Interim Head of Communiations Ziela Haider talks about harnessing the power of the media.

1. Using the Media
8th March 2012
Ziela Haider
Interim Head of Communications

2. Aims…
To show you how Dogs Trust:
• Uses PR to rehome dogs and promote its views
through the media
• Reaches different audiences
• Turns a ‘negative’ story into a positive one
• Works with the social media team
…and hopefully to inspire you with new ways to
promote your organisation and its values

3. Over to you!
What would you like to learn from this
session?

4. Communications Department
• Press & PR
• Information
• Events, Surveys, Projects
• Wag!
• Annual Review
• Action on dog welfare

5. What about you?
Tell me about any experience
you have with the media!

6. Media Trends: a short quiz
• How many regional newspapers are there
in the UK?
• 1,607
• How many consumer magazines are there
in the UK?
• 3,100
• What was the most searched for thing on
Google last year?
• The World Cup

7. Why is this important?
• Lots of ways to tell people about Dogs
Trust
BUT
• Lots of competition

9. Over to you!
Can you give me recent
examples of PR campaigns in
your countries that worked
well?

10. PR –v- Advertising
• PR & Advertising – What is the difference?
• Advertising
– Paid for by Dogs Trust
– We have complete control over what appears
• PR
– Editorial – we supply the information, the journalist writes the
feature or article
– No control over what appears
– No cost to Dogs Trust
– Much more effective

11. “One favourable paragraph in a
news story can be worth a
whole page of advertising”

12. PR Cost – a pack of biscuits
Advertising cost – £19,000
and a key ring

13. Advertising cost – £36,104 PR Cost – a telephone call

14. The Independent Review
£4,950 Front Cover
£75,570 Feature

18. PR Results
• 4th most read story on BBC Online on the day it
appeared
• Over 65 press articles in national and regional
newspapers
• Over 100 online articles reporting the news
• 3,000 extra hits to the Dogs Trust website on the
day the news broke
• 1,000 click-throughs to our press release when
posted on Twitter and Facebook
• An ongoing relationship with a key children’s TV
programme

21. How much of what you read in
the papers and see on the
news is PR generated?
60%

22. How many press releases does
a features editor of a national
newspaper receive each day?
140

23. What makes the news?
• Controversy
• Royals
• Cute and fluffy
• Celebrity & soaps Above All
• Sex – Human Interest
• Money
• Public safety
• People power

24. Getting Dogs Trust in the
Media

25. Our Audience?
• Supporters
• Future supporters
• Future rehomers
• The media
• Opinion formers
• Politicians
• Fundraisers
• Internal staff members

26. How do we do reach them?
• Re-active
– Journalists call us for a quote, a story, or
information
• Pro-active
– We think up ideas, stories, and campaigns
and persuade journalists to cover it
• Essential Tool – The Press Release

27. Anniversaries/ Reasons to Celebrate
Support from Corporate/
E.g.. Staff member celebrating long Celebrity Partners
service, 1000th dog rehomed
Details of dramatic rescue Cute /Brave Stories
PR IDEAS E.g. how was the dog rescued, were E.g. Dogs who are best friends
members of the public involved, with other dogs or other animals,
what did Centre staff do? loyalty to owner, bravery,
Link back to the work of Dogs Trust Funny/Topical Dog Names
Centre Events
Sponsor a dog, microchipping, E.g. Named after things linked to the
E.g. Open days, bring a dog a
neutering, education, responsible seasons & events [Noel & Holly at
Christmas dinner
dog ownership, fundraising Christmas] Famous singers, celebrities,
sports stars
Old Dogs
Area Related Dog
E.g. Longer term residents,
‘London’s prettiest / ugliest/friendliest/ Educating Dog Owners of Tomorrow
The oldest dog at the centre, older dogs
biggest/smallest/cutest dog’
with older people
Asking for help
The health benefit of dogs Link to Topical Events
E.g. Centre urgently needs bedding,
E.g. Sports, films, award ceremonies
volunteers, extra food, toys etc.
Unusual breeds, sizes Litters of Puppies
Disabled Dogs
colours, crosses, weight E.g. Do they an unusual story, funny
E.g. 3 legged or deaf dogs who are
E.g. The smallest dog next to the names, are they being hand reared,
doing well despite their ailment
largest dog is it a very large litter?

28. Support from
Corporate Partners

31. The Saturdays, Nintendo and Dogs Trust

33. Topical or Interesting
Names

34. Piggyback!
• World Cup
• Wimbledon
• Flower shows
• Valentines day
• Christmas themed
• National holidays

35. Chrissie & Evie

36. Cranbury

37. Bjorn & Borg

38. Dogs with health
conditions

39. Ronnie

40. Snowball & Meg

41. Unusual Dogs

42. Weasel

43. Britain’s Ugliest Dog

44. Film releases

45. Results
• Over 500 phone calls on the day Hubble
appeared on TV
• Over 100 offers of a new home as far
afield as the US and Switzerland
• Hubble has a new home and is settling in
well with his owner – good follow up story
too

46. Piglet

47. Charlie & Barney

48. Rose

49. The Walking Mat - Matherson
Before… After….

51. Staff
Recognition

53. Career changes…

54. Turning you into the story…

55. Fundraising

56. My Life As A Dog
Three opportunities for coverage

57. Before…
During…
After

58. Unusual Size

61. Birthday celebrations

63. Life after Dogs Trust

65. Turning a sad tale
into a positive

66. Turning a ‘negative’ into a positive
• Separation anxiety
• Older dogs
• Common breeds
• Abandonment
• ‘Sticky’ dogs
• Nicknaming dogs

68. Going the extra mile…

70. Over to you!
What challenges do you face in
communicating the aims of your
organisations?

71. Health Benefits

76. Events

77. Centre Focused
• Summer Open Days
• Christmas Fayres
• Education workshops
• Visits from celebrities or dignitaries
• Agility events
• Dog training and behaviour workshops or talks
• Fundraising events or large donations to the RC

79. Celebrities
• Can add weight to your
campaign
• Different type of media
• Online media- eg Twitter

82. Over to you!
Tell me about the celebrity
culture in your countries and
‘key influencers’ you would like
to target?

83. Letter to the Editor

85. A Day in the Life

88. Ten Golden Rules
Points to remember:
• What?
• Who?
• Where?
• Why?
• When?
90% of press releases end up in the bin!

89. Spotting a story
• Always have an eye out for catchy stories that
will not only have a regional but also national
appeal
• Maintain and develop good media contacts in
your region- maybe set up a visit to your center
or a lunch so that these contacts will keep
coming back for stories
• We have a journalist meet and greet programme
and ensure that we regularly circulate our
contact details to new journalists

90. Internal Comms
• Don’t forget to tell your staff what has
been going on and inspire them to spot
news stories for you

92. Photography

93. Photography tips
• Be patient

94. Photography tips
• Take shots of normal behaviour

95. Photography tips
• Use sounds to focus the dog’s attention

96. Photography tips
• Shoot at eye level

97. Photography tips
• Natural and playful rather than posed

99. Photography tips
• Get close

100. Photography tips
• Show the dog in action

101. Photography tips
• Take lots of pictures

102. Photography tips
• Use branding

103. Photography tips
• Use props

104. Photography tips
• Dogs and children

107. Photography tips
• If your dog won’t pose – get creative!

108. Photography tips
• If your dog won’t pose – get creative!

109. Photography tips
• Combination of different shots

111. The People
Circulation: 900,000
Readership: 2,700,000

112. Over to You!

113. Thank You
Any Questions?