Tim Goodyer’s blog on the pro audio press and its relationship with the industry is thought-provoking, and merits serious consideration by those who care about the press and its future.

Our press needs a re-think if it wishes to become free and gain the authority, influence and revenue of mainstream media. However, there's a powerful argument that the press is what the industry has made it – or allowed it to become.

If (and it is definitely still an ‘if’) any titles within the global pro audio trade press have ambitions to add independent news reporting to their portfolio of published material, then that can only be achieved with the co-operation of the business they serve. To facilitate this change, the working relationship between the pro audio business and the press must be completely reappraised.

Specifically, the industry has to stop treating the press simply as an extension of its marketing machine, and credit it with the ability, ambition and professionalism to handle ‘hard’ news. At the same time, the press has to stop being (apparently) satisfied with regurgitating PR and demonstrate its credentials as a corps of responsible journalists and gatherers of news. We need a new collaboration, a symbiotic commercial relationship that will potentially bring worthwhile benefits to all.

Write all about it…

The industry needs to wake up to the fact that news is news, whether it’s good or not, and also that there are few secrets in this business. More importantly, it needs to recognise that the correct presentation of ostensibly negative news can at best be very beneficial, or at worst limit damage – it’s infinitely better to control potentially negative messages than to pretend they don’t exist and let the market form its own (frequently wrong) opinion.

Formulaic, positive-message-only PR is not only one-dimensional and unrepresentative, it is actively damaging because it can make the originator seem remote and aloof. However, add in a good proportion of ‘real’ news and suddenly the mix looks much more interesting. Reality adds credibility, and negative news presented well will likely gain sympathy among those whose opinions really matter. If done well, it also blindsides competitors who would normally make capital out of unreported but well-known bad news.

A consistent element of genuine news reporting would also provide an opportunity for both the press and its advertisers to engage much more closely with the industry they serve. This business is characterised, defined even, by the relentless pragmatism of most people in it, a reality driven by the nature of what they do. This allows them to detect the faintest whiff of PR from afar, and most are neither impressed nor motivated by it.

As a hypothetical example, imagine a highly respected and successful pro audio manufacturing business whose products are found in many areas of global sound reinforcement. Its products have significant market penetration so the company generates a steady stream of PR, and because it spends fairly serious money on advertising, this output is disseminated automatically throughout the global trade press.

As the storm clouds of global recession gathered in early 2009, this company embarked on a series of strategic measures to combat the forthcoming tough trading conditions. Among other things, its global workforce was reduced by more than 10 per cent, many of its highest earners had mandatory reductions applied to their salaries, and already-published expansion plans were either shelved or abandoned.

External communication, like that of most of its contemporaries confined to traditional PR, now had to handle some non-positive news. The option selected was the standard industry choice – say nothing and rather hope that it would just go away. Which, of course, it didn’t.

On the safe assumption that its actions could not possibly remain secret, the absence of a formal statement actively promoted negative gossip throughout the business. It also made excellent material for detractors and competitors who made sales mileage out of it, even though some of them had taken their own, possibly even more draconian, steps in dealing with the same global issues.

Most of all it highlighted the fact that the company’s relationship with the trade press, like the vast majority of its contemporaries, was one-dimensional. It never occurred to the company to use the press to limit the damage, and perhaps even create some positives. Predictably, the scale of advertising spend also meant that no editorial comment concerning the company’s troubles appeared anywhere, even though the trade press was most certainly aware of them: in fact, the advertising spend actually suppressed the news.

New world view

So, what would have happened if our brave new relationship between industry and press actually existed? In all probability, our imaginary company would have approached a respected industry journal with an offer of a major exclusive story following an interview with a senior corporate officer. In that meeting the company would have described its position and explained in detail why it was taking those steps, what it expected the outcome to be, how it was looking after the staff it had shed, and when it anticipated returning to happier times. It would have created an opportunity to put its story across with honesty and positivity, and in doing so, would have reinforced its integrity, confounded its detractors, enhanced its market position, probably earned some sympathy as well as some new admirers, and definitely elevated itself in the opinion of those whose opinions really matter.

How so?

Because ultimately the people in the industry who write the cheques, who really wield the purchasing power and make the strategic decisions, are business leaders themselves. As such they are perfectly placed to understand and empathise with the tough but necessary decisions that our example company was forced to take. Let the hangers-on tittle-tattle as they will: getting the messaging right, especially when it’s less than good news, positively influences the right people.

This is one of the central functions of a modern marketing department. It is about managing the message whatever it may be – sophisticated, professional companies are not just producers of PR, they proactively manage every kind of news with skill, subtlety, awareness, experience and a certain deftness of touch.

Companies and individuals with these attributes could work closely with responsible, professional, news-hungry trade titles to create an independent, impartial and free press that would become a vital element in the fabric of the business. There would, of course, still be a PR element but it would be the icing rather than the whole cake.

What we’re really talking about here, however, is maturity. We’re a young business – are we ready for this? You decide.

Answers on a postcard to the usual address...

Our source, Audio Boy, is an audio industry insider, following the Fast-and-Wide brief.