THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NICE STORY AND A NEWS STORY

Seymour PR Director Tracey Warmington, takes us through the seven news values PR people should live by.

Every organisation thinks what they’re doing is newsworthy. Unfortunately, in the broader context of the media landscape, this is not the case for the vast majority. 

The average national journalist will open their inbox to 500 emails every single morning. ​Of these, the journalist will take three, maybe four, story ideas to their morning conference where they will pitch them to the editor. ​ 

​ One will end up spiked; discarded in the bin. A couple will be written up into stories, and of those, probably only one will make it to print or online. This means that for your story to have a chance of landing, you have to be in the top 1%. ​ 

 But before that you get there, you have to get your pitch seen. This takes a heady combination of an attention-grabbing headline; a strong narrative and a reputation which means your email is flagged rather than deleted and your call is taken.   

Putting reputation aside, there are seven building blocks to achieving a newsworthy story. The best stories don't need to include all elements but a winning combination will have at least some in order to secure headlines and grab the public and the key audiences' attention.  

• IMPACT: 

This is the number of people (and/or businesses) whose lives will be influenced in some way by the subject of the story. For the story to be relevant to national newspapers and magazines it needs to relate to the vast majority of its readers.  

• TIMELINESS: 

For a journalist, there is nothing better for them than a scoop. Taking a new, exclusive story to their editor wins points immediately. Old, recycled stories won’t cut it and real PR pros won’t jeopardise their media relationships by doing this. 

• PROMINENCE: 

A story that connects people, brands and causes in the public eye or consciousness always do well. A great example is the enormous traction Waitrose achieved when it introduced refillable options in ONE store. The trial grabbed headlines because it fed into high profile conversation around the plastic crisis; something that’s very high on everyone’s agenda.  

• PROXIMITY: 

The story matter needs to be close to home - how close to our daily lives is this?​ Is it happening close by, does it affect something the public do everyday or someone close to them?  

• BIZARRENESS: 

Some media have specific sections for ‘bizarre’ news! The more unexpected the better. It’s the difference between a story of a dog biting a man, versus one about a man biting a dog.  

• CONFLICT:  

Strife is sadly newsworthy. Backlash, public anger or bitter disagreement or a clash of public figures or industries makes the news. Just look at the headlines that Piers Morgan makes after most interviews on GMB!  

• CURRENCY:  

Does the topic in the story have currency right now? For example, how many people cared about the sustainability of air travel in the 1970s versus how many care now?​ How many people considered the safety of everyday shopping versus how they feel now? 

While these values give a guide on making headlines, navigating the news agenda isn't always straightforward. That’s why our industry exists. Businesses which think their work is newsworthy should be open to advice from PRs on evolving the narrative to take it from a nice story to a news story. 

Seymour PR is a boutique agency offering a leading news generation service. The agency prides itself on understanding what makes headlines. What started in a front room eight years ago is now a high-energy business with a client roster ranging from B2B challenger brands and new retailers, to household names such as Sainsbury’s and Bupa.  

To get in touch email tracey@seymourpr.co.uk or call 0203 490 4841. Follow the team on Instagram/_seymourpr and twitter/@SeymourPR. 

TIME TO MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF

Carie Barkhuizen, founder of Seymour PR, shares her top tips for building brand identity quick-smart 

 Your brand identity is how customers perceive you. A simple way to look at it, is to view your brand as a person. Someone unique, with their own beliefs, values, look and feel. Your brand identity is what sets you apart from others. So, it’s important to have this down pat.  

Carie Barkhuizen, Seymour PR Founder and MD

 In saying that, it’s easy to have a clear picture of your brand identity in your head, but how do you portray this to your customer base, in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible?  

 Our advice is to build your brand identity online. Even if you don’t conduct your business online – perhaps you’re a café owner or run a beauty salon – your customers will still expect to have a digital presence. It comes down to the fact that in our digital world, you are who Google says you are. Fact. And what’s worse than having a negative presence online, is having no presence at all.   

 The difficulty here is that for a new business, building an online profile can take time. And it can be costly. We are regularly approached by start-ups and small businesses who want to build their presence online, but have limited budgets.  

 To help solve this problem, my team at Seymour PR has partnered with digital marketing agency, Brandlective, to launch Profile Kickstarter; a service that offers businesses without huge PR and marketing budgets a means to quickly build brand identity online.  

 During the course of developing this service there have been lots of learnings along the way. So, to help those business owners who are starting out here are the key things that should be considered when building brand identity online:    

1. BE CLEAR 

To build a strong brand identity, it’s important to establish a clear mission statement and set of brand values from the get-go. Your brand must look, sound and send a concise message across your website, social media, and all marketing materials.  

