Media Planning

A media plan must

• Take full account of the environment

• Have clear objectives

• Understand the nature of the media itself

• Work within agreed policy

Environment

• Research, scan, SWOT

• Monitor

Media Policy

• Appointment of spokesperson (s)

• Rules about what can and can’t be said

• Operational and policy/governance

• Efficient approval process

Training

• Essential

• Understand the nature of the beast!

• Performance

• Packaging the messages

• Regular review of needs

Messages and positioning

• Clear and unambiguous

• Short and memorable

• Say it, say it again, repeat what you said

• Keep numbers manageable

• Get agreement on them

Resources

• Media database

• Email, fax and post

Plan content

Backgrounder

Base document

• Who, what, where, why and how

• Answers all the questions

• Base for Q & As/FAQs

• Details contacts

Calendar of Events

• AGM

• Conferences

• Product/service launches

• Government Budget round

• Media feature programmes

• Visiting VIPs

Meet-the-media

• Planned programme

• Spokesperson and experts

• Relationship management

Media releases

• Understand deadlines

• Understand media audiences

• Don’t editorialise

• Keep it succinct

Media Conferences

• Only if you have something REALLY important to say

• Useful briefing tactic in complex situations

• Radio will always have the scoop

• Can alienate other media

Off the record?

• ONLY if you are certain of your relationship

• Embargoes only a loose convention

• Don’t tempt fate

Monitoring

• Has story still got legs?

• Any new opportunities?

• Whoops, they got it wrong?

Evaluation

• Column inches

• IBM says worth 7 times equivalent purchased advertising

• Clippings, logs and transcripts

• Ministerial piles

• Assess by more than simple appearance