THE FRESHWATER TECHNOLOGY PORTFOLIO
Media training examples
Taking the plunge – HellermannTyton
An introduction to dealing with the press
The structured cabling arm of HellermannTyton was created in 2000, the result of the purchase of RW Data by Spirent Plc. A long-standing respected player in the market, RW Data was renowned for its technical capability and applications expertise. HellermannTyton has continued this legacy, expanding the strong product portfolio and providing valued consultancy and support.
A 2004 survey conducted by HellermannTyton
showed that the market’s perception of the company did
not reflect its true size or capability. Clearly, there was
a need to build a reputation within the cabling industry and,
importantly, with end users in target sectors such as retail,
finance, health and education.
Freshwater Technology was brought on board
to deliver a strategic PR programme that would enable the
company to communicate a set of key messages to its audiences
through the press.
The programme, which began in January 2005, highlighted the need to build relationships with the company’s target press. In addition to supplying consistent high quality, relevant content in the form of news releases, case studies and technical articles, it was agreed that a number of company spokespeople would also be media-trained for interviews and for providing comment or information for forthcoming features.
Media training
Ensuring that company spokespeople are adequately prepared
to deal with the media is crucial to a PR programme’s
success. If an interview goes well, the journalist, and subsequently
his or her audience, gains a positive impression and greater
understanding of the business. If the interview goes badly,
the opportunity for coverage is lost and in some cases, negative
or incorrect information can appear in print.
Objective
The objective of the media training session was to provide
a foundation of knowledge and skills that would enable successful
interaction with the media.
Considerations
None of the agreed spokespeople had ever undergone media training
before so it was important to provide detailed information
on how their target press works (the role of the editor, deadlines,
publishing process etc) and to provide a safe environment
in which to practise interview techniques.
Technical and commercial spokespeople were chosen from the product marketing and senior management team, and media training tailored accordingly.
Executing
& implementation
The half-day training session was led by Heather Hughes, account
director and head of media training at Freshwater Technology.
Heather has been involved in training senior management and
technical specialists at a range of high-tech clients such
as Sony, Nokia, Veritas and Websense.
Results
& evaluation
Two press interviews were set up following the training. Peter
Hawtin, product manager, spoke with journalist Phil Hunter
for a piece in Financial Sector Technology’s (FST) structured
cabling supplement and David Gagel, sales and marketing director,
provided input for Jessica Twentyman for an article in Retail
Systems on structured cabling in the retail sector.
Both interviews resulted in positive coverage that supported the message of HellermannTyton as a technical leader in the structured cabling market to its key audiences, in this case end-users in the financial and retail sectors.
“The interview with FST
went really well,” comments Peter Hawtin, Product
Manager, HellermannTyton. “I took time to review
the key messages I wanted to communicate before the phone
call and as a result I feel I got across the points I wanted
to make. It’s great to have the opportunity to raise
our profile in the financial sector.”
“The media training session really highlighted the
importance of preparation. It was really useful to take the
time to think about our market messages and how we present
ourselves both to our customers and the press. Excellent.” David Gagel, Sales & Marketing Director, HellermannTyton.
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