The reporter, photographer, PR person and client met in a standard company office. The reporter asked questions and got a stronger grasp of the story. But the photographer didn’t shoot a thing. He stood there, balancing himself on the tripod.
The real story was across the street: the factory. Men were loading trucks. Women were pressing linens. Machines were moving, beeping and dropping stuff. Buttons were blinking. The photographer even climbed a ladder to get one of his shots. He broke a sweat a lot earlier. His shirt was more wet than dry.
It’s the visuals! And the PR person understood that. He focused on the visuals during his pitch to the reporter. Even if the client’s interview wasn’t a series of sound bites, the TV crew was hooked. And when the client explained some of the work was done off site in vans driving around town, the reporter wanted to schedule a second shoot later in the week.
Figure this out ahead of time:
– What is the most visual thing your client does during the day? What is the most visual location at the company?
– Is there a second location of visuals even if it means just a guy in a delivery van doing his job?
– Encourage the reporter or photographer to clip a microphone on your client as soon as possible. As your client explains the relevance of all those visuals during a walking tour, the photographer will roll. More face time and more sound bites for your client.
– Suggest visual backgrounds for your client’s interview. Just make sure the location isn’t too loud.
– Suggest another visual location where reporters can shoot their standups and be on-camera. Most reporters like walking and talking and pointing during standups. Give them something to work with or hold.
– If something usually visual unfortunately isn’t happening during the reporter’s visit, ask your clients if they have pictures or video of these events from the past.
– And as a bonus, offer the crew an interview with employees as they work on the job. This gives reporters more to work with than executives who speak in industry lingo and don’t know how to talk to the Average Joe.
But don’t be overbearing. What bugs some reporters the most is a PR person pushing too hard trying to produce what seems more like a short film than a news story. You can do all this subtly. Offer the suggestions between casual conversation. Don’t make your intentions too obvious.
It’s the visuals! Too many PR firms are pitching stories with nothing more in mind than their client sitting in a nice corner office or conference room. Pitches usually work better when pictures come with it.