Anatomy of a Clip: How to get on the Today Show
Coverage on a national morning show is the ultimate PR win for any agency and brand, but getting there isn’t easy. With so much national, celebrity, and breaking news it can be difficult to cut through the crowded newsroom buzz to share your own story. With diligence, research, and craftsmanship of a story that appeals to a national audience, you can put your best foot forward when pitching producers.
Find a Good Fit for Your Story:
First things first. Are you watching the Today show? As one of the most popular national morning shows, Today has developed a winning format in which they break down the morning newscast into four hours of content – and each hour focuses on its own unique agenda, segments, and content. Is your story more hard news? Stick to the first two hour blocks. Do you have a fun lifestyle story to share? The next two hours are more appropriate for you. It is critical to understand which portion of any show is best for your idea in order to connect with the correct producers. In the case of Resound’s client, gameit – a free trivia app that rewards your winning scores with real prizes and major discounts on brands you love – we saw this app’s story was best suited for Today’s lifestyle news coverage.
Build a Segment for the Show’s Personality and Format:
Taking a step back again, we honed in on the fourth hour, Today with Kathie Lee & Hoda, to see what types of segments were airing every day. Visual, fun, engaging, fast-paced – these were recurring themes in every segment we watched during this specific hour. This gave us the foundation to build a pitch that matched what was airing each morning. A segment with gameit’s trivia app needed to involve the hosts, it needed to involve the viewers or those watching from the plaza, and the trivia topics needed to appeal to men and women regardless of age.
The Result:
gameit’s co-founder, Bryce Johnson, brought the app’s trivia to life during a segment called “Who Wrote the Star-Spangled Banner?”. Tapping into the the July 4th holiday, gameit built a trivia game for the Today Show on American history, and included Kathie and Hoda in the segment (even better, they opted to dress in colonial dresses), along with onlookers from the plaza who were awarded a cash prize for their winning trivia scores. The result was a highly engaging, fast-paced segment that was fun to watch from home and on set.
Watch gameit’s segment on Today Show here:
Who wrote the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’?
