Corporate Affairs - media/communications presentation to An Focal team, Friday 14th March 2014

1. Getting the Message
Media, Branding
& Communications Training
Christine Brennan
Corporate Affairs, University of Limerick
14th
March 2014

2. Agenda
Introductions
Overview –the UL storytelling landscape
Panning for gold
Generating Stories – Top Tips
Policy & Governance
Just a little bit about branding

3. Overview – the UL storytelling landscape
www.ul.ie
@ulpressoffice
Sheena Doyle, Press Officer 086 380 7859
Christine Brennan, Protocol, Public Relations & Communications Officer –
086 7818441

5. PR is :
Informing public opinion of an organisation through strategic placement of news.
Identifying, writing, preparing and placing news stories
Knowing your media channels and placing the right story with the right journalist
Reputation Management
PR is not :
A substitute for marketing and advertising.
dealing with lies. – VERIFY YOUR STORY, GIVE CONTEXT.
For marketing you pay for PR you pray!
What is Public Relations?

6. What makes for a good news story:
Impact
Conflict
Heartstrings
Health
Financial
Other factors:
Timing/Seasonality
The Goldmine

7. The Five "W"s and the "H"
This is the crux of all news - you need to know five things:
Who? What? When? Where? How? Why?
Any good news story provides answers to each of these questions. You must drill these into your
brain and they must become second nature.
The Inverted Pyramid
This refers to the style of journalism which places the most important facts at the beginning and
works "down" from there. Ideally, the first paragraph should contain enough information to give the
reader a good overview of the entire story. The rest of the article explains and expands on the
beginning.
Multimedia
Use the right photo, ensure it is captioned and credited.
Embed video, ensure it is copyright compliant.
How to Write a News Story

9. Top Tips - Storytelling
•Its all about the video ‘Just ask Tommy!’
•The 1 minute rule / get to the point
•Use Acronyms at your peril
•Copyright – it is a very, very real thing! Be respectful.
•Impact – what will the outcomes of this story be?
•Be objective
•Give context
•Have we given both sides the opportunity to respond.
•If in doubt….
•Protect your brand.

10. Give thought to your headline!

11. What makes for a good viral video?
Cravendale : http://youtu.be/h6CcxJQq1x8
(77 million viewers - what’s the concept?
RTE – Highest Viewership Figures for 2011 = based
on figures from Nielsen Television Audience
Measurement*, Jedward at Eurovision proved to be the
biggest television draw of 2011 so far, as the most-
watched television programme in the six months from
January to June, with a staggering 1.18 million
viewers on average* watching the Eurovision final.
(Staggering eh!)

13. 13
Reputation Management
Online Presence – setting up google report
Blogs – generating your own content.
Social Media Monitoring (Hootsuite/Tweetdeck)

14. 14
Why use social media?
Target audience
Builds your online presence
Provides material for media
Provides a channel for fans to voice support.
Provides a forum to counteract negative publicity

15. Curation – Create your own outlet

17. Be a storyteller.
Be accurate
Create your own channel
Timing is everything
The power of non-traditional channels
17

18. The Importance of the Story “If you can't tell it, you can't sell it”
Smart Phone Media Maker – Christian Payne aka Documentally (photojournalist,
podcasting, blogger).
http://vimeo.com/22895070
http://www.theguardian.com/media/audio/2008/mar/14/jemima.kiss.documentally
Documentally.com

20. 20
Policy & Governance
What is your mission statement?
What are your guiding principles? Does
everyone know them?
What is your policy? (Social Media/Children &
Media)
What is your plan?

21. 21
Mission Statements
Mission: The New York Times's core purpose is to enhance
society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality
news, information and entertainment.
Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make
the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to
stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going
on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.

22. 22
Mission Statements
“To see life; To see the world; to eyewitness great events … to see
strange things … to see and be amazed.” Life Magazine
The mission of the University of Limerick is to be a
distinctive, pioneering and connected university that
shapes the future through education and empowering
people to meet the real challenges of tomorrow.

23. Social Media - Guidelines
• Social Media Policy -
• Protect confidential and proprietary information
• Respect copyright and fair use
• Do not use your brand for endorsements
• Respect university time and property
• Dedicated Personnel
• Have a policy
• Have a plan (Be Prepared for the Good, The Bad and the Ugly)
• Link back to your brand
• Protect the your brand

24. Social Media - Guidelines
• Be transparent
• Think twice before posting
• Be accurate
• Be respectful
• Remember your audience
• On personal sites, identify your views as your own
• Healthy dialogue

25. Crisis Management -
Dealing with Negative Publicity
Tips in Dealing with Negative Publicity
Get the facts
Take time to consider your response
Consider the implications of your response – others affected, potential to continue the story
Address the situation e.g statement, interview
Get advice – do not react e.g Ronan O’Gara letter to Irish Independent about Kevin Meyers
Reaction = Result

26. UL Brand Guidelines
Applying for use of the UL Brand Identity : Kylie.Mckenzie@ul.ie
Misuse of University of Limerick Brand
Why are Brand Guidelines Important?
Use of Colour to Reflect Brand

27. Applying for use of the UL Brand
Identity
Misuse of the UL Brand Identity

28. Why Branding is Important?
Protecting the ‘An Focal’ Brand
Factors:
Consistent message
Consistent marketing
PR Profile
Product Quality
Service
Innovation
Market Factors

31. Photography & Copyright
Commissioning Photography for Marketing/Promotional Purposes (policy)
Copyright
•Copyright law in Ireland is regulated primarily by the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 (PDF 614KB)
(the “2000 Act”). http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/acts/2000/a2800.pdf
•It is the responsibility of the author of the content (image, text, video, audio) to ensure their submissions are
copyright compliant.

32. Stock Photography
Can Appear
Anywhere
Use: Creative
Commons
http://search.creativec
ommons.org/

33. What are your
impressions of these
groups?
Where are they from?
Can you relate to
them?

35. Thank You!
Questions