CorpComms Magazine

When flight BA038 from Beijing to London crash landed at Heathrow Airport, missing a runway and losing its undercarriage early last year, the incident threatened to cause huge reputational damage to both airline and airport. Although all 136 passengers and 16 crew escaped, and only 18 went to hospital with minor injuries, it was not a good time to risk further public wrath after the hostilities over Terminal Five, and public concerns about air travel caused by terrorist attacks.

Within hours of the incident, British Airways' chief executive, Willy Walsh, had given a live television interview in which he expressed very genuine concern for the passengers and their families, and also said he was 'very proud' of the crew.

'We train hard for incidents such as this, and all that training has paid off today,' Walsh said. BA allowed the cabin crew to give interviews, showing how real people had handled a difficult, but very real situation. Doing so proved that BA was not going to shy away from such a near-miss.

The result was that BA ticket sales went up in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Hearing genuine words from real people involved in the incident, and compassion from the airline's chief executive, convinced the flying public that BA could still be trusted.

'We spend a lot of time training front-line staff as they are perceived to be more credible,' says Andrew Caesar-Gordon, managing director of media training group Electric Airwaves.

'More and more, we are seeing people further down in companies being asked to go on live interviews,' adds Andy Rivett-Carnac, client adviser and senior producer at broadcast communications agency Cantos Communications. 'This should be seen as an opportunity because the more people across the business the audience can hear from, the better.

WHO SHOULD REPRESENT YOU?

Putting up a 'company spokesman' will never be enough, whether you are addressing a public health crisis, or merely announcing a bland set of interim results.

'For a lot of CEOs and leadership teams in UK international companies, it is incumbent that the key decision makers are also the key communicators,' says Stephen Watson, chief executive of broadcast specialist CTN Communications.

'With the proliferation of new media channels, business leaders need to be equipped to do much more than the odd Money Programme interview. They need to be able to communicate to all audiences pertinent to them quickly and efficiently.'

The appetite for financial news has shot up since the banking crisis of last year and, increasingly, all companies are expected to be ready for media scrutiny. A survey of 80 communications directors carried out by Electric Airwaves showed that 63 per cent said their companies were doing more broadcast interviews. 'The question we put to our clients who are nervous is Who do you want to do these interviews - you or your competitors?' says Caesar-Gordon.

ONE STOP SHOP

One way to retake control if you are in the media spotlight is to use your own studio to conduct live interviews. Tesco, a company whose profits are always closely scrutinised, has been using CTN Communications for the past four years to co-ordinate all live media interviews on results days.

'Every time the company announces its results, we set up a television studio at the results venue and from 6.30am to 9am, when the results are announced, Sir Terry Leahy is there with our cameras providing broadcasts to all the main channels,' says Watson.

Tesco avoids a press scrum and retains some control of the interviews taking place. 'It also allows the group to control the look and feel of those interviews,' says Watson. 'We create something which is well lit, with branding, which is good for the broadcasters too because they get a good shot. It is all part of Tesco's brand presentation.'

There are also practical benefits of using your own studio. 'If we have a CEO doing a series of interviews, then he does not have to drive across London between them all,' says Julian Fisher, director of media at broadcast agency Markettiers4DC. 'Using our studios to link to Sky or CNBC, for example, also gives clients more comfort as they are used to the facility.'

It is possible to link directly to all the main broadcasters from your own office using a camera provided by a network such as Globelynx. The group operates 31 of the 38 active cameras installed in offices across London - many of them in Canary Wharf where they are popular among investment banks.

Giving a live interview 'down the line' with just a black lens for company can be disconcerting, but it can also massively increase your media exposure. 'Down-the-line interviews can be very challenging, but broadcasters are under pressure as well and they are cheaper than sending a crew out to you,' says Caesar-Gordon. 'Furthermore, if you install your own cameras, it shows journalists that you take broadcast seriously and it also means the journalist knows you are able to do interviews easily, are reliable and will give good quotes.'

David Fitzgerald, managing director at Globelynx, which also operates the infrastructure of fibre connecting its cameras in offices to broadcasters, says: 'Investment banks and the financial community have grabbed this opportunity as they are keen to get their analysts' views across. Analysts are natural presenters anyway, and a lot of them are media trained.

'The recent banking crisis has boosted business for us as financial experts are in constant demand. GMTV, for example, is now carrying bank stories, whereas previously it wouldn't.' Indeed Globelynx, which usually sees around 300 live interviews broadcast via its systems each month, reported levels closer to 500 at the height of the banking crisis late last year.

EASY TO USE

The idea of putting cameras into banks is not new. The BBC did it many years ago, but the system was cumbersome and prone to technical hitches. Globelynx provides cameras which are ultra simple to operate - they have and on/off switch, a microphone and an ear-piece. It has also designed a booking system which is operated by the broadcasters and overseen by a manned control centre, which also monitors each broadcast to ensure picture and sound quality. The booking system allows broadcasters to view details of available commentators, and gives the commentators their own log-in pages where they can see a list of upcoming appointments.

The cost of switching a camera on to conduct an interview is less than the return taxi fare to get a commentator to a broadcaster's studios, Fitzgerald claims. It also saves time.

Daragh Maher, foreign exchange analyst at Calyon Credit Agricole, is a seasoned  media commentator and has been using a Globelynx camera three or four times per week since they were installed two years ago.

'The benefit of having the camera is that it is much easier to say yes,' says Maher. 'A four-minute slot will take up 15 minutes of my time, whereas if you have to go to the broadcaster, it will be more than an hour on a round trip.

'From a corp comms perspective, banks have their logo up in the background, so it enables you to be branded visually. Lots of cameras are positioned on the trading floor, so you can present yourselves as in the middle of it all - you know what you are talking about.'

