19961007
October 7, 1996
TRADE, BUSINESS MEDIA MAY BE GETTING TOUGHER TO CRACK
October 7, 1996
Trade and business media at times have had a reputation of being an easy mark for PR execs seeking coverage for their companies or clients. If that ever was the case, it is becoming less true, new data suggests.
An extensive study of thousands of print articles covering high-tech companies found that coverage over recent years has tended to become more neutral. The study, an advance copy of which was obtained last week by PR NEWS, also found that it is becoming harder for companies to get their key marketing messages into print.
While the study by media analysis and benchmarking firm The Delahaye Group, Portsmouth, N.H., covers only high-tech and business press, huge number of articles analyzed--about 25,000--could indicate general trends for all trade and print media.
The Delahaye study analyzed thousands of trade and business press articles from 1995, sorting them by industry, and comparing the nature of the coverage. The results are compared to those from 1993-1995 and are viewed as either positive, negative or neutral.
The 26,000 high-tech articles came from trade and business publications that covered 150 companies being compared. Articles were separated into five industry categories: semiconductor, financial, software, networking tools and hardware.
Delahaye found that financial and telecom coverage was mostly neutral news, while articles about the software industry were the most opinionated, with about 21 percent of these articles being biased. Articles that covered the hardware and networking industries were mostly neutral--in other words, including less information favorably or unfavorably describing a company or its products.
The reason that software companies and products had the most biased coverage, both negative and positive, according to Katherine Paine, CEO of The Delahaye Group, is that there are so many companies and products.
There's "an overload of information. It's really hard to break through all the noise and clutter to get a message through," she says. For example, the amount of faxes and e-mails sent is increasing steadily.
Deborah Paquin, who owns high-tech consulting firm The Write Angle, Folsom, Calif., says that the high-tech industry, consumers and the press are becoming more sophisticated. It's not enough now to just talk about the features of a product because reporters and readers want to know about trends and benefits. Paquin says, "it's hard for many companies to make this transition to marketing."
This may be another reason for all of the neutral press coverage shown in the Delahaye study. Paine says, "I guess we should say the press are finally doing their jobs; they're supposed to remain neutral."
Get Spokespersons Quoted
One surefire way to boost positive coverage, the Delahaye study suggests, is to use top-level employees as media spokespersons. A quote from a credible, knowledgeable CEO will be one of the most valuable tools a company can use against its competitors, says Paine. A perfect example is Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft Corp. [MSFT] who is articulate and dynamic. Paine says, "these are adjectives you can use to describe both the spoke-sperson and the prod-ucts...people want to know who and what the company is about. The results of the Delahaye study will be available for purchase within a month.
(Delahaye, 800/926-0028; Write Angle, 916/984-1922)