The Colab Brief: 007 - If You Can’t Make News, Comment On It

Welcome to The Colab Brief - a weekly newsletter covering all things comms. This week, we’re excited to kick off our guest series, where we feature unique insights from communications professionals around the world. Up first? Danielle Capers. Danielle is a publicist that is commonly referred to as the Master of Media. She’s landed more top-tier hits out of proactive pitches than we can count, and we’ve invited her to share her perspective in today’s edition.

Take it away, Danielle. 🪁 

Read time: 3 minutes

When engaging in PR, everyone wants to know how to get media coverage when they don’t have news. Want to know the secret?

Offer your expertise 🧠 to what is happening now 📰.

Simple enough, right?

The problem is that too many companies either focus too much on their product or they focus on a topic that’s too evergreen. Neither of these are necessarily bad. They just aren’t what the media is looking to cover.

The time to talk about your product is when you are announcing a funding round or major changes to your product that are filling an untapped need in the market. Evergreen topics are wonderful for marketing content and engaging prospects, but unless they are tied to a news hook, the media isn’t going to care…

My biggest piece of advice: Read the news. 

This sounds obvious, but it is the #1 most important step in engaging with the media. In order to provide your expertise on what is happening now, you actually need to know what the latest news is. While you can’t be an expert for every single thing happening at all times (nor do you want to be), there are some trends you can keep an eye out for. These include:

• Changing regulations 📝: If there is a new law passing that is going to impact your customer base, then you have a unique opportunity to discuss the how/why of the regulation and position yourself as a partner to companies navigating the shift. If your company is in the sustainability or auto sector, then changing emissions regulations driving EV adoption could be a relevant angle. If your company is in the AI space, the current discussions around how to regulate the technology may be relevant.
  

• Economic shifts 💸: Whether the economy is booming or slumping, both businesses and consumers are going to be seeking ways to better their financial position. Can you offer a unique perspective on how to navigate economic shifts? This can be tips for fundraising during a VC dry spell, advice for cutting costs during a down economy, or ways to capitalize on a returning economic boom.
  

• New technology 💡: If you’ve been paying attention to the news at all this year, you have heard of ChatGPT and noticed that AI has been dominating news cycles, with searches for the technology peaking at an all-time high in Q2, according to Google Trends. Because the recent developments for AI have been exciting and the future of the technology remains so uncertain, the media are hungry for perspective on its current capabilities and where it’s headed. If your company is using a technology that is getting attention in an interesting and unique way, consider reaching out to a reporter to offer those insights.
  

• Global events 🌎: As major events happen across the globe, there is a ripple effect across industries and businesses. The sudden shift to remote work during the pandemic had companies around the world wondering how to keep business running as usual without employees together in an office. Today, we are experiencing supply disruptions yet again as the drought at the Panama Canal and labor unrest at California ports threaten barge and port traffic. These are just a couple of examples, but if you have advice on how businesses can succeed despite global challenges, the media would love to hear from you.
  

• Recurring trends 📅: Finally, events that happen on a regular cadence can give you an opportunity to get ahead of the news. Before the holidays come, you can be thinking about upcoming travel or shopping trends you might want to comment on. I am currently pitching experts for the upcoming election season as I foresee a continual need for perspective on how it will look different this year, especially in light of new technologies like AI that will undoubtedly affect it.

Once you spot a trend or piece of news that you think you can provide additional context to, make sure you are providing a truly unique ❄️ perspective. For instance, everyone is talking about AI, so it isn’t just enough to say it’s going to have a far-reaching impact. You need to get specific about that impact. And if you can offer a contrarian point of view? Even better.

I hope this helps you come up with new ways to reach the media in between news cycles (especially during the quiet media landscape of summer, as last week’s newsletter pointed out). And if you need help tying your business to current trends? Reach out!

Danielle

(and with love),

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