Taking a chance on TV

For legal marketers, television is not always an obvious choice as a profile-raising vehicle. But the benefits of coverage are indisputable. By Philip Forsyth

There is no escaping the fact that law firms are warming up to the use of new technologies in communicating their messages. The buzzwords, ‘blogs’, ‘webinars’ and ‘podcasting’ are actually penetrating the ranks of lawyers, who are so often one of the last bastions of the corporate world to embrace new technology. The interest is largely driven by the relative newness of the channel, but also by an unwillingness to be seen to be lagging behind clients’ needs, or even competitors’ offerings. It would be churlish to deny the internet the respect it deserves as the new kid on the block, but firms seem to have forgotten the one medium that packs the biggest punch in terms of immediacy and reach.

While the number of television channels continues to grow at a bewildering rate, the quality programmes tend to maintain an enormous and loyal following. Equally, television’s position
is not about to be usurped by the internet. If anything, media companies are clamouring to align the two, offering businesses the chance to communicate via the traditional television conduit but from an internet platform. Convergence is here, but are firms taking note of the growing importance of television coverage?

Why is this relevant to legal marketing?
Quite simply, television has the draw of massive audiences. In the UK, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) early-evening news can reach an audience of more than six million. Audiences are born out of the love affair with television, which is now such a reassuringly familiar medium. The benefits of television include the obvious and the less so. Often overlooked is the tri-mediality of broadcast, which creates the potential for stories to reach huge additional audiences via radio and the internet. The BBC is a great example, offering a real chance for TV news to filter through its extensive radio network and online platform, too.

For lawyers, as with other professional advisers, the difficulty is not having a physical product to market. Rather, the preferred method is for lawyers to communicate their expertise, professionalism, business sense and firm-wide capability through interviews or panel discussions.

For lawyers commenting on a matter on which they have been specifically advising, this affords the opportunity to communicate a number of messages, including their skills, passion, expertise, innovation, multi-jurisdictional capability, and so on. It could also be used as a platform for comment on the need for legislative change and political lobbying. For those commenting on trends or issues on which they are not specifically instructed, the interview can mark them out as experts. If the interviewee performs well, that expert status is a strong message to send to clients and potentials.

The branding opportunities that television presents are an equally large draw. These range from the introduction by the presenter and the on-screen name check that follows, to discerning placement of discrete backdrops and the chance for the interviewee to refer to their firm or chamber’s name during the interview. As with anything, sensible moderation is vital, so caution not to ‘overbrand’ should be exercised. At best it will irritate the producer and at worst, it could alienate the viewers, too.

The nature of lawyers
There is certainly a successful band of lawyers who position themselves to be considered as commentators (and, therefore, perceived as experts), on a wide variety of topics. Probably the most ubiquitous are those who are capable and willing to talk about human-interest stories with a legal angle. These range from clinical-negligence lawyers commenting on drugs trials gone wrong, to human-rights lawyers discussing issues such as freedom of speech, or the Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Outside of the small band that does embrace television, many either do not consider it or are terrified by the prospect. Some individuals are innately cautious and understandably concerned not to be led outside of their field of expertise. Interestingly, public-relations (PR) professionals are infinitely more comfortable dealing with issues and news within the print media, with which we all have more familiarity.

There will always be mainstream news or human-interest platforms for lawyers able to comment on human rights, employment, defamation, and so on. However, quality business channels and business-oriented news outlets are becoming prolific. They range from more consumer-based business stories with BBC Breakfast, to purely business and financial TV and online reporting with Bloomberg TV and Reuters. Channels such as CNBC Europe, CNN International and Sky fall somewhere in the middle and offer up a broader link to international viewers.

Increasing chances of coverage
Practicalities
The broad principles of selling within your story remain the same as print media; the ‘news’ must actually be newsworthy, timing is crucial and familiarity with the outlet you’re targeting is paramount.

That said, there are unique differences to dealing with broadcast media and unless you adapt your style, your success is likely to be limited. The key is offering producers a good angle, providing as much suitable, useful information as possible up front and presenting it to them at the right time.

