PR and media relations
Empica is a full-service PR agency which means we create strategies using a combination of tactics to help you build trusted relationships with your internal and external audiences, in line with your needs and budget.
One of these strategies is media relations where we work hard on your behalf to develop positive partnerships with journalists, bloggers and influencers, and generate great quality media coverage for your people and your organisation.
Our services tend to fall into the following broad categories:
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PR and media relations strategy, messaging and story development
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Retained programmes to generate ongoing media coverage to keep clients in the spotlight
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Social media campaigns
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Working with influencers
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Launch events to support specific projects
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Thought leadership
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Crisis communications and reputation management consultancy
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Bespoke media training
Our PR and media relations offering is enhanced by our content creation capabilities which include anything and everything to do with the written word including social media posts, blogs, thought leadership articles, newsletters and magazine content, as well as photography, graphics, video and podcast production.
Our services tend to fall into the following broad categories:
-
PR and media relations strategy, messaging and story development
-
Retained programmes to generate ongoing media coverage to keep clients in the spotlight
-
Social media campaigns
-
Working with influencers
-
Launch events to support specific projects
-
Thought leadership
-
Crisis communications and reputation management consultancy
-
Bespoke media training
Our PR and media relations offering is enhanced by our content creation capabilities which include anything and everything to do with the written word including social media posts, blogs, thought leadership articles, newsletters and magazine content, as well as photography, graphics, video and podcast production.
Strategy, messaging and story development
We invest time in getting to understand the context in which you’re operating and what needs to happen to bring about a step change in public perception. Our discovery workshops enable us to come up with a time-bound, measurable plan to meet your aims, resources and budgets.
PR helps to shape the way people think, feel and behave towards you, your business, organisation or brand. We help you to identify the stories that matter – to the media, your clients and customers, and your people. Communication messages and positioning statements are aligned to your goals and conveyed clearly and consistently.
When delivered strategically, PR has been proven to make a demonstrable difference. Success means different things to different businesses – but we have seen PR being used to great effect to increase demand for products and services, support recruitment and retention, foster good community relations and bring about change.
PR also has a key role to play in enhancing and safeguarding reputations and adding credibility and valuable third party endorsement.
Whatever your organisation is looking to achieve, talk to us and find out how we can help you take a more strategic approach and get the most out of your PR and media relations.
Retained PR programmes
PR works best when it is sustained as part of an ongoing programme of activities geared towards specific goals. It enables your PR agency to get to know you extremely well over time and act as an extension of your business, representing you professionally and accurately, and spotting opportunities when they arise.
Our PR managers are fully invested in the clients they work for, building lasting relationships and going above and beyond, to generate consistently high levels of media interest and coverage, and keep them in the spotlight.
Most of our clients work with us on a retained basis for a set monthly fee, which enables us to create and deliver high impact PR campaigns on their behalf. Every client has a dedicated PR manager or PR team, reporting into their marketing team or directly to the senior management team, depending on the nature of the business and the work to be done.
If you’re looking to outsource your PR activities, please contact us to find out more about what we offer and how we can support you.
Launch events
For more than three decades, we’ve been helping our clients to launch themselves and their new businesses, products and services – as part of an ongoing, retained relationship or as a stand-alone project.
Whatever the launch, we will help you to devise a strategic plan to achieve the outcome you’re looking for. Our PR and content creation teams will then get to work to make sure the launch is communicated effectively and generates the media publicity you are looking for.
We will provide as much support as required, depending on your resources and budget.
We can handle every aspect, including venue research and hire, advising on format, guest speakers, VIP guests, invitations and mail outs, social media promotion, all aspects of media relations and publicity, interviews, giveaways, photography, video and so on.
Alternatively, we can just focus on the media to ensure your launch gets the exposure you’re looking for.
If you’re planning a launch or any other event, and would like PR support, please contact us to discuss the possibilities.
Working with influencers
Working with influencers can add a powerful and persuasive dimension to public relations campaigns. PR is all about third-party endorsement, and celebrities and social media influencers are increasingly moving into this space and helping to shape public opinion alongside journalists and other trusted sources.
Empica can help you identify and collaborate with influencers who deliver your messages in a way that feels personal and credible. These are individuals with strong personal brands and whose content resonates with their significant online followings.
The Empica team is adept at pairing brands, products and services with influencers, and can lead conversations with content creators or their agents to set a budget and create campaigns that bridge the gap between promotion and storytelling.
Talk to us to find out more.
Thought leadership campaigns
One of the ways in which leaders and individuals raise their profiles effectively is through professional ‘thought leadership’. At Empica, we work closely with leaders and individuals with specific areas of expertise, to hone their views and opinions for PR purposes, teasing out the elements that journalists, clients and customers, referrers and other stakeholders, will find newsworthy, interesting and engaging.
We develop thought leadership programmes for leaders and groups of individuals that showcase their expertise and position them as the ‘go to’ expert for a particular service, challenge, topic or issue.
