PR Etiquette: Things We Think We Know but Often Forget

Hello, everyone. I'm Inokuchi, who made a breakthrough with my mushroom column last time. How are you? I'm doing great.

Now, while this column has covered topics from Cannes to Kumamon and "fungus-based wellness," not everything I handle is brimming with ideas and flashy. Of course, to spread information, you need surprises (wonder) and fun (enjoyment) to get people talking.

However, when planning, it's also crucial to master the "basic PR etiquette" that underpins that surprise and fun. This time, I'd like to return to the fundamentals and revisit some points that tend to get overlooked in daily operations, sharing them with you all once more.

This time, we'll cover three main points for PR events and press conferences targeting media:

* "When should it be held?"

・"Where will it be held?"

・"Who will attend?"

Let's discuss these points.

The Era Where TV Still Matters

While social media reach is a major metric demanded by clients, the fact remains that most content shared on social media still draws heavily on mass media reports as its source. While media consumption time shows increased web and smartphone usage among both genders, particularly those in their 20s and younger, closer examination reveals that much of the information discussed there actually originates from television programs. In other words, exposure on television remains a primary starting point for information dissemination. Therefore, when considering the potential for corporate projects to be featured on television programs, while various methods exist, one increasingly common approach is holding press conferences or PR events featuring celebrities.

PR is multifaceted! Output through the "entertainment sphere" also holds value!

Previously, entertainment events were only held if a major celebrity was appointed as an image character. Now, however, companies sometimes hold press conferences featuring celebrities not even cast in commercials. Why does this happen? It's to secure exposure in the so-called "entertainment segment" – the regular corner/space within mass media.

Corporate new product launches are typically considered "business news," meaning they should logically be covered in newspaper business sections or TV news. However, when there's an abundance of news, they often spill over from this core coverage. This led to the question: "Can we get even a little exposure in other segments?" As you know, morning and daytime information/wide shows, as well as sports papers and evening papers, have regular "entertainment slots." PR professionals at various companies have identified these as new outlets for their content. PR is multifaceted; if approaches through products or economic topics fall short, approaches using celebrities or entertainment stories are perfectly valid.

Of course, it's no good if the focus is solely on the talent, resulting in coverage that seems completely disconnected from the product. How to construct the story and effectively link the talent to the product is where the PR professional's skill truly shines. Ultimately, if information related to the product is communicated through the talent's words, it holds a certain value, and there will be consumers who react to it. How to create these multifaceted opportunities is a perspective PR professionals must always maintain.

Designing from a media perspective is crucial

So, what must be considered for such announcement events involving celebrities? It's actually quite simple, yet often overlooked: the fundamental principle of "when and where to hold it."

First, "When to do it?" A common question we get is, "What day and time are most likely to get coverage on news and entertainment programs?" Our answer is: Thursday at 11 AM. Entertainment segments on news/talk shows typically only cover topics from the current or previous day. This is because freshness of the story is crucial. Therefore, the premise is that the event must occur on a day when news/talk shows air, making Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday potential candidates.

So, among those four days, which day is the strongest? To consider this, we must keep recent weekend "roundup shows" in mind. As you know, compared to weekdays, there are fewer regular information/wide shows with entertainment segments on Saturdays and Sundays. However, many of these programs, which compile and highlight noteworthy events from the week, often achieve high ratings. Yet, even though they are called "roundup programs," news that is still fresh in people's minds tends to be selected more often than news that has already been thoroughly discussed. This leads us to the conclusion that "Thursday is the strongest day." Of course, the value of the news itself affects how it's handled, but please understand this as a basic theory.

Next, let's explain the time slot: "Thursday at 11:00 AM."

While entertainment segments are obviously prime targets, fundamentally, the main focus is on news segments from an economic perspective. In that sense, evening news programs also become potential exposure slots. To get news coverage, you must account for the time it takes each station's crew, after covering the press conference, to return their footage to the station and edit it for broadcast. Therefore, targeting evening news programs starting around 5 PM means you ideally want to deliver the footage to the director at least two hours before broadcast, around 3 PM. Of course, a longer lead time is preferable. Considering the possibility of "fresh off the press" coverage on afternoon information or wide shows, the start time naturally becomes around 11:00 AM. Prime time then runs from there until around 2:00 PM.

Conversely, considering newspapers, around 2 PM might sometimes be better. Naturally, due to circulation and page constraints, they'd prefer to run it in the morning paper rather than the evening edition. Therefore, you might deliberately schedule the event for around 2 PM, aiming for a photo feature in the next day's morning paper. Of course, depending on the news value, it might not make the morning paper...

Where to hold it? Set it relatively based on "information value × media's ease of travel"

Consideration must extend beyond timing to location as well. As everyone feels these days, mass media is no exception to staffing shortages. The crews rushing around for coverage, depending on the beat, can manage at most 2-3 teams. So, imagine how many locations they can realistically cover in a day. It seems likely that within that 3-hour window from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, they can thoroughly cover only about 2-3 locations. With 2 teams, 4-6 locations is the MAX. Within that, we must constantly verify whether our event has high enough priority to be listed as a coverage target.

If, unfortunately, another major story breaks at the exact same time and date as your planned event, you might not secure a single camera. Conversely, if you have a major story worth covering, you can likely get media coverage even if your event is held at an inconvenient location or time. However, rival stories are unpredictable and impossible to fully anticipate. In such cases, the minimum a PR professional can do is prioritize "locations and times that are easy for media to cover" when setting the specifications and structure of the press conference.

Of course, various external factors can influence decisions, such as client preferences like "We want to do it at a newly opened landmark, even if it's a bit far, to look cool" or "We need to hold it in the evening or later due to the celebrity talent's schedule." Nevertheless, it's crucial to meet the media's fundamental expectations by setting the event in a location and at a time that are as accessible and convenient as possible for them to cover. If this significantly impacts the final exposure, you must push hard to make it happen.

Incidentally, plotting the locations of major media outlets on a Tokyo downtown railway map reveals the following pattern.

You can see that the locations of Tokyo's major media outlets are concentrated on the southern side of the Yamanote Line loop. Of course, proximity alone doesn't guarantee coverage, but when considering potential subjects for coverage, it's undeniably true that from the media's perspective, "the closer, the better."

And so on. To emphasize "If you want exposure, understand the media's perspective," I've laid out some basic information. Well now, even calling it "basic," there's quite a lot to cover. I ended up writing more than I expected.

This time, I've shared elements that are "often forgotten despite being considered common knowledge" as PR fundamentals. Next time, I'll explain what the various media attending your press conference are seeking, focusing on the perspective of "Who is this press conference for?" See you next time—stay tuned!