. She was organising a large-scale event for her firm's biggest client. PR Is Just Smart Business The name of the game is doing our part to achieve manage- ment's objectives. And public relations best practice - properly applied - does just that. The Ratings are Coming Small businesses have always known the importance of word of mouth. Many successful businesses have been built on word of mouth referrals, and many have been killed by bad word of mouth. Why PR is an Engine for Economic Growth Business, non-profit and association managers committing their public relations resources to (1) doing something about the behaviors of those important outside audiences that most affect their operation, (2) creating the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives, and (3) doing so by persuading those key outside folks to their way of thinking by helping to move them to take actions that allow their department, division or subsidiary to succeed - greatly increase the chances of success for their operation.Thus, feeding the engine of their own economic growth AND that of the nation at large. PR Planning: Mapping Out Your Strategies, Tactics With all due respect to all those stereotypical males out there who hate to ask for directions, the fact is that even if the territory is somewhat familiar, if you don't have a roadmap and follow its directions, you're going to get hopelessly lost.So it goes with your PR program. Making Your Own News Getting a press release published in a newspaper or magazines can be one of the best ways to publicize your business. First, though, you need a good story - and that can be the hard part. Between Now and Economic Recovery There's still time to review your public relations program like Navy flight crews go over a fighter jet.Reason is, you need to fine-tune your public relations activity looking forward to a snap-back in the economy, when you'll need all guns blazing. 10 Secrets to Get Your Press Release Noticed It's difficult enough running the day-to-day aspects of a business, let alone trying to drum up new business as you go. But according to Shannon Cherry, APR, even if you have additional staff helping to get the word out about your products and services, location and prices, delivery and sales support, news releases can make your company grow faster. Why Restaurants Go Out of Business Recently someone asked me why so many restaurants go out of business. I answered that too many people open a restaurant because it's their dream. PR: Heres All You Need to Know Above all, you need to know that the right PR can alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors.Especially when you create external stakeholder behavior change, the kind that leads directly to achieving your managerial objectives. What is News? What may be the more appropriate question is: What makes a story newsworthy enough to get picked up by the media? Here are a few rules of thumb to determine if you have a news angle worthy of press coverage.First, is the subject relevant to anyone outside of your organization? For example, if your firm is announcing changes to the employee health plan, that's newsworthy of coverage in the company newsletter but not typically for the mainstream press. Tactics Vs. Endgame - Endgame Wins It took me a while to see just HOW crucial the behaviors of an organization's key audiences really are to its success, be it big or small, non-profit, business, association or even a public sector enterprise.Sounds elemental, doesn't it? But the truth is, few organizations can succeed today if those target audience behaviors don't fit the organization's objectives. A New Idea For Venture Capitalists Obviously, it hurts when a promising business project you backed financially goes down the tube.But while you point to many possible causes, seldom do you attribute the wreckage to a lack of effective communications that might have modified the behavior of sales prospects in a positive way, thus averting a money-losing shutdown. Media Relations - Ten Essential Tips to Use The Media to Market Your Business In the 'Age of Scepticism' gaining media coverage is one way of cutting through the ever increasing noise to get your message across.Research shows the average consumer receives between 1500 and 3000 marketing messages a day.
|
 |