These thought leadership programmes are bespoke and carefully tailored to each individual’s goals, within the context of broader business or organisational requirements.
Typically, our work in this area includes a strategic planning and discovery session; media training; media relations including press releases, by-lined articles and comment pieces to support features, and broadcast opportunities; social media posts; blogs; and copywriting for a range of communications.
Please contact us to discuss your personal profile-raising ambitions or thought leadership opportunities for key people within your organisation.
Press office services
We act as a first port of call for all media enquiries to your organisation.
At Empica, most of our team worked as journalists before embarking on their careers in PR and communications. They understand the needs of journalists and how the media works, enabling them to prioritise demands from the media.
We know when a quick response to a media enquiry may be needed from someone at the highest level and when it can be dealt with at a more relaxed pace.
We will work with you to develop answers to the most frequently asked questions and create a knowledge bank of information, product and service data, and case studies for use by the media.
By acting as your press office, we are ideally placed to identify opportunities for media collaboration and recommend the best course of action. This can include contributing commentary or thought leadership pieces to regular planned and influential features as well as leveraging any advertising or sponsorship spend to maximum effect editorially.
Empica’s press officers are skilled at dealing with all manner of enquiries from journalists working for print, broadcast, digital and social media.
We increasingly handle enquiries from influencers too.
Crisis communications and reputation management
Empica advises on and manages your communications in the event of an incident or crisis.
Over more than three decades, we have built a national reputation for our crisis communications and reputation management expertise. We are here to help you prepare for the unexpected. When things go wrong, we will be by your side, helping you to manage difficult conversations and communicate your position effectively.
Undesirable events are a fact of life for every organisation. No matter how well managed, there will come a point where something negative happens. How you respond can make all the difference.
Whatever it is … a cyber security incident, data breach, fire, flood, customer complaint, employee grievance, industrial accident, criminal activity or professional negligence … a negative incident can escalate out of all proportion if the communications around it are not handled properly.
By being honest and transparent with the media and those affected, we will support you so that you can be at the recovery and rebuilding stage as quickly as possible.
Experience has shown that people will remember and judge you on how you handle an incident just as much, if not more, than by the incident itself.
When a negative incident occurs, poor communication rapidly gives rise to the spread of inaccurate information, rumour, myth and speculation online, which can damage reputations and adversely affect the viability of a business, destroying staff and customer confidence.
Prevention is always better than cure. We are here to help your team prepare for incidents and accidents; to support you in building a crisis plan and rehearsing it.
When the crisis hits we stand beside you, drafting statements, providing a press office to deal with the media attention, enabling your top team to be free to deal with the incident.
Our experience includes supporting people through inquiries, inquests, criticism from regulatory authorities, staff issues, customer issues and financial and management mistakes.
PR and media training
Empica’s training services are bespoke and carefully tailored to suit your needs. Our most commonly requested training programmes include media interview techniques, good media relations practice, effective story telling and staying on-message, crisis communications and reputation management.
We’ve supported people working at all levels in a wide range of businesses, schools, charities and other organisations. Typically, we deliver training to directors and senior managers, HR and marketing teams, new recruits, newly-qualified PR practitioners and designated media spokespeople.
Our group training can be adapted to suit any format and occasion, including onboarding programmes, lunch time learning sessions, company away days and team building events. They are also often run as stand-alone half-day, full-day or two-day workshops.
Our one-to-one coaching sessions are also bespoke and developed to suit individual needs. Training can be carried out at your own premises or one of our recommended venues.
We have a dedicated team of experienced in-house trainers. They are all former journalists, have provided training throughout their careers and are practicing PR professionals. They are supported by our technical team using our own video and recording equipment.
Training venues
Our PR and media training courses can be delivered at your premises, any suitable conference hotel or at our chosen venue,
Ham Green House, just outside Bristol and close to the M5 junction 19.
Ham Green House is a wonderful retreat where our hire fees go to support the charity Penny Brohn UK, which helps people live well with cancer. Group training can be held inside or in the spectacular grounds.
There are ensuite bedrooms available for those travelling a distance and the opportunity to hold two-day courses or start a course in the evening with a healthy meal and run a full day’s event the next day.
Our half-day course can be combined with a half-day fun experience with cookery demonstrations, mindfulness and yoga, film-making tasks among the wide range of options available.
Some of our clients like to combine their training with other workshops and events. We are very flexible and will tailor the training to suit your needs.
Our services tend to fall into the following broad categories:
-
PR and media relations strategy, messaging and story development
-
Retained programmes to generate ongoing media coverage to keep clients in the spotlight
-
Social media campaigns
-
Working with influencers
-
Launch events to support specific projects
-
Thought leadership
-
Crisis communications and reputation management consultancy
-
Bespoke media training
Our PR and media relations offering is enhanced by our content creation capabilities which include anything and everything to do with the written word including social media posts, blogs, thought leadership articles, newsletters and magazine content, as well as photography, graphics, video and podcast production.
Examples of our work
