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 Features
What's My Line?
PR Strategies For Tradeshows
Matching
Your Message To Your Goals
Once you have formulated one or more story
angles, go back to your company goals (e.g., finding a publisher)
and ask yourself if coverage based on your ideas can potentially
contribute to any of those goals and thus to your bottom line. Take
time to think about what a journalist's reaction might be, and how
your story will stand up against all the other PR noise at the tradeshow.
Again, if you can tap into a current trend, you've got automatic
interest from a certain number of journalists and you've won more
than half the battle. On the other hand, if your big news is that
you've signed a partnership deal to offer your existing technology
in combination with another company's technology in a package deal
- GONG - don't start making plans for a press conference. In fact,
events like press conferences and parties are highly overrated as
a PR tool in most cases, so think long and hard before you step
into that ring, especially if you aren't a big-name company with
deep pockets.
One example of a game developer's story angle
might be that your game was selected as a finalist in the Independent
Games Festival (IGF). You might be thinking, "Oh, the IGF already
issued a press release about that." Great, that's a start.
But there are probably a few other things you can do. What about
contacting some of your favorite game fan sites to find out if they'd
be interested in a downloadable demo of your game? And while they're
at it perhaps they'd like to write a few lines about what attracted
the IGF committee to this project. Or maybe there's a human interest
angle if you contact a lifestyle writer at the major newspaper nearest
your hometown. Certainly readers would be interested in a story
in the lifestyle section about a local team of developers traveling
to a major game conference because their game was selected as a
finalist. Story elements might include how you got into game development,
what went into making this game, what makes your game stand out
among other contestants, and what it means to your development team
personally to have your game chosen as a finalist.
Because you have limited time and resources,
it's important to prioritize which of your story angles and target
outlets can give you the most exposure. Certainly you could write
a press release and pay to have it distributed on one of the wire
services, like PR Newswire
or Business Wire. Generally
you can't just put out a release and then not take the time to do
some follow up, so be prepared to put a little more into it than
just typing up your news. As an alternative, I recommend selecting
a handful of journalists and sending them your story idea in a short
email. This is called a "targeted pitch", and it can be
more effective than just sending out a release, especially if you
get the interest of a trade outlets that executives read all the
time.
When sending out your news, make sure it goes
only to the appropriate contacts, versus spamming everyone at the
media outlet. You'll want to target reporters who have a track record
of writing about similar kinds of stories/products/news. If you
don't already know who those individuals are, spend some time reading
past issues to figure it out. If you are exhibiting at a trade show,
usually you are eligible to get a copy of the registered press list,
which usually contains contact information. Just be forewarned that
at least half of the media representatives don't register until
they get to a trade show, so any lists you get in advance will only
give you a starting point from which to work.
Your message should be straightforward and brief.
Most journalists get deluged by pitches and "news" announcements
every day. If you haven't captured a journalist's interest in the
first couple of sentences, chances are the person won't read more
of it (or even open the email, since the reporter is probably previewing
it through their email program before they choose whether to open
or delete) and your effort will have been wasted. Your entire e-mail
shouldn't be more than two short paragraphs, with a link to your
company website for more information. Finally, don't forget to include
your phone number, in case the journalist can't wait to get started
working on your story idea. Make sure the number you list is one
that you can check for messages even after you're on your way to
the tradeshow.
Now that your press release is presumably in
the hands of the press, what else can you do? Call a reporter, using
the same guidelines as you would when pitching via e-mail -- keep
it short and to the point. Avoid the mistake many a rookie PR person
makes in calling a journalist to say, "Hey, did you get that
press release I sent over?" It's okay to follow an email up
with a phone call (that's one phone call) if at first you
didn't get a response, but just get right to what you think they
will be interested in. Journalists are usually working under a deadline
and can't always spare as much of their time as you'd prefer to
have. Control your expectations when it comes to the type of response
you'll get from the media. It's not unusual to try to make contact
with the press and get little or no response. Take heart though,
because even just one article that mentions your company might prove
valuable in closing a future business deal.
Other PR outreach you might do now includes
calling the managers of the tradeshow to make sure their PR people,
and more importantly, their media spokesperson, know about:
- The news announcements you'll be making around
the time of the show
- How you are involved in any hot industry
trends
- Great visuals you'll have on the show floor
that they can point out to camera crews.
