Companies: Deliver Your Own News

“You can do all this yourself!” Deliver the news, that is. That was the message a major news reporter told 150 corporate communicators last year at The Conference Board’s corporate communications conference.

He was talking about brand journalism. The crux: bypass traditional media because you can, and need to. Traditional news is imploding. Take advantage of that opening. People are hungry for real information, for backbone.

Fill the gap to your benefit. Some companies have their own brand journalism sites for a direct reach to target audiences, to enhance their credibility and get out their message unfiltered. “Rather than marketing, these companies focus less on products and more on thought leadership topics of interest to both stakeholders and the company,” says Barie Carmichael, author of the book, RESET – Business and Society in the New Social Landscape.

Not Always Comfortable

No company ought to do this without serious commitment. “Two prerequisites for long-term brand journalism success are securing the resources needed to sustain a pipeline of engaging stories – in whatever form they’re best told – and developing content that first and foremost interests the audience,” says Greg Efthimiou, a Charlotte, N.C.-based corporate communications leader. He led the launch of illumination, Duke Energy’s brand journalism site (right), in 2016 and more recently championed the deployment of content marketing approaches at Bank of America Merchant Services.

Credibility is the missing ingredient in many companies' brand journalism platform, Greg says. “It’s a natural inclination to want to avoid controversy on your own brand journalism channel, but doing so poses significant risk, as well. If your organization is in the crosshairs on a high-profile issue and stays silent on it on your brand site, the only thing that’s likely to go away is your audience.”

Instead, he contends, preserve balance to your storytelling on tough topics by introducing a critical voice or two to go along with supportive ones. “You’ll be surprised at how many accolades your organization can earn for telling multidimensional, credible stories no one expects it to tell,” Greg says.

"No Added Sugar!"

If a company has the experience and knowledge in a certain subject, get it out there. Say it. Without gloss. And focus on the humanity – because people like to read about the experiences of others. Tell those stories to build trust. Cheryl Welch built and manages a terrific brand journalism site for Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Health care – there’s a topic with teeth. “The focus of Health Beat is ‘helping people navigate their health care journeys so they can live their best lives.’” That does not include corporate-type stories about ribbon cuttings or articles that have heavy marketing language. “We tell real stories about real people experiencing real health challenges,” Cheryl shares. “We don’t ‘set up’ moments for the camera. We don’t stage things. We don’t sugarcoat.” Health Beat’s well-crafted stories – written, edited and photographed by journalists – evoke emotion and naturally result in mindshare and market share gains because they are authentic and engaging.

The public sees through sugarcoated photos of people with over-sized checks. The admonition of Greg and Cheryl is to test yourself before others do. The brand journalism effort will get tested internally and externally.

(UPS' site, Longitudes, right. Taps intersection of corporate expertise and audience interests)

Consistency is Critical

What makes brand sites fail? “Deteriorating content quality and frequency are the most common culprits,” says Greg. “They start strong and don’t keep the pace. Without sufficient executive support and resolve, budget or headcount may shrink. When that happens, fewer stories appear and the audience loses interest. Some well-known and once highly regarded brand journalism sites have fallen off for these very reasons.” 

Before launching an effort, senior management should know this not spinning a story. It’s independent of marketing and sales. No executive ego. No cleansing a story until it is meaningless.

Brand journalism looks at corporate stories from outside the company walls first (read: filters that inhibit realism). It is one way to show stakeholders that management does not wear blinders. It is leadership. Bold. Frank. Sure, sometimes spooky.

(Image from the book, RESET)

Create Shared Advocacy

“Use the transparency of the web to track issues trending among your stakeholders,” says Barie. “Airbnb, for example, will embrace authentic travel, meeting people where the live. Patagonia focuses on preserving the environment, an interest passionately shared by the company and their stakeholders.”

Common interests and passion fuel loyalty. “Find where trending issues intersect with corporate capabilities that can advance shared solutions. Show how the company advances business and society. ‘Shared advocacy’ – not one against another – is what is created in a good brand journalism effort,” says Barie.  

Make It – Measure It

Show results. Track your progress. “You have to show the value of your work,” says Cheryl. “Determine what KPIs will be measured, how they’ll be measured, how you can track readers. Put in place dashboards way up front, and continually refine them, going deeper as the initiative grows. We can show today that we bring in $100 for every $1 invested in our brand journalism initiative. This led to me coining the phrase, ‘Give me a buck, I’ll give you a Benjamin.’” Health Beat reaches 15 million people monthly. Million. Monthly. Not with a big staff.

Companies that lead take bold steps. Companies that do “easy” have the numbers to back that up. Creating your own new corporate voice, even in the face of decades of never doing that, makes you think twice, certainly. Good. That means you may really need this kind of corporate voice.

Break the mold. Surprise people.

Make a Plan - Learn More

Creating and operating a successful brand journalism site is the topic of a one-day workshop in New York City on June 25. I will emcee. In the workshop – Brand Journalism: Creating and Delivering Your Own News – we will have Spectrum Health, American Express, Duke Energy, and UPS on hand to guide the day and share.

Participants will go home with work done. They will start crafting their own brand journalism editorial policy, learn story-crafting with their own ideas and figure out the best ways to work with senior management in launching and maintaining a smart brand journalism outreach. This is a small group workshop. Our goal is to provide individual attention and high levels of participation.

The Conference Board holds this event ahead of its Corporate Communications Conference. Readers can tap into a special $200 discount the full three-day Corporate Communications Conference and this workshop - June 25-27 in New York. Contact Brian Teagle at 212-339-0356 or email [email protected].