Yesterday at 5:50am (Eastern Time), it was announced that a Canadian scientist from Queen’s University, in Ontario, had co-won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physics. By 6:20am, or maybe even earlier, news media were calling Queen’s University media relations people to request handout pictures of the new Nobel Laureate.
Queen’s University was prepared and news media around the world had a portrait of the university professor emeritus on their web sites shortly thereafter.
The Nobel Prize-winning professor did his research at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Sudbury, Ontario. News media called the lab early in the morning for handout pictures of the scientist and of its research facilities.
The lab was prepared and news media around the world had pictures online right away. Print papers published stories about the lab the next day.
That’s what happens when a business or organization is prepared. They get lots of media coverage and publicity. With handout pictures ready, a company can, to some degree, control the look of that coverage.
Your employees may not be in line to win a Nobel Prize but the situation is the same. If something happens with your company, good or bad, and the news media come calling, are you prepared? Do you have portraits of your key employees? Do you have pictures of your facilities, products or activities?
You can’t say, “Call us next week and we’ll have pictures ready by then.” Next week is too late. News coverage, public relations and publicity now happen by the hour, if not faster.
Take stock of your company’s archive of business headshots and other corporate photography. If it’s lacking or out of date, contact a local corporate photographer. Having first-rate professional photography for press releases and handouts is your first step toward winning media attention.
Good point