Having the camera has increased Calyon's media exposure three-fold, says Jennie Russell, assistant director and editor at the bank. 'We brought it in as a way to get our people on TV more regularly and routinely.

'We tend to provide reactive interviews - giving analysis of things that are happening. We now talk to many different regions of the world and we are still increasing our media exposure. It is a marketing tool. If a broadcast journalist needs, one of our analysts can do a broadcast in an hour and a half's time.'

'There are high rewards if you get it right,' says Watson. 'Many business leaders have enhanced the company reputation, brand, even the share price by communicating well and becoming personalities which support the brand.'

Car manufacturer Hyundai UK recently turned the £2,000 a car scrappage scheme, announced by the Government in the latest Budget, to its advantage through live media interviews. Hyundai had taken part in a similar scheme in Germany.

PERFECT POSITIONING

The company used broadcasting agency Markettiers4DC to facilitate two rounds of live interviews - one straight after the Budget announcement, and a second once they had gathered take-up figures in early June.

'We wanted to position Hyundai as one of the first to welcome the scheme and back that up with more information about it,' explains Fisher. 'Hyundai had already done this in Germany and had been the car manufacturer with the biggest take-up there.

'By putting information in front of the broadcasters in advance, and preparing the CEO in advance, the broadcaster could be certain that they were getting a knowledgeable take on it, and that an interview would move the story on.'

Tony Whitehorn, Hyundai's chief executive in the UK, is an accomplished media speaker who did not require any training. It was important to work on the message and content for each specific interview, however.

'We advised him on audience and angle for each particular interview, and helped to refine the message, so he was prepared to give each broadcaster what they wanted,' says Fisher. Whitehorn gave interviews on BBC Lunchtime News, BBC News, BBC World, Sky, CNBC and NBC. One interview with the BBC took place at a car dealership, while the rest were carried out in Markettiers4DC's studios, linked to the broadcasters.

While the rewards can be high, though, the risks are higher if you get it wrong. For this reason, more and more organisations are investing in proper media training.

Watson says: 'If you get it wrong, it can be disproportionately damaging. But if you speak to those people in business, politics and public life known to be strong in broadcast media, they will tell you that it did not happen overnight.

'The worry for people is that this is intensely personal and unforgiving. A lot of decisions are collective, but when you are communicating or defending them there is no wriggle room.'

David Ward, chief executive of the British Dental Association, discovered this to his cost in February when he appeared on ITV's Tonight programme, entitled What's in your mouth, looking at the issue of safety of mercury amalgam fillings.

The interview, which has been posted on You Tube under the title Chief executive of British Dental Association loses it!!! and viewed more than 4,500 times, features Ward waving his hands around in mockery of the interviewer, singing 'lalalalalalala', and blocking the camera with his hand.

The broadcaster decided to air the interview in full, forcing Ward to later issue an apology to his colleagues in dentistry. 'Mr Ward clearly decides that he doesn't want to do the interview anymore and decides to employ his own spoiling tactics,' says Caesar-Gordon. 'Whatever his messages are, they get completely lost. And what that demonstrates is that he did no preparation.'

The key to any live media interview is preparation. Tim Huddart, senior partner at H2Glenfern, which coaches businesses in presentation skills as well as providing broadcast support facilities, says this is the only way to create your own comfort zone and take back some control of the situation.

'The number of times you will get it right if you have done some preparation is going to be much higher than when you have done none. Think about why this person is interviewing you, how you can help them, and what you want to say.

'It always comes back to thinking about what you are going to say. If you are talking about restructuring, for example, then you can anticipate the question about job losses. You can't say Yes, there will be job losses if it hasn't been worked out yet. And you can't say No, there won't because people will think you are lying. You can't say No comment, because people will think you are avoiding. You have to say It is likely there will be job losses, but we have not worked out how many there will be yet. Preparation is key.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Putting in the preparation time will also provide the headspace to really think about and refine the message, anticipate the questions, and practice answering them. At Cantos, for instance, clients go through an interview process during which they are asked the toughest questions the advisers can come up with. 'For a standard results programme we devise questions by going through their results and doing the research,' says Rivett-Carnac. 'We ask questions about strategy and the future of the business because the City is always looking forward, and the CEO, CFO and chairman should be living and breathing these things. However, it can still be unnerving when you are put on the spot in front of a camera and hot lights.

'People who are unused to doing live interviews can seem on edge because of the unfamiliarity, but the more you do it, the less intimidating it becomes.'

Before undertaking a live interview, it is important to consider how to present yourself, how you come across and how you will tackle questions. 'We remind people that they are granting their time to the television audience, rather than the other way around, and that comes as almost a revelation - it often takes the pressure off,' adds Rivett-Carnac.

'People really fear television interviews,' says Caesar-Gordon. 'But the key is to see the media as an opportunity and not a threat. Know your audience, tailor your message to that audience and then deliver your message in a sincere and appropriate way.'

Today's audiences are very savvy, and know when a speaker is being less than truthful. Therefore, credibility is vital. 'If you say something that is not credible, then people will disbelieve everything else you say,' warns Huddart. 'If you have made a mistake, be honest about it - we all hate people in denial or on the defensive.'

'If you are not sorry, then do not say that you are,' adds Caesar-Gordon. 'If you look at some of the apologies issued by bankers at the Treasury Select Committee last year, you can see there was no repentance, and no-one believed they were sincere. We are now getting a lot of business from people who saw how career limiting those comments were.'

As Watson says: 'The work we do is not charm school. It is the way that you think and prepare which will give you a better chance of getting your message across. Everyone has a built-in spin monitor and bullshit filter now and viewers can spot it a mile off. There are trophies for CEOs who can talk openly and frankly and honestly and marry that with a good argument.'  

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