PR Strategies for Maximizing Relationships with Analysts and Consultants

By Mike Nikolich, President Tech Image Ltd.

Your CEO just issued the mandate to schedule a press conference at the upcoming trade show to announce a hot new product. There's only one problem - the trade show is just four days away! The PR team is in a frenzy, scrambling to prepare press kits, duplicate slides and schedule a press conference that your company decided to host just two days ago.

While some people strive on stress, is this last minute mad-dash really worth the effort or a waste of time? Will it make a difference in determining whether your product succeeds? Or does a planned attack make more sense? Tech Image posed these questions and more to some of the computer and video industry's most respected reporters. Their consensus?

• Do your homework;
• Prepare the media for your news well in advance of the trade show; and
• Make a real commitment to meet with reporters when they visit your booth.

Follow this simple formula and your company's trade show PR efforts will reap huge rewards. However, if you opt for a slipshod, last minute effort, then you're most likely wasting your time, money, and effort. Reporters cover trade shows to spot product trends, obtain quotes for feature stories, see what's new and making news in the industry, and rekindle old relationships. Yet, 72 percent of the reporters we surveyed said companies don't do a good job getting their news out.

Videography's Craig Birkmaier, for example, believes most companies do a poor job of telling their story when he visits their booth. "Too many companies try to pass off the same old story show after show," Birkmaier says. "I don't mind stopping by a booth, but if I don't see something new, I'll probably dismiss the company after a while."

According to EMedia Professional's Stephen Nathans, trade shows are good forums for getting information out and having one-on-one interviews, but he says many companies do not take full advantage of these opportunities.

"Companies are very inconsistent at trade shows. Many focus much of their time ahead of the show getting product information to me," Nathans says. "However, once you arrive at their booth for an appointment, I'm surprised how often the person I am scheduled to meet with isn't there. Or, instead of meeting with senior management, I'm paired with a PR person who can only pull out bullet points from a press release. If I am going to take the time to meet with a company, I want to speak with a product manager or engineer to receive a comprehensive demo of a product."

Videomaker Contributing Editor Loren Alldrin wants to know a company has something new to offer before committing to a face-to-face meeting. "I like to find out about products before they're announced at trade shows," says Alldrin. "If a product sounds interesting, I'll make a point of stopping by the booth to learn more about it."

Some editors, like New Media Editor Becky Waring use trade shows to spot trends and uncover hot new products. "Trade shows are extremely important for editors to unearth the items that are worth covering," Waring says. "I can meet with 10 to 20 companies in one day, and check out hundreds of products for possible coverage in future issues. It really helps me to get a big picture of industry trends, and to be able to compare competitive products by walking the show floor."

Every reporter we asked said they preferred learning about products by meeting with key company officials in a secluded part of the booth, or at a convenient, off-site location (that's close to the convention hall). But companies need to be aware of potential conflicts when scheduling those meetings.

"One of the jokes we have about trade shows is that we never have to bring pocket money for meals - someone's always throwing a press breakfast, luncheon, cocktail party or dinner," says Steve Epstein of Broadcast Engineering. "A lot of companies don't realize that companies like Avid and Sony hold press events year after year on the same days of the show. If I receive an invitation to attend your event and it conflicts with the Sony event, I won't be able to meet with you, unless you schedule a booth interview at a different time.

"Trade shows are exhausting," Epstein adds. "A typical day for me begins around 8 a.m. I'll attend breakfasts and seminars in the morning, and try to find a few spare moments to walk the floors of the show. From there, it's a press luncheon, afternoon session, more booth visits and finally a cocktail reception with one vendor, followed by a dinner with another. A 'light' day for me seldom ends before 10 p.m.!"

If you're planning to invite Craig Birkmaier to a press conference, your company better have some real news to announce. "Press conferences are time consuming and nothing frustrates me more than attending a conference that doesn't deliver the promised news," Birkmaier says. "If you're planning to host a press conference, you better have something to say."

DV Magazine's Dominic Milano has a more forgiving attitude but also agrees. "One thing I really detest is the press conference. I feel a lot of time is spent on introductions, company background and concepts. A lot of ground that gets covered is stuff we already know about. I wish companies would cut to the chase and skip the dog-and-pony shows. Companies just need to get the news out, demo their products, and have product managers available afterwards for one-on-ones."

Barry Mazor, editor of Advanced Imaging, may attend your press event, but he'd rather be walking the show floor. "The larger the show, the more I dislike press conferences. I don't like having my time chewed up," Mazor says. "I remember occasions when I've been locked in a room for more than an hour and haven't learned a thing. That's aggravating because I could put that time to much better use. I remember who wastes my time and who doesn't."

Another common complaint of reporters is that many companies pull out the stops to get them to attend their press conference, but do a poor job at following up.

"Many companies will do whatever it takes to get you in the booth or at their press conference," Alldrin says. "Often that's that last time I hear from them until the next trade show. Companies like that sure aren't doing an effective job of building mindshare with me."

