Media and investor relations executives can choose from an ever-wider array of tools and services to target and reach the media.
One service that is becoming increasingly popular is the teleconference.
More Than A Phone Link
Today, professional teleconferencing involves more than simply two-way phone hookups. Services can provide not only operators to handle the calls, but also professional moderators to manage the exchange between companies and reporters or analysts. A number of other services also are available, such as audiotapes, printed transcripts and real-time translation services.
Services also are available to manage the question-and-answer sessions. For example, American Teleconferencing Systems (ATS), Overland Park, Kan., has the capability for its operators to automatically place at the top of the list calls coming in from key or favored reporters or analysts. By the same token, companies that want to block questions from short-sellers or other controversial figures, can ask that these calls never make it to the top of the queue.
In both of these cases, none of the callers or conference participants are aware of the process; as far as they know, their call was received and processed without any special treatment.
Companies such as ATS or mainstream telecommunications providers like MCI Communications [MCIC] and AT&T Corp. [T] also can provide international links. Recently, Ludgate Communications Inc., New York, has organized teleconferences for clients in which it links media and analysts in the United States and Latin America. In these calls, the company providing the teleconferencing service provides a bilingual operator.
Payless Cashways [PCS], a lumber and home project retail chain based in Kansas City, Mo., has been using teleconferencing for its quarterly earnings announcements since the company went public three years ago. "It's something we highly recommend. It works for us," says Brenda Nolte, public affairs officer.
Payless' teleconferences typically last about one hour, with presentations by the company's top three officers lasting about 20 minutes, followed by about a half hour of questions from financial analysts and major shareholders. The company averages about 100 participants for each call.
Alternative to Press Conference
Teleconferencing can be used in conjunction with a traditional press conference, to link in media unable to attend. Or, the teleconference can be a stand-alone approach. The Washington, D.C., office of Ketchum Public Relations recently used a teleconference to expose the media to a new study released by its client, the National Hospice Organization. Alerting the media ahead of time by fax and followup phone calls resulted in 14 reporters signing on for the live teleconference. Media represented included the Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle and Oncology News International.
"I'm very pleased" with the results, said Devorah Goldburg, an account executive at Ketchum. I think it's great, cost-effective way to reach the media for a good story." (Payless, 816/234-6000; ATS, 913/661-0700; Ketchum, 202/835-7261)
How Much Does It Cost?
Teleconferencing costs vary depending on many factors, such as whether a toll-free number is used and whether customers require extra services, such as written transcripts.
According to Richard Brashier, director of sales at American Teleconferencing Services, Overland Park, Kansas, costs range from $23 to $36 per hour for each participant. Based on these rates, a one-hour conference call connecting 50 participants would cost between $1,150 and $1,800.