Media interviews should only be arranged when the speaker has something noteworthy to say. These are generally arranged for a spokesperson that is quoted in a press release right after the story has been sent to the media, or through planned interviews arranged on specific subjects.

A picture speaks a thousand words. Sometimes we will be using picture captions to deliver a message or feeling amongst the target audiences. CSI projects are often best represented by a picture rather than a lengthy story.

These are valuable meetings with media to discuss issues, trends or developments within the organisation and within the environment in which you operate. The media contact enhances editorial credibility.

The organisations and companies that place value on hosting and treating media to special occasions are the ones that have the closest relationships with journalists.

These are valuable one-on-one meetings between the organisation and the press corps. Sometimes these will involve your communications team only, other times it will involve one or two of your spokespersons. The aim of these meets is to ask media what they are working on, to suggest a media agenda and to ensure that the client is part of the conversation.

There are a number of speaking platforms that are reputable and significant in South Africa. Organisational leaders and experts use these opportunities to position their company amongst its peers.

Thought leadership media initiatives help to quickly establish the organisation as owner of a specific theme being discussed. This is an important element of the communication plan as it allows you to lead the industry by shaping debate and conversation around issues. Thought leadership can be driven through media interviews, round tables or press releases and opinion pieces.

Opinion pieces serve as a delivery mechanism to talk about thought leadership and to comment on analysis or current affairs. The communications team crafts the opinion piece based on the spokesperson’s thoughts, and ensures that the media place it.

Advertorials are paid for articles. Most publications, whether mainstream newspapers or magazines, carry supplements and features. The main aim for the newspaper or magazine is to elicit advertising but we always contact the journalist to see if we are able to offer an insightful article that helps create credibility for the supplement. Sometimes these will be accepted, other times not.