Media Matters Q1 2007

Welcome!

We've kicked off 2007 amidst a great buzz of activity here at CBC, partly because we have significantly expanded the number of services that we offer. In addition to our strategic Public Relations campaigns, we now also offer Copywriting, Newsletter and Web text production, and help with Marketing. Several of our new and longstanding clients have taken advantage of this "one-stop-shop" approach to addressing their PR and Marketing needs, and we thank them for their support. We predict great things for the year ahead!

Charity Car Rally helps promote the "Save the Royal Surrey Hospital" Campaign

We have been involved in some very interesting PR projects since the end of last year, including the chance to organise and promote the corporate sponsorship of a rally car for charity. CBC arranged for the car's creative branding to highlight ArcomIT's support for the "Save the Royal Surrey Hospital" campaign, and also arranged a major photo shoot in Guildford with a number of local dignitaries attending, including the Mayor of Guildford, Cllr Angela Gunning, Anne Milton MP for Guildford, the Leader of Guildford Borough Council, the Regional Manager of The Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Hospital campaign leader, drivers, and sponsors.

The subsequent press coverage included a major photo feature in The Surrey Advertiser, the area's largest regional newspaper, as well as articles in Surrey Business News, a number of Chamber publications, and Guildford Life magazine. The event also helped to secure a variety of coverage in the trade press, as well as several radio interviews. The word is really spreading now!

It has been great to work alongside our local clients such as ArcomIT, who are based on The Surrey Research Park, especially since we fully support the "Save the Royal Surrey Hospital" campaign ourselves. Thanks again to everyone involved for your help and support with this campaign. For more details on how you can help to save the RSCH, please go www.savetheroyalsurrey.org.uk, or else log onto the Number 10 Downing Street official petition site (http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/save-RSCH) to sign the petition online.

Out Now: The Surrey Research Park News

The start of the New Year also meant another edition of The Surrey Research Park News, with more than 3,000 copies distributed in January. It is always such a pleasure to work with The Surrey Research Park team on this quarterly magazine, and to have the chance to promote such a wide variety of innovative Park residents.

For example, Surrey Research Park resident Pertmaster, one of the world's leading developers of project risk and analysis software for Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) environments, recently announced that UK oil and gas production company Venture Production plc has used Pertmaster's software to help bring the Goosander oil field project into production in the North Sea.

Meanwhile, Magic Taxi is helping web users to raise money for charity - without ever leaving their desks. MagicTaxi is a new, free search engine that donates 50 percent of the revenue it receives through advertising to major UK charities. It pools results from several other search engines, so you can use Yahoo!, go shopping on Kelkoo and do your research with Wikipedia. And all the time you're using MagicTaxi to find what you want, you know that it's working hard to generate money for people who need it.

Our copywriters enjoy the chance to produce a magazine that features such interesting stories, especially since the finished product regularly features some of the UK's most exciting companies. If you have not received your copy of The Surrey Research Park News, please ring us on 01483 537 890 or email info@chazb.com to request one. Look out for the Spring 2007 issue to appear at the end of April.

PR Advice: Think Globally, Act Locally

When considering their PR strategy, many companies often overlook the potential of their local media: regional papers, magazines, radio, and television should definitely form part of your overall PR campaign

Local PR focuses on a specific geographic subset of your full target audience, typically comprised of media and other key influencers that are based within an hour of your company's headquarters. As such, it can be an effective way to garner community support for your business, build loyalty with a local customer base, raise profile among regional suppliers and peers, and attract employees who are either based in or looking to relocate to your area.

Issuing press releases on issues that affect your specific area, setting up meetings with reporters based nearby, and helping to organise fundraising events in your neighbourhood can all be used to generate positive PR for your company. And remember, local PR may reach contacts that you haven't even identified yet. Key decision makers who work in London might live in Surrey or the Home Counties, for example, and read their local press at the weekend, giving you yet another way of reaching your target audience.

For more detail on this topic, and a wide range of other PR tips and advice, click here

And finally: A Few PR "Do's and Don'ts" from our PR Fact Sheet on Art

Direction for PR Photography

DO NOT let Mary from Accounts bring in her husband Joe who "is a keen amateur photographer". He may be able to take good photos, but if he is not accustomed to taking photos for the media he will not know which style of photography to use.
DO get advice on art direction from an experienced PR or media photographer.
DO NOT let a photographer bully you into taking shots that are "easy" for him to take - make him take the best shots for you.
DO have fun - take lots of shots - the best ones will be the most relaxed ones, and are often the less posed, informal shots.
DO contact the magazine or newspaper journalists and ask how they prefer to receive images and what resolution they need.
DO NOT put paperclips on the images if you send them out hard copy. Paperclips can easily scratch or damage the photo paper.
DO use a cardboard-backed envelope and label the images on the back with your company name and the press release/product that they illustrate. If your press release and images accidentally get separated, they will be easier to identify.

For more information on PR "do's and don'ts", check out our series of free downloadable fact sheets by clicking here.

We hope that you will find these tips useful. Of course, do not hesitate to contact us on 01483 537 890 with any questions or for any assistance you may need. You can also email me personally anytime at chazb@chazb.com

In the meantime, we wish you all the best for a busy first quarter!