Communication

Communicating is not only about talking to the media.  The media is simply one channel through which an intended audience can be reached.  Effective communication is also aimed at staff, investors, customers (existing and potential) and industry associates. OK, if you wish, we can also get a picture in the local paper for your Mum to enjoy...

Effective communication is based upon a clear and fundamental understanding of a company's objectives and capabilities.  Without basic positioning (where does your company fit within the industry and market?) and messaging (what the hell do we actually do?), efforts to communicate can be vague, difficult to comprehend and ultimately ignored.

Most  journalists will cheerfully shred, bin, burn and scatter to the chill, howling wind, any company which claims to be the "market leader" or which describes itself as have a "...unique end-to-end infrastructure solution." and rightly so.

How to communicate...?
Contrary to a widespread belief, there's no real secret or black art to effective communication (although for certain reviews animal sacrifice can be useful).  It does however take a great deal of time and requires almost endless patience.  Most companies have much better things to do than chase editors and journalists to ensure they received the last press release, understood it and are planning to write something lovely.

• This is where a communication agency comes in.  A good agency will ensure it:
• Understands what the company does (believe it or not, this isn't always standard.  Many agencies couldn't care less whether you make soup, sick people happy or chemical weapons)
• Create the basic positioning and messaging building blocks
• Identify activities and issues which would make good news stories
• Create news release/s (again, some agencies will ask you to write your own.  While we wish we could get away with this, we'd rather be able to sleep at night...)
• Help gain approval from any third party organisations
• Coordinate the distribution of the release to all relevant publications and territories
• Make sure it hits them all in a timely, relevant, exciting and elegant way
• Follow it up with individual journalists and editors
• Make sure you see all of the coverage the release generates

An agency which really cares about you will ensure that:

• The news is strong
• That it ties in with the company's positioning and messaging
• That it adds another logical and consistent step in the company's public image

An agency which actually gives a damn about doing a good job, won't just wait for the next activity which might make a good release, but will talk regularly to journalists, editors, bloggers and the media to find out if there's anything relevant in which a client could and should be included.
Indoctrimat cares.  We do.  You'll feel special and warm.  Promise.

Many people don't realise there is a huge, scary, yawning gap between credibility and profile.  It's entirely possible to have a high profile while not having a great deal of credibility (Enron would be a good example, as would Worldcom, Michael Jackson, Monsanto, the U.S. Government, the UK government, Big Brother contestants and quite possibly The Darkness).

Any agency worth laughing and flirting with, will first and foremost help a client build their credibility.  From this carefully managed and intelligently used foundation, an organisation can build solid, long-term integrity and a profile which is actually useful.

Communication is important, dammit.  Trust us on this.  We're professionals.