03-company-culture

There are plenty of ways to promote a company to the press – from news and updates, to tips and how-tos, to best practices and other insights. But really telling a company’s story – and a compelling one at that – is one of the best ways to create impact through earned media. Painting a picture of a company’s vision, core values, management ethos, team culture, and more, will really amplify that company profile piece. But how do you clearly and passionately convey your client’s personality and company culture? Here are four ways to help your client’s company culture shine through in your pitches:

 

Know and Understand The Culture. The first and most important step to pitching your client’s culture is knowing exactly what it is. Is this a corporate client with levels of compliance to go through? Is it an edgy startup with a dressed down office? Does the team do CrossFit or volunteer together? Are they known for their community outreach programs, such as scholarships and fundraising events? In order to put together a great pitch that truly reflects your client’s inner workings, you need to fully understand it from the inside out.

03-office-cultureBe Unique – and Genuine. This may sound tricky, but it’s important to make your client stand out – without embellishing what they do. That means finding a way to talk about who they are with genuine effect, while making sure they actually have a good story to tell. The media won’t have any incentive to speak with someone who is just another fish in the sea. Put yourself in their shoes and envision the compelling topics that you would want to cover. Why would they want to talk to another “me too” product or service? Even if your client isn’t  reinventing the wheel, try to think about what really differentiates it from the rest. A case in point: 2U uncovered a unique approach/mindset to employee development by looking to their junior staff as mentors, as seen in this Fast Company bylined article.

Get Personal. The media likes a good story about someone who has followed their passion, balances a unique hobby with their work life, or has found a way to tie their personal interests to their business. Through our work with executive search firm The Talent Studios, for example, we discovered that founder Jeremy Cohen directly pursues the consumer brands he loves most to be his customers. Due to a love of action sports, Jeremy partnered with category leading brands such as Red Bull and Burton Snowboards; after the birth of his daughter, he went after (and won) the business of American Girl. In the same vein of making his business more like his personal life, Jeremy intentionally designed The Talent Studio’s corporate culture to be decidedly dressed down, a dramatic difference from its competitors, many of whom might be hard to tell apart from bankers. It’s these important pieces of company culture that you want to expose in your pitches. Here is the Inc. piece that tells the story of Jeremy’s journey.

03-baby-phoneBe Realistic. There are certain ideas that are not very exciting to a reporter. What does your client actually do differently/more effectively than everyone else? Reporters love a feel good piece, whether your client has a disruptive culture, is involved in the local community, or allows all of their employees to contribute to meaningful business decisions. For example, while many companies allow employees to bring their children to work, LocoMotive Labs tied this into their company story and used it to their advantage to represent their culture, as described in this Inc. piece.

Great company culture is easy to identify, but may not be as easy to include in media pitches. Follow these four tips so your clients’ culture can be more easily identifiable in the sea of pitches that swarms a reporter’s inbox.

(Image credit: CamapaCapital.comInc.com and Guardian.com)