1. START WITH YOUR STORY 

As customers ourselves, we know that the best brands are those which sell us an authentic story. Often, start-ups and small brands leave PR until the end of their marketing plan which can have a major impact on the quality of storytelling that they can produce when the time is right. The story is how we connect with a brand and ultimately, leads to purchasing decisions. When telling your brand’s story, assess whether it includes some, or all, of the core news values; impact, timeliness, prominence, proximity, bizarreness and conflict. Effective use of these values will guarantee your name in headlines.  

1. DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE LITTLE GUYS 

We all want to see our name written on the pink pages of the FT, or the front cover of TIME. Trust me, I get it. But when it comes to media, you’re most likely going to have to work your way to the top, so don’t dismiss smaller online media outlets.  

Our Profile Kickstarter service focuses on placing features with online media titles in order to dominate Google search results. Getting your name in these places will help ensure that a search of your brand’s name creates an impressive first page of results.  

1. THE CUSTOMER COMES FIRST 

Your job is to be the solution to your customer’s problem. Sometimes, that means stepping outside your comfort zone. Stacey Kehoe, communications director at Brandlective comments: “Around 79% of brands lack engagement online. You must remember it's not about you, it’s about considering where your audience spends its time online. A common mistake that brands make is that they tell the right story on the wrong platform. Make sure you’re building your brand identity on a platform that your customers are actually using, rather than your favourite platform.” 

The new Profile Kickstarter service requires a minimum three-month commitment at £795 per month. For more information, call 0203 490 4841, click here or message us here.   

CALLING ALL SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Your title: Senior Account Manager

Your boss: Managing Director

Your pay: Competitive and dependent on experience

Your benefits: Commission structure

Location: Thames Valley London  

Welcome to Seymour PR: a boutique agency offering a leading news generation service. We’re small but we’ve been punching above our weight and with new clients coming on board, we need a senior team member to help lead us towards the growth we have forecast.

This role is not only about world-class client handling and campaign delivery – it’s also very much about nurturing our team and helping the business as a whole deliver our ambitious plan. We’ve been told the person we’re looking for doesn’t exist but refuse to believe it – we know you’re out there!

The business boasts both an established consumer arm as well as a growing B2B portfolio, so experience in both areas would be ideal.

If you want to know about our values...

• We’re passionate about doing what we can about climate change and as such, only work with clients which support the UN’s sustainability goals and actively look to work with businesses who are making a change. 

• We’re ambitious but are also only prepared to work with clients who make coming to work exciting and treat us with the same respect we afford them. 

We are looking for someone who can work between our bases in Oxford and London Bridge. We will decide together on how exactly this works once we have found the right person, but you must be open to working between the two.

This role is best suited for someone who wants something different from the big agency grind; who is willing to work hard in order to see the direct impact of that work and who wants to grow at their own pace rather than conform to the confines of corporate promotion norms.

If you think you might be up for it, give us a shout at carie@seymourpr.co.uk.

Your job

Let’s face it, what we do is not rocket science. But, only a few do it well. You’ll need to be one of the few. Here’s what you’ll be up to:

• Be a key part of the senior team working closely with managing partners to deliver the business’ growth objectives

• Manage a number of clients across consumer and B2B effectively. It seems obvious but this includes:

• Creating, pitching and delivering campaign strategies

• Doing whatever you need to do to land those strategies: writing releases, writing thought leadership, creating infographics, preparing spokespeople etc.

• Staying in budget

• Managing team workload with a commercial mindset

• Reporting how well we’ve done and retaining clients

• Reacting to challenges with a  solution-based attitude

• Demonstrate an innate hunger and ability to connect your clients’ stories with the news agenda

• Be eager to pick up the phone and pitch to your black book of contacts

• Understand the importance of continuing to build new contacts within the media

• From Kendal to Switzerland – be prepared for the odd early start travelling for work

• Work independently and drive day-to-day activity on accounts without the need for close directorship

• Thrive off of the naturally changeable nature of the job and work effectively at pace

• Be a key player in the development of junior members of the team

• If you make a mistake, own up – we’ll know you’re human that way!

Your education

This is not important, mostly because it’s the year 2019 and a whole lot more matters than where you went to school, what you did, or how you got on in your exams.

What we do care about is a demonstration of hard work and ambition.

