By Jack Peat

One of the biggest comms challenges facing brands today is the need to stay relevant in a media environment that is constantly evolving and increasingly saturated.

Today, new product launches, major announcements and business developments have an uphill battle to obtain precious column inches and widespread coverage online. Up against a busy news schedule and fierce competition many face the very real threat of brand equity dissipating, and in an age where earned media coverage has multi-disciplinary applications that has far-reaching consequences.

News Generation

News generation is a creative way to keep your brand name on the news agenda and in the public eye. It is a growing element of the PR market that has become a daily staple for newspapers and online publications, and it should be considered an essential part of a successful marketing mix.

Its value to brands is two-dimensional. On the one hand news gen projects can be rolled out at regular intervals as a way of ensuring that your brand remains relevant and is being consistently talked about. Campaigns can be designed to fit the seasons, tie with events or simply jump on the back of the news agenda, making it a versatile and expedient tool.  

It also works seamlessly across platforms. Using news generation you can craft your ideas into multi-platform news stories in the form of news content, video and visuals as well as radio and broadcast campaigns that are highly relevant and shareable on social media. Done well it can be a one-stop-shop for page-lead headlines, engaging multimedia and viral content.

But if you need convincing beyond that, consider this. Research has shown adding news generation to your campaign boosts ROI by three times on average and makes other media in your campaign work harder. It is one of the most evergreen pieces of collateral in the marketer’s toolkit, and it will always be at your behest.  

So how do you incorporate news gen into your strategy?

Well, the first thing is to do is to make provisions for it. Unlike launches or key sales periods it can be difficult to plan for auxiliary PR and marketing activity, but given what we know about the crucial down-periods it is essential that it gets factored into budgets from the start, then when dry spells invariably do show up you are prepared to tackle it head-on.    

News generations also requires a much more extensive ideation process. You are essentially dreaming up news stories, so you should factor in the time it takes to work up fresh angles that both accentuate your key brand messages and support a strong news hook. It can be a good idea to get in specialists at this point to help develop your brief and bring it to life. At 72Point we brainstorm for free in order to help our clients come up with strong campaign ideas that will gain widespread media coverage.

Which leads us to the final consideration – Distribution. It is likely that news gen projects will appeal to journalists outside of your core sector and so you should consider the time it takes to research and draw up a strong media list. If the campaign has a strong news hook then working alongside a press agency could be worth pricing in, as they will offer a direct inroad into the media market.

So rather than drop from consumer conscience this year, consider news generation in your marketing mix. To find out more, visit our Keynote Theatre address at The Marketing Show North 2019