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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PR Newswire, the premier global provider of news distribution and media monitoring services, hosted one of its signature Media Coffee events in Kuala Lumpur to discuss how brands can improve their communication strategies to gain more media coverage. The event, titled "Ways to Get More Mileage Out of Your Communication Strategies", gathered close to 100 attendees. It was one of the largest PR Newswire Media Coffee events organized in Kuala Lumpur. The event featured presentations from Ian Yee, Deputy Executive Editor & Producer at R.AGE; Joshua Cohen, Vice President of Content Licensing & Distribution at PR Newswire; and Shannon Teoh, Malaysia Bureau Chief at The Straits Times. The archived video of the event is now available for online viewing.
All three speakers believe that building media relations and providing authentic stories are two powerful elements that boost media coverage for brands.
Key highlights of the event include:
Journalism is about telling stories that matter
"If you're really thinking of building your brand and getting people to like your brand, you have to be genuine about your cause. We have to find something we truly believe in and work hard for it," said Ian Yee from R.AGE, the youth news and lifestyle platform of Malaysia's top English daily newspaper, The Star. He believes in crafting good journalistic content that resonates with their readers and strikes a chord in their hearts. As a strong advocate against crimes, R.AGE produces cause-driven, multimedia documentaries to call out injustice and shame perpetrators. Even though citizen journalism is common in this mobile age where members of the public film stories on their mobile devices and share on their networking sites, Yee stands firm in creating cinematic work for brand-building - powerful visuals that can tell the story on their own. Producing quality work is important, but the full recipe for successful brand-building also includes a brand vision and stories that are genuinely relatable to its audience.
Create a killer news hook that journalists cannot resist
With a vast knowledge on search engine optimization (SEO), Joshua Cohen from PR Newswire shared tips for writing quality press releases that can make stories more searchable and visible on major search engine results pages. "You need to have a news hook - something that is going to catch the readers' attention right away as soon as they start reading it," said Cohen. "The headline is by far the most important element of a news release." As seventy percent of online news is being discovered via search engines, it is important to create a punchy headline to compel readers to click on it. Cohen recommended the headline to be kept within 110 characters, with the inclusion of a key fact, as well as the explanation of the "What" and "How" of a story. He went on to share an ideal structure of a modern press release that every public relations and communications professionals should adopt; it is important to write a pitch that is easy to read and understand as journalists receive hundreds of media pitches daily. Some of his tips include:
Blanket pitches are a big no-no
Shannon Teoh from The Straits Times, an English newspaper in Malaysia, shared that there is no one-size-fits-all for media pitches. Besides paying attention to journalists' beats, it is also important for media professionals to know the journalists inside out before customizing their pitches. Information such as the languages they write, markets they cover, demographics of their readers, and even pet peeves must be part of every media professional's homework before approaching a journalist.
View the archived video online to learn about the discussion in detail. Subscribe to PR Newswire's newsletter to keep informed of upcoming events and related content.
About PR Newswire's Media Coffee
PR Newswire's Media Coffee events enable communications professionals to gather insights from leading media organizations on how their respective organizations work, provide expertise into their specialist areas, and give advice on achieving coverage, as well as share tips on how to effectively target journalists within their sector and build mutually beneficial relationships.
About PR Newswire
PR Newswire (www.prnasia.com), a Cision company, is the premier global provider of media monitoring platforms and news distribution services that marketers, corporate communicators and investor relations professionals leverage to engage key audiences. Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry in 1954, PR Newswire today provides end-to-end solutions to produce, distribute, target and measure text and multimedia content across traditional, digital, mobile and social channels. Combining the world's largest multi-channel content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire powers the stories of organizations around the world. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.
For further information, please contact:
PR Newswire's Asia Marketing Team
+852 2572 8228
asia.marketing@prnasia.com
Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170619/1878907-1
Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160617/8521603993LOGO-d