You

This does matter. It’s important that you:

• Have already done what we do

• Get on with just about anyone

• Understand what makes the news

• Write brilliantly

• Love a sell-in

• Thrive on results

• Want to try new things

SEYMOUR PR TAKES LIFE OFF PAUSE WITH HEALTH & HER

Health & Her®, a new online destination that aims to revolutionise the way women and their families manage the menopause, has appointed boutique agency Seymour PR to handle a launch brief.

Health & Her® is the first online platform of its kind, addressing the lack of resources and support available to women approaching, or going through, the menopause.

Through a storytelling approach, Seymour PR will be addressing the under-reported menopause experience and raising consumer awareness of the different ways it’s possible to take control.

Founded by Kate Bache and Gervase Fay, Health & Her® provides holistic advice in one place from the UK’s leading menopause experts including gynaecologists, psychologists, yoga teachers and career coaches. The site offers 360-degree advice from what make-up to wear during menopause to managing the mental health side effects.

As well as an advice hub, Health & Her® also offers handpicked products from around the world that help alleviate the effects of menopause and features symptom tools and trackers, offering women free reports that help them manage their menopause one symptom at a time.

Seymour PR will be utilising its expertise and strong credentials in the health, consumer and lifestyle media sector to secure a stream of consumer health press coverage with the aim of driving traffic to the Health & Her® site, while establishing brand awareness.

Carie Barkhuizen, Seymour PR Managing Director, said: “This is a really exciting win for us. There’s a distinct lack of conversation around the menopause despite it being a major life event that can affect a woman’s relationships, career, finances and mental health.

“We’re passionate about being part of the Health & Her® mission to let women know they don’t need to put their life on pause anymore.”

Kate Bache, Co-Founder and CEO of Health & Her®, said: “There is a lack of resource out there for women to access when it comes to menopause. Health & Her® wants to bridge that gap and become a trusted destination for women who are approaching or experiencing the menopause.

“Our holistic approach offers unique and exclusive products that support women on a practical level, acknowledging that no two menopause experiences are the same. Content out there on the topic can be quite dry which isn’t the case with Health & Her®; expect to laugh, cry and be inspired in equal measure!

“Seymour PR are experts in storytelling, the team have fantastic expertise in the health field and can generate exciting interest from consumers and press alike and we look forward to working with them over the coming months.”

Visit www.healthandher.com

Calling all Account Managers. Join our team!

Photo by TommL/iStock / Getty Images

Your title: Account Manager

Your boss: Managing Director

Your pay: Approx. We’ll decide when we find the right person

Introduction

Welcome to Seymour PR: a boutique agency offering a leading news generation service. We’ve been punching above our weight for some time and with new clients coming on board, we need an account manager to come along for the ride.

We’re looking for someone to focus mainly on the consumer brands in our portfolio, but with a growing B2B business, interest or experience in more corporate PR would be great too.

Where the role could go? That's up to you. You’ll have the opportunity to get involved in everything: delivering on existing accounts, helping win new ones, and everything in-between.

The Seymour PR team all work around busy personal lives. Flexibility is something we are proud to offer the right people in return for results, passion and commitment to the job!

More than anything, everyone at Seymour PR cares about getting coverage for our clients -  it's what we love doing and we are really, really good at it. So come ready to create, write and pitch the stories that will make news.

If you think you might be up for it, give us a shout!

Your job

Let’s face it, what we do is not rocket science. But, only a few do it well. You’ll need to be one of the few. Here’s what you’ll be up to:

·       Immerse yourself in our clients’ businesses

·       Care as much as they do about getting the right results – we’re an extension of their teams

·       Create strategies that connect your client’s objectives with the news agenda

·       Do whatever you need to do to get the stories ready: information gathering, writing, creating visuals, preparing spokespeople etc

·       Check everything at least three times and then ask someone else in the team to do the same

·       Really sell those stories…even to the scariest journalists

·       Constantly look for new contacts

·       Stay within budget and get it done on time

·       If you make a mistake, own up – we’ll know you're human that way!

·       Shape the role yourself and help us grow our business

Your education

This is not important, mostly because it’s the year 2017 and a whole lot more matters than where you went to school or how you got on in your exams.

What we do care about is a demonstration of hard work, passion and ambition.

You

This does matter. It’s important that you:

1.       have a few years under your belt

2.       get on with just about anyone

3.       are prepared to get your hands dirty –  there are no egos here! 

4.       understand what makes the news

5.       write brilliantly

6.       get excited about coverage, whether it's in the Bath Chronicle, Facilities Management Journal or on the front page of The Daily Telegraph 

7.       love a sell-in

8.       want to do new things

If you think you're the one we're looking for, tell us why! Email carie@seymourpr.co.uk