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(I was going to put a quote here… but I can’t think of one to express what I have to say… so I’m going to KIV this space for now…)
Shirlene Noordin, Director of Phish Communications, spent 2 days at GardenAsia conducting PR workshops for the youths.
Just a little background information about Phish Communications… With a unique company name like theirs, they take on an unconventional approach to marketing communications, or what the Phish people call it “creative communications”. What exactly are they about? Well, in short… they help to differentiate companies from the mainstream by ensuring that their clients gain a creative edge over the others.
Day 6
CYX Workshop #4: Press Releases
With her expertise and knowledge in creative communications, Shirlene is here to share with the youths how they should go about getting others to know about their green idea, and how to persuade people to buy their ideas.
At the beginning of the workshop, the youths did a short introduction of themselves, gave their feedback and views of the CYX programme so far, and explained their individual green idea for the Green Secrets Pop-Up Book. (…. remember Green Challenge #5? Yup, that’s the one. At this point, all of them have a pretty good idea of the nature and purpose of their product.)
After their individual mini presentations, it was obvious that some people were better at public speaking than others… yes guys, the audience can tell if you are nervous =P Nevertheless, all 12 of them came up with wonderful green ideas, but some of the ideas required a little refining =)
Shirlene got everyone to gather and sit around a table before she officially started her workshop.
She started by introducing the different kinds of dailies and monthly publications in Singapore, as well as the 2 publishing companies, Mediacorp Publishings and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). Shirlene showed the youths a sample copy of the actual publication, and explained the characteristics and target audience of each publication.
Shirlene also taught the youths the difference between time sensitive issues and non-time sensitive issues. Time sensitive issues, like a tsunami or earthquake hitting a city, should be submitted and published immediately. Such issues should be submitted to the dailies. Non-time sensitive issues, like having a new product in the market, can be submitted and published in monthly publications as time is not a critical factor. Hence, the press release for the green ideas the youths have come up with are classified as “non-time sensitive” issues.
An important lesson I learnt from her is, news that is not important enough to make headlines can still be published in other sections the papers. So, if the news desk does not buy the story, it does not mean the news is not news-worthy, it simply means it doesn’t belong in the headlines. Hence, to increase your chances of persuading the press to do a write-up for you, you have to pitch to the right people and to the right places. For instance, if you have an event for youths you want to promote, instead of writing in to The Straits Times General Office, you should send the press release straight to the Life! office. By getting your news in the hands of the right people, and to people who are interested in what you have to share, your chances of succeeding is TREMENDOUSLY increased.
Of course, besides strategically choosing who to send your press releases to, the press release itself has to be interesting to read and attractive enough to make people WANT to read it.
And that’s what Shirlene went on to covering… how should you write a press release?
Here is what she covered in a nutshell:
- PR should only be done when there is a clear brand, product and/or position for your offering.
- Use a catchy and interesting headline, followed by a sub-headline to explain further.
- Press Release should only be 1-2 pages long. All other details can be placed in the annexe (… do not make it too heavy either).
- Press Release should contain FACTS, no marketing jargon or flowery language allowed.
- Keep the tone neutral, do not make it sound like an advertisement.
- Use simple language and vocabulary, but make an impact.
- How? What? When? Where? Who? should be covered in the press release.
- Include important and relevant quotes in the press release (… allows the editor to pluck it out of the press release and use it in the write-up should they choose to do one)
- ALWAYS write in 3rd person perspective
Having said all that, it’s time to find out if the youths understood all of it. What more… practice makes perfect… so the youths were put to work once again.
Green Challenge #6: Writing A Press Release For Green Ideas
After lunch, Shirlene gave each of them feedback on the press release they had written. Most of them had to make slight amendments to their press release to make it more attention-grabbing and captivating.
With their final and improved press release … they proceeded on to their next green challenge… (ya, I know… they’re always kept busy in the CYX, which is what makes it SOOO much fun!)
Green Challenge #7: Press Dating – Pitching To The Media
The 12 youths were split into groups of 3 again, and each group will be pitching to one of the following press media: Berita Harian, Elle magazine, Lian He Zao Bao and The Straits Times.
The first pitching session was done on Day 6, and was made to Berita Harian.
Pitching to this malay newspaper are Calvin, Linda and Xuan.
(Calvin pitches his innovative green idea of letting people’s feet enjoy nature while they are using the toilet)
(Linda pitches her idea of having handouts with environmentally-friendly project ideas and messages printed on them. )
(Xuan pitching her idea for a comb made of recycled material that is to be given out for free in public toilets)
It takes alot of courage to speak to strangers and what more, to have to persuade them to buy your idea. What’s important is that all 3 of them gave their best and that’s what counts!
I was particularly impressed with Xuan’s pitch and idea. When I first heard her idea this morning during the stand-up presentation to Shirlene, it was still rather “raw”. However, in a matter of hours, she improved her green idea, thought of the material it would be made of, the size, made a prototype of the comb to show, and EVEN gave her product a catchy name – COMB E, which stands for Care Of My Better Earth =D Even Kenny and Shirlene were impressed with her performance ^_^
After pitching, they each got feedback from our media friends on how to make a more convincing pitch in future, on how to improve their pitch for their green idea… and EVEN ideas on how to improve their products.
While that was going on… Samuel and his team of lawyers were helping the youths with issues relating to the intellectual property of their green idea.
