Five years of using brand journalism in Northern Ireland

By ELEANOR McGILLIE

FIVE years ago today I launched a brand journalism to PR in Northern Ireland and I have to say I haven’t looked back. To the clients we have worked with during these five years – thank you. You are our customers and you matter greatly.

All business owners will know what it takes to set up your own company. It’s hard work, you need to be dedicated, stand firm and you need to know what path you want to go down.

Having worked directly in the media for nearly 20 years I have worked with many amazing people from editors, journalists, photographers, videographers, sub editors, commercial teams and businesses in the private sector as well as many public sector organisations.

The media is a fascinating industry to be a part of and it has faced many challenges over the years. One thing which will never change for me is the importance of quality journalism – professional media law trained storytellers who cut through the jargon, spot the gaps, know what questions need to be asked and answered, and, as well as that, know, with each and every story we write, the audience we want to captivate.

Brand’s are no different. In our mobile, digital, multi-platform, sharing economy, brand journalism is an even more relevant communications approach than it was many years ago when early adopters like McDonalds, CocaCola, Cisco, HSBC and IBM, to name a few, integrated brand journalism into their communications. These organisations knew the importance of connecting people with their brands. Afterall, these are their customers.

We all know people do business with people. People want to read stories which they can relate to – stories which are well written and well presented to the very people in the media in which you aspire to them to appear.

We use our storytelling skills to connect brands and people – be that through traditional media, social media, workshops, events, conferences – whatever!

But there’s a lot of noise out there on social media so it’s vital to ensure that you, your business and your brand is being heard.

No matter how big or small your business is we all have a story to tell.

That’s why I introduced brand journalism into public relations in Northern Ireland as a powerful communication tool. And since then we have worked with an extremely amazing bunch of business people who recognise the importance of their own story to their success and the relevance of communicating their story to the people they want to hear it.

In the last five years our multi media brand journalism approach has led us to;

• writing corporate magazines
• writing stories, features and commentary pieces for newspapers and magazines
• writing hundreds of blog posts for client websites
• designing, building and managing websites
• writing and managing SEO content
• creating content for social
• managing social media
• making films
• writing numerous successful awards submissions
• pitching to broadcasters
• managing PR for clients at major conferences
• thankfully very little crisis communications
• campaign creation and management
• writing for stakeholders

And the list goes on.

Technology is amazing. Data is crucial. And thankfully the world of communications has changed so dramatically. Smart people recognise that imposing one way message-pushing in the customer’s mind is out of date. Instead, the message-engaging concept of brand journalism is continually increasing in importance in this new, increasingly fragmented, personalized, digital, 24-7, mobile era.

And we are delighted to be a part of it. Results are key to success for everyone. It’s a win win situation.

If you wish to explore how our brand journalism approach to PR can help you tell your story call us o 028 3756 9569.

MGMPR Lts is a multi-media PR agency which uses brand journalism as a powerful communication tool. We are a team of media law trained professionals who have the storytelling skills to engage your audience to your brand by communicating through multiple publishing platforms. By ‘Telling Your Story’ we are building on your success.