Becky Waring says her time is of the essence. She receives countless requests to book booth appointments and shares some of her pet peeves. "I usually get many more requests for meetings than I have time for. My pet peeve is being pestered to meet with companies that have no relation to our coverage area - many companies simply invite every journalist on the attendee list."

Waring is well aware of the digital video landscape and prioritizes visits by the importance of their announcements. "I usually don't schedule visits just to 'catch up' or hear about older products. From experience, I tend to know which companies make more informative presentations that go beyond their press releases. I do not like to give up a precious meeting slot to show up and receive a booth tour by a PR person who can't add anything to the press release."

Dominic Milano likes trade shows because they provide him an opportunity to strengthen relationships with key vendors. "I have many reasons for attending trade shows," says Milano. "Of course, I want to learn about the hottest products, but more importantly trade shows are a good place to get face-to-face time and feedback. I go to forge new friendships, renew old relationships, and get that face time with people that I don't see during the year."

AV Video Multimedia Producer Editor Nick Dager agrees. "The most important reason for attending a trade show is the opportunity to meet face-to-face with people in the industry," Dager says. "It gives me a chance to see old friends and form new relationships. Editors need to be visible at trade shows, too, so manufacturers understand that the magazine is connected to the industry."

To gain their interest, editors recommend sending your news well in advance of the show, not a day or two before. Barry Mazor is one editor who doesn't relish the job of sifting through mountains of news releases in the pressroom to determine what's hot. "We try to collect as many press kits as possible at these shows," says Mazor. "We try to cull out the stories in the booth and leave the releases we don't need. There's no point spending money shipping home boxes of worthless paper."

Erik Holsinger, a long-time digital video freelance writer and reviewer, wants to learn about new products well before they're introduced at trade shows. He's happy to work under non-disclosure agreements, if that's what needed to keep him abreast of the latest product developments.

"By the time you see a product at a trade show, everybody knows about it," Holsinger says. "I get paid for the news I generate and the trends I spot. If I'm going to cover a new technology, I want to be one of the first to know about it." To increase tradeshow coverage, some companies host pre-show press conferences. Steve Epstein of Broadcast Engineering is willing to fly to these events, but cautions that pre-trade show press events aren't always successful.

"I attended a pre-NAB trade show in New York City for Sony," Epstein says. "The press conference attracted more than 50 reporters. Another company tried to piggyback its event to the Sony event the next day. On paper, that sounded like a great idea. The strategy backfired, however - only five reporters attended the press conference."

So, what do you do if you're not one of the industry giants? All of the reporters shared this advice - spend your time on face-to-face meetings with reporters well in advance of trade shows, keep a steady stream of stories and dialogue going with them throughout the year, and don't forget to follow up.

"I find that follow-up efforts are most effective," says Nathans. "You get bombarded with so much information at a trade show that it can be overwhelming. If a company goes the extra mile after a conference, it has a better chance to cut through the clutter and get a mention in my magazine. Friendly reminders never hurt."

"Trade shows are a big part of public relations, but I think companies should spend more time and money on media tours and product demos after the fact," adds Milano. "Small meetings and demos are more intimate, effective and can reap greater rewards."

Six Ways To Get Noticed At Trade ShowsCompanies face an uphill battle in the war to win mindshare. Yet some companies seem to have no problem attracting attention at trade shows. Here are six ideas that will set your company apart.

1. If you have important news to announce, a pre-trade show press conference (preferably two months before the show) will help generate coverage in the all-important trade show dailies and pre-show issues.
2. Create a portable display to show your press kits in an upright position. Tektronix created a Lucite press kit display for the NAB pressroom. It was the only vendor to have its press kits displayed in an upright position. The display also doubles as a shipping container when unused kits must be returned to the office.
3. Use non-traditional means to attraction attention. One of the cleverest "press kits" at a recent NAB wasn't a press kit. Instead of supplying the NAB pressroom with editorial material, one company placed a hollow workstation in the pressroom. Reporters were instructed to drop in their business card to receive a press kit by return mail.
4. Make your press kit stand out from the crowd and place it at several locations in the pressroom. Four-color press kit folders, especially odd-sized folders, stand out from the crowd.
5. Include a summary of the key stories inside the kit. Many reporters don't want to bother reading the entire kit. Highlight the important stories yourself. Sony does.
6. Make sure your booth always looks busy. Use scheduled demos to attract an audience and list the times in your press kits. After all, nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd. Reporters are human - they want to be where the action is!

Tech Image Ltd., "The Media Relations Experts for Emerging Technologies," provides Intelligence Reports on a variety of public relations topics, including:

• Developing Budgets for Public Relations Programs;
• Product Review Tracking;
• Sales Lead Tracking;
• Trade Show Public Relations; and
• Global Publicity Campaigns.

Copies are available via fax, mail, email or the web.

Phone: 888-4-TECH-PR, extension 222
www.techimage.com
mike.nikolich@techimage.com
Fax: 847-632-1841
Mail: Tech Image Ltd., 3265 N. Arlington Heights Rd., Suite 301, Arlington Heights, IL 60004