Media Kit

Media kits had been around for ages and is a standard procedure in most media briefings. Though the online media kits are pretty convenient for computer-savvy journos, but nothing beats the stuff that anyone would love to carry back home.
During my days as trainee reporter in Delhi, I would love those fancy folders and jackets at the press conferences for the neat package of information that one could find handy, there were those from public sector undertakings, that stuffed anything and everything from annual reports, to brochures, to product literature, the CEO's messages, and lengthy typed out press releases running into several pages, and it used to be a real effort to search out the desired information. That of course was the time in 80s when there were only typewriters and bulky smudgy xerox machines.
Today the media kits are much more fancy and we have already moved on from floppy drives, to CDs, and now to small pen drives containing the entire information, photos, data, can be neatly organised and distributed.
There had always been innovative media kits that some of the organisations do experiment with, especially the real estate, and entertainment industry. The recent 3Idiots release carried a small 'guide to being an idiot' with usual merchandise, while Taare Zameen Par had a notebook with scribbles of the child character Ishaan.
I still remember when one of the real estate developer wanting to sell his housing project in Himachal, created a media kit shaped like a book, with cutout inserts inside containing a bottle of perfume that smelled like deodar trees, had neatly packaged leaves of a tree, and a cassette that described the project with ambiant sound of a forest in the background.
A good media kit, however, always is useful that helps strengthen the brand and its recall value. However, one can avoid stuffing the information that may not be of much use, or can be supplied on further enquiries.
A good media kit for a press briefing session should have :
a. A usable news release with contact details;
b. A translated version for the vernacular media (or in languages of the media expected to participate)
c. Hi-res photographs, corporate logos, and photographs of the product being talked about;
d. Brief profile of the spokesperson/CEO
e. Separate sheet indicating the name/s of the persons on the dais (in case sitting order is known in advance) for giving out to the photo journalists and tv-crew.
f. FAQ sheet and other background information
g. Corporate/product literature relevant to the press conference;
h. Writing pad and pen inside the docket will always be a welcome addition.

CJ, CorePR

PR Milestone

On 30th October 2006, we have possibly passed a milestone in public relations. The press release turned the century. It is believed that Ivy Lee, who is also considered to be the father of modern public relations, created the first press release for his client, the Pennsylvania Railroad. This was following an accident on October 28, 1906, in which 50 people lost their lives when a three-car train met with an accident at Atlantic City. Lee convinced his clients to distribute a public statement on the accident and even take the journos on the accident site through a special train.

The New York Times is believed to have commended this approach of openness and published this press release, verbatim, in their 30th October 1906 issue with the header, 'Statement from the Road'.

Trust and honesty indeed is the hallmark of public relations; as someone has rightly said that truth is not a substitute for public relations. And that is the truth that all of us in the profession must appreciate and practise. CJ