Loyalty of the mass media to the commercial organizations is a key to the success of each PR promotion campaign. The media hits of brand in different editorial materials (analytical articles, reviews, news) depend on it badly. It is obvious that consumers more tend towards trust the editorial publications rather than advertorial blocks. Currently it is a core fact to the advantage of a great importance of the loyalty of the mass media to brands and companies.  

The instruments for the upgrade of the loyalty of the mass media may differ a lot. For instance, there are simple and reliable, but costly and short-term financial instruments, which though can appear to be harmful in the long-term prospects. In this case after a batch of paid materials mass media prefer to cooperate with the company and refer to it in its publications only on a commercial basis. 

Nevertheless there exist more delicate PR instruments, with which the loyalty of the mass media can be gained. They are based on the cooperation between company and editorial departments. In this process very often companies engage such mediators as PR Agencies. They do understand what exactly can be interesting to the different mass media groups – specialized, business, social-political and others. Though, along with the exclusive information the key, beneficial for the companies, messages (i.e. USP of goods and services) are transmitted as well.

Following this approach, the outsourcing companies generate competent news topics for the press events, online events, press releases, expert views of the chief executives and so on. As a result, the editors are highly interested in the company information, and don’t ignore it, covering its stories in the editorials.

The specialist who is ready to give exclusive expert comments to the representatives of the mass media is a very significant attribute of the efficient cooperation between the company and the mass media. The building of the reputation of such an expert is rather difficult and long-term task, which big companies with a huge experience tend to assign to the PR Agencies.     

Competitions For Journalists Mean Win For Everyone!  

 The competition for the journalists on the best editorial concerning the market, where the company operates, is one more important instrument for the upgrade of loyalty of the mass media to the commercial structures.

The competition mechanism is rather simple: PR Agency on behalf of the customer-company announces that it accepts editorials on the market or field, where the company operates. Even so publications do not have to include the names of brands, connected with the customer - this term raises the objectivity and the authority of the competition. The winners of the competition – the journalists, provided the most professional and interesting editorials - receive valuable presents from the organizer.      

It is very important to choose only from those materials which are editorial (not advertorial) and published. In other words, journalists are not forced to write materials, they are chosen post-factum from those materials which are already written and relevant to the topic and level. It makes any manipulations impossible.

First of all, such competitions motivate journalists to write on those markets and fields, which are not of a high interest in the mass media or which need wider or deeper coverage. For instance, it may be varnish-and-paint materials, software for the financial structures, air conditioners or any other. From the other hand, the competitions for the journalists demonstrate the openness of the customer-company, the publicity of its business, which influence positively on its reputation among clients and partners. Besides, the competition for the journalists, took place on behalf of the company, shows the readiness of its top managers to provide expert views, their professionalism and their knowledge on the markets. Thus, the competitions for the journalists are the key element of the efficient PR promotion of the customer-company first persons.       

The result of such competition for the journalists is the raise of the media hits on the market and the brand awareness in the relevant mass media in a medium-term prospect. In a long-term prospect it is the growth of the media hits in the editorial publications and citedness of its chief executives.

The Competition Which Lasts Ten years – It Is Possible!  

 Unfortunately, in Ukraine the competitions for the journalists are not a very often activity. And those which are held, lack the correct requirements to the participants (for instance, the name of the brand in the editorial as a must). One of the not numerous PR agencies, which include this instrument in its long-term programs of its clients’ PR promotion, is Public Creation Agency – the company of the strategic communications. This company has an impressive experience at the organization of such competitions. It’s worth mentioning that one of them is the competition “Svezhaya Mys’l” (Innovative Point of View) on the best publications on “Conditioning, ventilation, climate building”. This competition has been organized specially for LEACOND Company since 2004, during the decade.    

With each year the competition “Svezhaya Mys’l” is developing and increasing its turnover. In 2012 37 publications (of 30 authors) participated in this competition. This year innovation was the enhancement of the articles: besides traditional published materials, TV/video plots, internet publications were accepted as well. Moreover, a Facebook page for bloggers and journalists was specially created and pitched for a wider spreading of the information on this competition.  Today it counts more than 800 subscribers.  

During the period of the mentioned competition, LEACOND has become an informational leader of the air-conditioning market, and today the company’s chief executives are the leaders of the expert views. Not only specialized, but also majority of the business and even popular media regular apply for the expert comments on the air-conditioning market.      

Taking out markets from the informational shadow

As it was mentioned above, the competitions for the journalists not only promote the growth of the company awareness and media hits, but also increase the media interest to very specialized fields. For instance, in 2011-2012 Publicity Creating organized the competition “Decisions are in the nature” for the group of companies BIONA, the leader of the Ukrainian market of the biopharmaceutical for the agricultural sector.

In this competition 19 articles from 15 authors, published in the printed media and internet editions of the business and specialized topics, participated. It’s well-known that business mass media are highly interested in the narrow field of the biopharmaceutical for the agricultural sector. Thus, this market has been taken out from the informational shadow. Moreover, the first persons of BIONA are the leaders of the expert views on the biopharmaceutical market as well as on the agrarian market in general. On average 40 media, including representatives of the TV channels, have visited press-conferences and round tables with the participation of the company top managers. One more example of the competition for the journalists is “From Supermarkets Life” competition for the net of supermarkets “ECO market”.  In this competition, taken place in 2012, 57 articles and 21 authors participated. Such mass media as “Segodnya”,”Focus”, “Comments”, “Investgazeta”, “Obozrevatel”, “AllRetail”, “Mir Produktov” and many others became the participants of this competition. “ECO market” net of supermarkets for which Publicity Creating organized the competition, demonstrated its openness and readiness as the leader of the informational field on the retail market.

In the second part of 2012 “ECO market” took the leading position in media ratings of all product retails due to its high attention from the media.  

Publicity Creating organized competitions for journalists on the other markets as well – i.e. IT/telecom, non-product retail.  

It is worth mentioning that the logical final result of each competition for the journalists is press-breakfast, during which winners receive their prizes and diplomas, and top managers of the customer-companies get the opportunity to communicate with the media in non-formal atmosphere, settle more close contacts with the editors as well as comment on the latest market trends and events.   

We can make the conclusion that the competition for the journalists is the important instrument, which influence on the reputation and image of the customer-company doesn’t appear immediately. But in a long-term prospect its meaning is difficult to overestimate: once having settled partner relations with the mass media, it is important to develop them during decades – because those companies, which look in future with confidence, are directed at such “distances” of the successful activity at the market.