Editors will start the day with a mix of diary stories and news items – a diary story being an issue that can be predicted and, therefore, one that marketers can look for and consider in advance. An example would be an eagerly awaited House of Lords’ decision or scheduled announcement by the London Stock Exchange. Of particular importance to editors is to strike a balance between diary pieces and pure news items, so you should plan your approach accordingly. Look ahead and consider issues that your firm or chambers could target as a diary story. Being able to react quickly to news stories is a different discipline and from a PR professional’s perspective, this is where quick reactions, an eye for a story and a willing interviewee are key. It makes an enormous difference if you have an existing relationship with a correspondent or producer, who may even approach you if previous interviewees have performed well.

The most successful method is to call the producer, forward planner or correspondent to establish the link and give a very brief but persuasive snapshot of your story, then follow that up with a concise e-mail. As part of my due diligence I make a point to find out when the forward-planning meetings take place for different productions, so that I can brief my contacts at the optimal time. It’s common sense to avoid calling shortly before or during programmes, but you would be surprised how often this happens.

TV diet
As with the print media, you optimise your chance of success if you are familiar with the programme and its style. There is no excuse for not knowing your programmes. Television is extremely accessible, increasingly so on the internet, and PR advisers must have a feel for the individual character of each programme they pitch to and tailor approaches accordingly. News programmes are always evolving and to be successful you should consume a healthy portion of news programming each week.

News means news
Because news items on television are either live, or recorded to be aired shortly after production, there must be a genuine story to tell. Unless you are approached by the programme with a piece already in mind, you will need to contact the producer or journalist and pitch the story, the angle and the relevance to the programme and its audience. All this needs to be accomplished with as much efficiency as you can muster. By the very nature of the broadcast industry, you will have limited time to state your case, so make it count.

Building relationships
It is important to appreciate the workings of a studio and the daily functions of those who bring it all together. It can be extremely revealing to attend the studio for a few hours and observe how the programme is actually made.

Building relationships with key people is invaluable. As an initial introduction I have found it useful to send a brief e-mail to relevant contacts, containing media pack information about the firm, including brief details of commentators, their areas of expertise and full contact details. Recipients have also commented that they find brief e-mails outlining hot topics or legal developments to be of real use.

Stumbling blocks
In reality, even with good relationships at the studio, a great story and the perfect interviewee, problems can still arise:

A lawyer’s time is invariably at a premium and agreeing to be interviewed usually involves time travelling to and from the studio or down-the-line location. It will certainly include a briefing in advance and, probably, doing some research. Considering a good proportion of interviews
will be arranged at short notice, it is easy to see that getting the best person and agreeing availability can be problematic;

Make sure the parameters of the topic to be discussed are agreed beforehand with the interviewer. Miscommunication at this stage can lead to embarrassment while on air, so be as clear as possible about the interviewee’s areas of capability. Equally, flag any areas where the interviewee will be unable to comment;

Ensure the lawyer is briefed as much as possible in advance. This gives them valuable reassurance as well as the chance to gather their opinions and thoughts and conduct some research if necessary.

For legal marketers, considering using television as a profile-raising vehicle is not obvious. The benefits, however, are undisputed. In an overcrowded legal market where many competitors are indistinguishable from each other, reaching out to television audiences on even a semi-regular basis is as much a valuable point of differentiation as it is a profile-raising endeavour.

Philip Forsyth is a PR coordinator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He can be contacted at pforsyth@kirkland.com

Box out: Case study - Kirkland & Ellis LLP
As a global firm, Kirkland & Ellis LLP is often called upon to field interviewees to take part in televised panel discussions or individual interviews on a broad range of issues of legal practice.
However, during discussions about hot topics with a London lawyer, we identified a legal trend in private quity that we felt businesses should have been aware of.
Armed with that intelligence we drew together a summary, clearly setting out the main points of interest and the impact it could have for businesses, making reference to topical examples and explaining why it would be of interest to the programme's viewers.

A phone call was made to a production contact at awell-know financial broadcast and information service outlining the suggestion and this was followed up by a explanatory e-mail and full contact details.

The production contact spoke with our expert to fill in some details and found a suitable slot for him to be interviewed the next day.