The public relations profession is all about trust, quality content, and being in the right place at the right moment. In order to get the expected results, PR pros invest a lot of effort in building up long-term relationships with journalists. But how can you achieve this when working abroad, away from your native country, and running global campaigns? Can emails and phone calls really create lasting and trustworthy bonds, and ultimately, get the expected media pick-up?
When working at Stylight, we jump into a completely diverse and international atmosphere, working hand-to-hand with experts from different countries, exchanging local knowledge and input. This enriching environment allows every department to work on global strategies with a well-defined local angle.
Related to our PR & communication strategies, we always take into careful consideration the global media landscape differences, aiming to have a global, consistent message with a local-flavored approach in the 14 countries Stylight is currently operating in. We presume as a fact that successful campaigns rely on local “know-how” of all kinds.
Not only the strategy and campaign has to be localized, but also the PR approach to journalists. In order to accomplish our media goals and to establish lasting relationships with local media outlets, we highly value these three best-practice tips:
1. Giving a local angle to global content:
Being aware that local content drives the attention of the national media, it’s highly important to give a national twist to most of our global stories. Some good practices to achieve this are to frame the stories as local examples of global issues, and to tie global content into national events and news. As an example, through the ideation, creation and promotion of our content marketing campaigns, the communications managers consider the best local dates to outreach to media, be that, for instance, a national Fashion Week as with our New York vs Paris FW campaign or the launch of a specific product, as is the case with our Apple Watch campaign.
2. Native PR managers:
When wondering about what makes journalists tick, the right answer would be a local, skilled spokesperson. The reason why goes beyond sharing a native language and is connected to the national “savoir-faire”. As native public relations managers we are able to provide the journalists with locally-tweaked content, considering the taste and values of national readers and happenings in the country. On top of that, we, as local experts, are able to identify the best practices for local outreach, including best time, tone and media deadlines.
3. Deskside editorial meetings:
Last, but not least, one-to-one meetings are still behind the success of multiple communications campaigns, enabling us to take media relations to the next level and to create personal bonds, even when working remotely. But where does its success lie? Being a communications based industry, deskside meetings enable the media to put a face to the email address, making them instantly more likely to open the emails and potentially publish the content. Not only that, but also deskside meetings are incredibly relevant to gain instant feedback about our current and upcoming projects, gaining insights into what the journalists will be working on in the next months, and being able to pitch to them in the future accordingly.
Summing up, native professionals and flexible campaigns, which can be locally adapted, are our keys to success when running PR & communications strategies on a global scale. The use of these practices enables us to get the best and most nationally-accurate media coverage, even when not being physically located in our native countries.
If you would love to join our team of PR & communications professionals and add your input to our upcoming strategies, don’t hesitate and take a look at our current open positions here.
