A great way to secure coverage for your story or brand on broadcast media can be to use a third-party spokesperson or celebrity to promote it.
Using the right interviewee can really take the commercial sting out of a story, plus it can be a good opportunity to add some celebrity sparkle or glamour.
If you don’t want to go down the celebrity route, have a think about the kind of expert who might be right for your story. If it’s a health story then perhaps a doctor would be a good person to put your point across, if it’s about behaviour perhaps a commentator or psychologist could be the right fit. Whoever you choose, make sure they have some connection to the story – broadcasters will be turned off if they can’t see why a spokesperson is relevant.
Whoever you choose it’s really important that you make sure that they haven’t done any other campaigns for at least six weeks before yours – even really popular spokespeople can be turned down if journalists think they’ve been on air too recently. It’s also a good idea to check their availability. More and more stations will request pre-records, early or late interviews, and if your spokesperson isn’t available, you could miss out on some great coverage.
If you decide to ask a celebrity to promote your brand, we’d recommend using someone who’s topical or has been in the news – but make sure they’ve been in the news for the right reasons. A celeb who’s often pictured falling out of clubs might not be the right person to represent a healthy living brand, for example.
Finally, make sure your spokesperson understands your messaging, but isn’t going to go overboard – see our related blog: Tips for Spokespeople. And don’t forget – Shout! can help with suggesting appropriate interviewees, booking them, briefing them and media training – helping you to get the most out of your spokesperson and the best possible coverage for your story, give one of the team a call on 020 7240 7373 for more information.