They were advised on what they should do to register their green ideas as a registered design and/or to get a patent. Afterall… they have worked hard and thought long to come up with these green ideas. It wouldn’t be very nice if someone came along, took the idea, and made it their idea. So, what do we do? We have to be pre-emptive… protect it! =P
While ALL that was going on… a creative mess was being created in the other room. Everyone was coming up with new ideas to improve their green ideas, thinking of ways to translate their ideas into pop-up books, and looking through Johnny’s AMAZING collection of books for inspiration =)
(… I later found out that Johnny has a whole library of books in the boot of his car… need book? Find Johnny, will travel =P)
Day 7
The youths did not go home last night… they decided there was much work to be done, and as a team, decided to stay overnight to get it done.
They worked all night long, and only went back to the Singapore Sport School at 7:30am to take a shower and catch whatever little bit of sleep they could.
At 11am, they arrived back at GardenAsia (… with groggy and tired eyes). Despite being tired, everyone proceeded on with enthusiasm.
They started off the day by having a meeting that was led by Xuan. Xuan is a natural leader, she knew what needed to be done, and started delegating the jobs to the youths. She made clear to everyone what needed to be done, and which she needs help with. From there, the rest of them volunteered their help according to their individual strengths. Sitting in a corner, observing and taking notes… I could see that everyone felt that they were a part of this project. I could sense their commitment to the team as it wasn’t like “… I don’t wanna do this… I don’t wanna do that… that’s too much work” . Each of them knew what they were good at, and took up that role =D
Xuan went on to check on everyone’s progress on their pop-up book. In her soft Vietnamese accent-ed voice, she asked “so, how many percent you finish already?” ^_^
“By 4pm, I want the final pop-up page to be done so that I can put it together into a book. For those who finish, can help others do their pop-up. Okay?”
Everyone agrees… it was a done deal… and they all split to do their own work.
They gathered for another meeting in the afternoon… this time with Johnny. He tells them that they are to decide if their green idea is a pre-emptive, reactive, adaptive or failsafe approach. He also told them about having to prepare a book that documents all their work during the CYX. This book will eventually be given out to the VIPs and guests on Sunday. Ok… let’s see, what else was covered in the meeting… well, he said a whole bunch of other things during the meeting… it was like a pep-talk to perk everyone up =D
Something Johnny said that I found interesting… that to make people value a book and to show them their importance at an event, you have to make sure the book that you are giving to them is of a certain weight. A heavier book will be “ranked” and treated as more important, so the weight of the book actually equates to the level of prestige. I guess that’s true… you wouldn’t give a minister a flimsy black and white flyer, he would just chuck it into the next trash bin he sees =P You would want to present him with a bounded, hardcover book.
Apart from all the meetings, today was pretty much a continuation of the day before. Shirlene was back at GardenAsia to continue to guide the youths with their press release and pitching techniques.
Today, we worked with 3 publications, Lian He Zao Bao, Elle Magazine and The Straits Times.
Pitching to Fong Wei from Lian He Zao Bao are Ming, Xiao Xiao and Chien Lin…
Getting feedback from the man himself…
He was giving feedback in Engish to Ming, and in Mandarin to Chien Lin and Xiao Xiao. I was sitting in the corner, thinking “Wow… he’s fluent in BOTH languages! Now, that’s what I call, bilingual!”
While that was going on outdoors… we had a tele-pitch to Elle Magazine going on indoors at Country Rose.
LiMin pitches her Bloody Wrap idea, a newly designed recycled paper/magazine-made bag for disposing sanitary pads in public toilets. This is to prevent girls from wrapping their used pads with a ton of toilet paper before disposal, and thus help reduce toilet paper wastage.
Shirlene holds her lips to stop herself from laughing when the lady on the other end is taken aback by the name LiMin gave her product… the “Bloody Wrap”.
Issues pointed out by Elle to LiMin:
- when explaining the size of your product over the phone, do not use “15cm”, instead say “around the size of an A5 paper”. Compare it to a common everyday item, rather than give measurements
- ‘bloody wrap’ may not be an appropriate name in a conservative society like Singapore, might want to re-think that
- before pitching, make sure you know your marketing plan and how it is going to reach out to people… even it will be given out for free, think about the distribution channels to adopt.
Unfortunately, I did not manage to catch Yu Shan’s and Sangeeta’s tele-pitch to Elle because I was outside with the other group. Sorry girls, but I have no pictures of you =(
For those who are reading who want to know exactly how a tele-pitch is done… here are some guidelines:
1. Introduce yourself
2. Ask “Did I call you at a bad time?”
If person says “yes, you did… I’m busy!” – Ask “When is is a better time for me to call you back?” “Is there another time I can speak with you?”
If person says “no, now is good” – Continue with what you have to say (of course!)
Note: Call in the early morning or late evening… most of the time, people are away from their desks during the day and can be difficult to reach.
3. Stay calm. Be confident and sure of what you want to say. (… if you are nervous, write a script in point form to jog your memory when your brain shuts down while you are talking on the phone.)
The last group pitching for today… The Straits Times group.
Just before our media friends from The Straits Times arrive, Shirlene sat down and prepared the group for their turn. Pitching to The Straits Times are Admira, Ling Han and Mikko
And that pretty much ended the day…
Oh ya, Calvin managed to come up with the mascot for the Green Secrets pop-up book =D
Calvin, you are a man of few words… but MAN, CAN YOU DRAW & COLOUR!! You are REALLY good, have more confidence in yourself because you are doing very well =D
Once again… for the second night in a row, the youths stayed overnight at GardenAsia to work on completing their Green Secrets pop-up book.
GrEen SeCreTs 