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TRANSCRIPT:

DOUG: What would you say is the key thing? You use the phrase media that matters. What really defines one key thing that defines what media that matters is?

RICHARD: Well, for us, media that matters is consistent, high impact media for our clients. So, it’s very important when a client goes on CNBC or has an opportunity to speak to the Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times, that they make the most of those opportunities. So, it’s making the most it’s making sure that those interviews matter, but it’s also getting the media that’s going to be most impactful. That helps our clients to achieve their business goals, whether that’s The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, CNBC, Bloomberg, The Financial Times. Those are the places that our clients who are were mostly asset and wealth managers and financial services clients. That’s where they want to be, because that’s really what moves the needle for them.

DOUG: And obviously people are consuming media differently. And obviously, given what we do as our business with get our clients on television, we believe in the importance of media. How is that changing with the different ways people are consuming content, whether it’s through social, on devices, not just with the print publications, obviously, or through the broadcast televisions?

RICHARD: It’s my opinion. Maybe it’s biased, but we hear this from our clients is that media is more important today than really ever because of the fact that people, to your point, are consuming so much information. People have very short attention spans and, you know, you can go on LinkedIn. And oftentimes I have to say a lot of that content gets pretty dry and pretty boring. So, it’s when you get a interview on CNBC or a profile in the Financial Times, which, you know, thankfully we’re able to do quite consistently, consistently for our clients that you’re able to really stand out. Social media is a great way to repurpose the media that you get. So, you know, the old saying is, if a tree falls in the forest, if somebody’s there to hear it, if a client is on CNBC at 2:43 PM on a Friday afternoon, is anybody watching it? Well, yeah, people are watching it. But the idea is that you want to take a clip of that interview and to distribute it through all of your social media channels LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram. Put it on your website, send it out in emails, talk about it in client meetings and sales presentations and even at conferences.

DOUG: Yeah. And one of the things we’re seeing and advising clients is repurpose it for internal communications. There are a lot of times we’ll do that if there’s a leader of an organization out there, what they’re saying to a public audience tends to be even more credible than that, than what they might be saying internally. So, if you can repurpose that for internal communication, it’s also valuable. And I guess that explains why relationships with the producers journalists matters so much these days for PR practitioners.

RICHARD: So, your previous point about the media being consumed by internal alliances? I would say for us, it’s important when we generate media on our agency, which is few and far between, but we get some, uh, it’s a great recruiting tool. And then for some of our clients, especially some of the larger fortune 500 clients, like a Raymond James or Citizens Bank, they’re definitely talking to their own people and investors as well as to potential clients. In terms of relationships, you know, relationships are really everything for us, whether it’s relationships with producers, reporters, relationships with our clients, or even relationships internally that we’ve been able to form. You know, one of the things that I am very proud of at the LPR is that we have a very, very low turnover and the longevity of some of our people. My partner, Seth Linden, has been with me for 18 years, Zach Liebowitz, who runs our broadcast operations for 15 years, Zach Howey, 14 years. Stephanie Dressler, 12 years. So, it’s these relationships, both internally as well as some with some of our clients. We’ve have long standing relationships. One of our clients has been with us since 2007. I know that since 2010, but it’s also relationships with journalists and producers, which really are stock and trade.

DOUG: So, what are some of your most effective strategies for securing the media coverage when it’s such a crowded landscape? Obviously having good clients with good stories to tell, but sometimes the story the client wants to tell isn’t really one the media wants to gravitate to. So, what are some of the approaches you use to try and get that coverage?

RICHARD: And then that’s a great point about clients not always having the greatest stories to tell. What we like to tell clients. And I really tell them this, but before they sign up with us, is that every client wants to talk about themselves. As we say in the investment management business. Every investment manager wants to talk their book, right? They want to talk about what makes them special. They want that profile in the Wall Street Journal, or they want that 5-or-6 minute segment on Bloomberg, where it’s just about what the company is doing and what they believe, and we’re able to get that at times for clients. But more frequently, what we’re able to do is generate ongoing, consistent thought leadership. It’s a lot easier, as you know, to get a reporter or a producer to interview your client if they’re going to talk about or provide expert commentary on stories that they have to do, which could be Nvidia’s earnings or the latest with Elon Musk or what President Trump is doing with tariffs. I mean, those are all stories that really engender, honestly, commentary and analysis.

DOUG: You made a great point about need to be part of a narrative, not just a story about them, especially going for the top outlets. Is there anything else? And obviously different shows of different formats? Some of them, they’re really looking to interview the CEOs of publicly traded companies. What do you look for to get a top outlet booking?

