#PRTools - Christmas Media Events

As always on the YM blog, we try to give our readers some insights in to the world of PR. This week, we'll be looking at a crucial PR tool for many consumer brands, a Christmas media event. Looking at some key points as to why they are important, especially for product focused brands, and how to capitalise on them for maximum return.

Christmas is the busiest time of year for consumers and retailers, with most of us spending more money in November and December than any other time of year. For brands, Christmas sales targets are crucial and meeting these targets isn't always easily achieved. With so much competition in the market, it's vital for brands to make noise in the media and ensure their customer is aware of their offering.

Consumer communications is a specialist area for YM and as such we have created countless successful media events for clients. Christmas media events require experience to maximise return on investment. So what are the key components to a successful Christmas media event? Let's dive in to the details.

Media relations - Having the right media relationships is imperative to the success of a Christmas media event. Many brands have similar events around the same time of year so it's essential that the PR agency you work with has the relationships with key media to ensure their attendance. Most importantly, the PR professional must be equipped to follow through with the media guests and generate quality coverage for the client.

Suppliers - Media aren't the only important contacts for a successful event, but also suppliers. Many third party suppliers may need to be utilised, so working with an agency that has key relationships with suppliers is essential. Depending on the event, a client may need anything from catering to entertainment or models and tech support. We've worked with suppliers across many varied events, giving us the key contacts to work with the best in the industry at a reasonable rate.

Wow Factor - Working with a third party supplier is often an essential element of a Christmas media event, especially if a brand wants to stand out from the crowd. Working with your PR agent to find something to wow the guests and entice attendance can be an important factor to the success of the event. Most often the PR agent will brainstorm this with the client, leaning on their industry experience of what works vs what is a poor use of budget.

Writing skills - Getting the media in the room and having your event go really well is nothing if the PR agent can't follow up with strong assets, the key asset usually being a press release. Having the content from the brand represented strongly to media professionals is crucial to securing the all important, quality coverage in key publications. Having a PR agent who is an expert writer is an incredibly important factor to the success of a Christmas media event.

Event Management - A lot of preparation goes in to running a media event, specifically around the event day itself. It's important that the PR agent is on hand on the day to run the show, so the client can actually enjoy the event and have the necessary free time to interact with key media guests. A good PR professional knows that they have to wear many hats, so on event day we're prepared for all eventualities and keep everything and everyone on schedule to ensure a successful event.

There you have it, some top insights around the importance of Christmas media events. There are of course many other factors that determine the success of a media event, something we are experts at, so if you have any questions please do email us.

YM