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A major
challenge for venture capital companies is raising the
value of their portfolio companies. Churning out press
releases that appear on the web only and disappear after
a few hours won’t get the job done. A well executed
media relations program that brings the portfolio
companies press attention can reach key target audiences
with messages that enhance credibility, boost awareness
and accelerate business development – driving higher
valuations.
The first
step of such a strategy would be to target the
appropriate news centers. New York is the principal
business news center in the U.S., while Boston and
Silicon Valley (and to a lesser degree parts of Texas,
New Jersey and Colorado) can be considered news centers
for tech news, while Washington D.C. remains the news
center for politics. A PR plan that thoroughly covers
the appropriate regions is most likely to succeed. The
objective would be to produce a steady stream of
tangible, credible media placements in major media
outlets.
Any public
relations program that has a chance to succeed must be
built upon close working relationships with key
reporters and editors in the target news segment. With
the ongoing fragmentation of the media into multiple
distribution channels such as the web, podcasts, blogs,
and streaming media, it is also important to recognize
the type of distribution channel your media contact
utilizes and structure your pitch accordingly.
Company
officers and public relations firms are met with more
skepticism today than ever as a result of the recent
journalism scandals and the shadow placed on the media
by these scandals. Journalists today are expected to
drill down to find the cogent facts surrounding a story,
and woe to the company or PR pitchman who tries to hide
unflattering facts with assertions and fluff. Therefore
it is of vital importance that any potential story pitch
or media approach is thoroughly thought out and vetted
prior to any action being taken.
Media
relations programs can relay to journalists and their
influential audiences the ongoing news of portfolio
companies in a more cost effective and credible manner
than advertising. Using publicity programs
intelligently, venture capitalists and their portfolio
companies will benefit when positive news about them is
reported in the U.S. media and becomes valid currency in
the cycle of business information and perception.
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