Most of the current Co-Op SMT/RMT hybrids will get you on-the-air and in-the-news on television, radio and the internet and have guaranteed placements on one or more nationally syndicated television programs. They are still one of the most cost effective ways to reach the American audience with your message and no amount of advertising can give your company or product the credibility of an editorial placement, but let’s talk quality: Quality of TV Markets and Quality of TV Production.
Quality of TV Markets
The Problem: You’re certainly aware that it has become increasing more difficult to secure “earned placements” in TV news programs and especially in the Top 50 markets. Even for broadcast public relations specialists like CMP Media Cafe that have long standing relationships with TV stations, although we do book many Top 50 markets for our Co-Op SMTs, the newsroom environment has had two important changes that our industry has had to roll with:
- The FCC scrutiny of content provided by corporate sponsors has resulted in many TV stations deciding to abandon use of the video news release b-roll packages and satellite interviews entirely rather than simply disclosing that they are provided by a sponsor.
- The business model for network affiliates has changed due to decreased advertising revenue during the current economy. This means that where, in many markets, good pitches used to result in booked interviews via satellite or in studio as a public relations coup, stations are now charging for a “sponsored content segment” on their program if a company or product is part of the pitch. Stations then fully disclose it as a sponsored segment to viewers.
Most Co-Op SMTs already use several sponsored content segments to compliment their earned placement interviews and have done this for several years, but the Top 25 markets have been elusive and cost prohibitive. As a result, a small part of Co-Op SMT budgets have been directed at TV markets between the Top 40 to 90 because they have more affordable rates. As the trend toward sponsored content has grown, it has started eating up budgets and profit margins for companies like ours.
The Solution: At CMP Media Cafe, we’ve been busy cracking the code on of one of the biggest P.R. challenges of recent years – how to get exposure in the Top TV Markets in today’s testy media environment. Many markets like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago will remain next to impossible to book with the Co-Op SMT vehicle, but we’ve secured relationships in other desirable Top 25 markets like Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Phoenix, to name a few, in order to give our clients the highest quality broadcast public relations product.
Since the beginning of this new hybrid of broadcast public relations, our company budget for these types of placements has increased over 400% from a few years ago when our only guaranteed placement was on one of two nationally syndicated programs, Broadcast News in 30 (Formerly ANN) or Newswatch. This means that approximately 20-25% of our Co-Op SMT budget is now dedicated to ensuring our clients get the results they desire and on high quality nationally syndicated programs like The Daily Buzz.
The Cost: We’re definitely able to secure earned placements on several top quality TV markets with our pitch angle, but many of the Top 50 markets will simply not take satellite interviews unless they are paid for by the sponsor. In order to secure quality markets that only take paid placements, our company has raised it’s Co-Op SMT client participation fees in order to provide a higher quality product and continue with our client pleasing business model of limiting participation to just four clients (and going on-the-air with a minimum of two clients although we don’t meet our margin.)
We understand that there are several Co-Op SMT companies to choose from that also offer what may seem to be a more attractive fee, but understand that several companies crowd a segment with four to five products into a two-and-a-half minute interview (and some products won’t get on the air as a result). That’s a risk we don’t want to take with our clients.
Quality of TV Production
The Problem: Clients spend a lot of effort finessing the verbal message of a feature on a Co-Op SMT but have little control over the quality of production and the look of the product on-the-air. As a former network television producer, I’m confused by the lack of quality sets and lighting I see being produced by other companies.
The Solution: The visual representation of your client’s product positioning should be just as important as the verbal representation and CMP Media Cafe has the highest broadcast standards. We hire experienced media savvy spokespersons to deliver your message in a natural friendly presentation, provide network quality sets and set dressing, have network quality lighting, and provide a high quality live shot for TV stations. Unfortunately, some companies skimp on the visual look of the set and that then reflects poorly on the featured products.
I’m sure you’ll agree that we all want what’s best for our clients. We’ve cracked the code on how to provide a Top TV Market tour but that comes at a price that our clients have to be open to paying for in order to secure the highly coveted Top 50 television markets.
But here’s the big question: Would you rather pay a little more to be featured in a Co-Op Satellite Media Tour (SMT) that limits participation and get into the top TV markets you want with a network quality produced feature or pay less to be crowded into a Co-Op SMT feature with a mediocre TV market list, lots of radio hits and a set that looks like a “leased access” cable production? It really comes down to dollars and sense.
Peace and coconuts,
Marianne Schwab, Executive Producer, CMP Media Cafe
Copyright (c) 2012. CMP Media Cafe. All Rights Reserved.
Tags: CMP Media Cafe, Co-Op SMT, DS Simon, satellite media tours, SMT
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