RICHARD: You have to understand what’s happening on really an hour by hour basis, because the news cycle is changing so quickly. I mean, really like two weeks ago, three weeks ago, all the talk was about tariffs, tariffs, tariffs and the stock market meltdown. Today the talk is about budget reconciliation earnings from big tech companies offshoring manufacturing. So, whatever the theme or stories are of the day or the week, we need to make sure that we’re staying on top of that, advising our clients Science appropriately and making sure that we’re getting the content, the ideas and thoughts that we need from them in order to be able to share those with reporters and producers. Now we’ve gotten being a little bit immodest for a second. I think, especially for some of the clients that we have those longer term relationships with, we already know what they’re thinking and what they’re going to say, right? We often can pitch reporters or start talking reporters even before we’ve gotten those points from our clients. Relationships are so key to what we do make having those relationships with reporters, taking them out to coffees, lunch, just going to their office and seeing them. We’re able to talk to them when they’re not on deadline, when they’re a little bit, maybe a little friendlier with a smile on their face. And that’s like an excellent time to pitch them and make sure that we’re forging those relationships, which are going to help us when we do need to go to them when they’re on deadline.

DOUG: Yeah. And I used to say, when people ask me what’s the best pitch? I say it’s, how was your daughter’s softball game? Because that shows you have a connection with them that you could talk about what will work and what can’t. Now, when it comes to print, sometimes you can get the interview, but they might not publish it or go with it. So, do you have some keys and tips that you advise the spokespeople you’re working with? You’ve got the interview. What can they do to give a better chance of getting the story angle they want, and the types of quotes they want to include it?

RICHARD: I think it really starts with messaging. We spend a lot of time with our clients at the beginning to make sure that they, the messages, the what they’re going to be communicating to the media is something that is not only important to them, but is relevant to their audiences. So, oftentimes it’s speaking succinctly in soundbites and then practicing and practicing. So, media coaching is ingrained into what we do. I’ve heard anecdotally from agencies and from clients that oftentimes media coaching is charged. Separately, it charges a project. And for us, media coaching is really part and parcel of what we do because we’re not going to be able to generate. To your point, how do we get our clients into those print stories? Well, media coaching isn’t just about making sure that, you know, you know where to look at the camera or you know what shirt to wear, or you know, you’re smiling and saying the emperor’s name. It’s about speaking succinctly, answering the question, and then bridging to the point that you want to make, and then repeating that throughout the interview. So, it just gives the client more bites at the apple, because in a 45 minute interview, the reporter is taking notes and they may go back. And just to your point, they may look at quote them once, and that quote could be a throwaway quote like, you know, we’ll see what happens or this is really bad for investors. And, you know, we don’t like to see our clients being quoted that way. So, it’s really about practice prep, messaging and bridging to the points that you really want to make and repeating those throughout the interview.

DOUG: Yeah. And what you say makes so much sense, even for the satellite tours we do. We include media tours, interview prep for this folks person, because that’s a bit different because the questions tend to be so specific and way more likely to be known in advance. One other tactic that I would like to say is whenever you’re doing an interview, they’ll typically say, are you good? Do you have everything, anything you’d like to add? Don’t let that be wasted. Bring back your main point that you think is most newsworthy event, especially if it’s a video. That’s the easiest thing for them to find, but if it’s print, they’re certainly going to take note of it. And that’ll be the key thing they remember. Before we wrap up with your final thoughts. Could you maybe share something about yourself that people might not be aware of? And maybe if that’s shaped you at all?

RICHARD: My heritage as a Jewish American is extremely important to me, and I really learned about that from my parents, who both were Holocaust survivors. My mother surviving the Warsaw Ghetto, my father escaping Germany, and they came to this country penniless. Thankfully, they were able to build a very nice life for themselves through hard work, resilience and determination. And I like to believe that they were able to instill in me values, both of resilience and working hard, as well as trying to be kind and good to people. And I believe that that’s informed the way in which I try to run the agency and relate to people, both clients as well as our team members. And it’s also made me really more sensitive to diversity, different faiths, um, different people of different nationalities. And it’s really trying to take all of that and bring it together. And once again, it goes back to relationships as we as we’ve talked about so much today.

DOUG: Yeah. And it says a lot both about your parents and you. That they were able to turn that experience into something positive and that you brought something positive about that. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and ideas. Any sort of final message you want to share with some of the viewers about what we’ve been talking about today?

RICHARD: Media relations, public relations is part art, part science, but the most important thing at heart is that PR executives need to think like storytellers. They need to know what makes news. They need to know what media matters and when. It’s important to be in touch with the reporter, when to pull back, and then also to make sure that you’re building ongoing, lasting, consistent relationships with reporters, with your clients, and with your team members.

DOUG: Great. Thanks so much for being on the podcast. We appreciate it.

RICHARD: It’s great being here.