Have you got good news - or bad - to announce?
This is the fundamental principle of how to do either most effectively.
I was working last week with a company which has some lovely positive news to share.
We were shaping up the key messages we wanted to get across, and preparing for the media interviews which we knew would come.
As ever I can’t say too much about what it is, apologies.
But I can tell you it’s a new initiative which will benefit a lot of brilliant businesses in the farming industry, and help our precious environment too (hence the pretty countryside picture accompanying this blog!)
The executive I was working with was very happy with the messages we polished up ready to put out, and their own performance when facing the cameras.
But then came an interesting moment.
With just a throwaway question, I asked:
- What are you going to do to follow up this announcement?
The reply was a puzzled look, which brings me to the point of this blog.
There's a fundamental principle about how you treat good news and bad in the communication trade.
First, because I try to have a sunny disposition, the positive news part:
- Good news should be released in stages
As for bad news:
– Get the nasty stuff out all in one go
This is where the corrosion and celebration title of the blog comes in.
The mass of the population don’t take a great deal of notice of the news.
They tend to consume it in passing, perhaps while checking through social media on their phone, or watching the TV over supper, maybe listening to the radio in the car.
They form an impression of what's happening, rather than a detailed understanding.
Plus, to actually have any likelihood of a large number of people really noticing what you're saying, you need to put it in front of them time and again.
Which is why politicians tend to repeat the same message over and over.
So, back to corrosion and celebration:
If the news is bad, that repetition has a corrosive effect.
Think BP and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.
Remember it? I’m betting you do.
And why?
Because the company handled the disaster so badly, there were months of dreadful headlines.
That all had a corrosive impact on the reputation of BP.
Which means the company is still often remembered for all the wrong reasons, even now, more than ten years on.
I make no political point here, except to say that the modern day Conservative party has much sharper media management.
When it broke two election promises earlier this year, not to raise taxes, and to continue significantly increasing pensions, it announced them both on the same day.
That limited the negative headlines to one day, or perhaps two with the follow-up stories, but not a series.
Now go to the other extreme, and the organisation I was working with, happy with its good news to share.
Okay, you get a lovely splash of publicity with the first announcement.
But to maximise the impact, you need follow-ups. As I suggested to the executive.
Leave it a month, and then report on how the new initiative is going.
Maybe tell us how many businesses have taken it up.
Leave it another couple of months then report on all the good it's done: the carbon dioxide emissions saved, the food waste reduced, the pesticide use cut.
These stories are likely to get less prominent coverage, but once you've established that lovely shine of success they will probably be mentioned in the media.
Plus you put them out on social media too...
So you get repeated upbeat pulses of news, thus positioning your organisation as a leader in its field, a winner, and a success…
Which is exactly the effect you want.
In summary, a golden rule of communication:
- Good news in instalments
- Bad news all at one go
Which, finally, brings me to this point…
Have I mentioned my new book?
More than a few times! you might well groan.
But given that good news should be repeated, repeated, and repeated ad nauseam…
I’m proud of Making a Mark in the Media, happy to report that it’s selling well, and I’m grateful for all the congratulations and kind feedback I’ve received.
How about that for good news in stages?!