Show organizers get lots of opportunities to
talk with the press about what's "hot" at their shows,
and they help reporters identify game industry trends. But they
can't mention your game or company as an example of those industry
trends if they don't know your company's direction. If you're a
natural communicator and good at summarizing ideas and explaining
innovations to the uninitiated, you can offer yourself to consumer
media as an expert on those industry trends.
One cautionary note, make sure any press effort
on your part has the prior approval of any relevant corporate partners
you're working with. These companies need to be prepared for any
press inquiries they get as a result of your company's pitch --
not to mention the fact that companies can get testy when news that
relates to them reaches the media before they think it's time. The
other factor to consider is that you don't want to double up on
public relations efforts already being handled by someone else.
In the case of the IGF finalist scenario, a quick call to the event's
PR contact can probably verify whether your intended outreach would
be a duplication of something that has already been done. If you're
lucky, you might get some help, or at least some feedback, from
someone who has done this kind of thing before.
Creating
Support Materials
As you begin conducting outreach (or, in a perfect
world, before you contact the media at all), you will need to prepare
PR support materials. Exhibitors get access to the press room for
press kit distribution, but any attendee can create some PR backup
for themselves. Above all, have your business cards available -
they are invaluable for basic networking, and isn't that what tradeshows
are really all about? Even if you have to print the cards out yourself,
make sure you have a way for people to remember you once they return
home. If you keep your eyes open, you may find that the reporter
who didn't return your call is now standing behind you as you wait
in line to get into an after-expo event, and while it might not
be the best moment for a hardcore PR pitch, at least an introduction
and friendly conversation might help you get a return phone call
next time you have something important to say. If you do decide
to develop a press kit, which is no small undertaking, they usually
contain the following elements:
- A one-page description of your company (often
referred to as a 'backgrounder')
- Recent press releases
- One-page product descriptions
- Frequently asked questions
- Key personnel biographies
- Game demos and other visuals (screen shots,
company logos, etc.)
- Copies of positive media coverage from the
past (if available)
- Your business card
Another public relations tool you have is your
company website. Make sure it is up to date, and consider the type
of information that journalists, potential business partners and
consumers alike will need about your business and your games. You
can use it to help reporters tell your story by posting downloadable
game demos of projects in development, screen shots, short video
clips, company logo, headshots and short biographies of key personnel,
and press announcements. If a game is part of the story you're telling
this year, consider burning a handful of game demos on CD and taking
them to hand to journalists you meet.
Before you get to the show, spend time thinking
about what you might talk about if you are presented with a chance
to interact with a reporter. If you get an opportunity, what is
the one message you want the audience to walk away with? Is it that
you're developing games for cell phones? Is it that your game will
introduce some new gameplay feature that fans will love? Is it that
your team includes some notable game developers? Practice delivering
that message, whatever it may be, in your responses to various questions
and topics that may arise. If you find yourself invited to give
a radio or television interview, you should keep your responses
simple and brief and pepper them with examples that people can relate
to.
Perhaps this is a good time to mention that
everything you say and do from the time you leave your house for
the tradeshow reflects back on you and creates the perceptions others
in the industry will have of you. More than one company secret has
been let out of the bag by unthinking employees traveling to trade
shows on planes, chatting in hotel lobbies and the like. I've seen
business relationships that became strained when someone overstepped
social boundaries after one too many drinks, and company representatives
who just plain missed opportunities -- or worse yet, killed the
respect of someone important -- because they were focused on the
party aspect. If you are your company's spokesperson, it's a 24/7
job when you go to an industry event and you'll want to be perceived
in a positive light. You want potential future business partners
to see your company as filled with knowledgeable, interested, upbeat,
and trustworthy people. That said, it's good to have fun while you're
doing it.
Last, but not least, when the show floor
closes and it's time to pack up and go home, don't make the mistake
of thinking you're done with PR until next year. The week after
the show is the time to follow-up with the people whose business
cards you collected at the show who requested more information about
your company. If you went to the show as a finalist in the IGF and
now you're a winner, go back to that reporter and pitch him again,
this time with an even stronger angle. Create a press list, so that
next time you have news you know who to send it to. Next year, if
you start a little earlier, try to achieve more exposure by submitting
a unique speaking proposal for the conference. At the very least,
as a speaker your show pass will be complimentary!
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