1. Paul Mathews HM Revenue & Customs UK
How to write, implement and evaluate a successful proactive media strategy
Paul Mathews HM Revenue & Customs UK

2. Proactive v Reactive Reactive Respond to enquiries
Media set news agenda
Standard approach: media briefing
‘Sit back and wait’
Proactive
Sell your story
Help set news agenda
Many different approaches
‘Get up and go!’

3. Proactive Media Strategy
Before you start you must have…
A news story or angle – something new, unusual, a change, an update or reminder etc
Time and resources to draft, implement and evaluate
Someone who can manage the project through to completion
The agreement of your officials/operational staff

4. Proactive Media Strategy
Key Elements
Objective
Key Messages
Target Audience
Target Media
Activity
Risks
Evaluation

5. Objective What are the key aims of your media strategy?
What do you want to achieve/ people to do?
Good Examples:
Raise awareness of the dangers of counterfeit goods
Encourage the public to report suspected fraud
Bad Examples:
To get some positive publicity for our organisation
Our director wants his photo in the newspapers

6. Key Messages What are the key messages of your campaign?
Short ‘soundbites’ in order of importance
Can be general and/or specific
Good Example:
Fake toys can harm children
Bad Example:
EU Directive 745/1A, issued in December 2004, prohibits the sale of counterfeit products.

7. Target Audience Who are your key messages aimed at?
You can have several target audiences
Different target audiences can have different key messages
Examples:
The general public
Retailers
Manufacturers

8. Target Media
Which media will you use to communicate key messages to the target audience?
Consider national, regional and local media
Consider press (newspapers and magazines), broadcast (TV and radio) and websites/online
Examples:
National consumer correspondents
Trade press e.g. clothing, toy magazines
Consumer magazines/websites

9. Activity
The key part of the strategy – what will you actually do and when will you do it?
Can be short- or long-term
Should ideally include key events / milestones
Lots of different options:
News releases / quotes
Press conference / briefings / spokespeople
TV footage/photos
Case studies/examples
Articles
Statistics

10. Risks Identify any risks to successful implementation of the strategy
Make sure you list an ‘Action’ for each ‘Risk’
Examples:
Risk: Recent stories on EU’s inability to tackle fake goods could influence media coverage
Acton: We will explain the EU’s extensive work at the press briefing
Risk: Key officials are not available on launch day
Action: Offer interviews with officials before launch day.

11. Evaluation
How will you judge/demonstrate the success of your proactive media strategy?
If you can’t evaluate, you can’t show other people the value of your work
Examples:
Media coverage report
Number of calls/ s
Downloads/website visits

12. Summary
Every strategy needs a news story; a reason for the media to be interested
The best strategies are long-term and have a number of different events to help build awareness over time
Be proactive – don’t sit back and wait – contact media and sell your story
Review regularly and change your approach if necessary
Evaluation is the key