For leadership at “household name” companies, brand management is crucial. And the public relations department of one Fortune 500 specialty retailer with a nationwide presence must be prepared for everything. With television and radio stations throughout the country running news and entertainment programs 24-hours-a-day, there is bound to be something said about the company and the effect could be beneficial or disastrous.
The retailer’s Public Relations Specialist says his job is 80 percent media relations and that he needs to address all the buzz—whether it is good or bad—that arises from television and radio coverage. “We have enough attention that if something major happens at our company, someone’s going to write about it,” says the specialist.
What runs on the airwaves will mold the company’s image and customers will take note. It is the job of this retailer’s P.R. specialist to gauge the seriousness of any given situation and lend support to local operations should a response be required or prepare headquarters management if a major crisis or opportunity comes up.
The Challenge
The specialist says that because the retailer has a small P.R. department, his team does not have the ability to manually monitor broadcast networks; due to its national footprint, it would be a monstrous task to track broadcasts in all 210 U.S. markets for radio and television.
During his tenure at the company, the P.R. specialist worked with two media monitoring providers but neither accomplished the job he needed done. “We just found too many bugs with their systems,” he says. “Too many times when it wouldn’t do what it was supposed to do, and there would be frequent outages.” The longer it takes for a problem to be identified, the worse it becomes. Having access to a clip quickly and efficiently, according to the specialist, is crucial.
The Solution
Fed up with unreliable service, the specialist and his P.R. team wanted to find something new. He tried out a free trial of TVEyes and his decision became clear. “We could see pretty transparently what we would be getting, and it was exactly what we were looking for,” he says. “When we looked further, we found useful capabilities of TVEyes that we didn’t even know we needed. It was a done deal.”
The specialist found that outages and bugs were a story of the past. If an issue with the brand, customer service, or a product arises, the company is informed of a station’s broadcast only a couple of minutes after the clip first airs. Receiving word so quickly, according to the specialist, is a huge advantage. Within moments, a link with the attached video clip can be passed between company employees.
“It’s so important to know what is being said about our company on the airwaves and this allows us to do that effectively and to take action if needed,” he says. “If we need to get the point across that a news story is harming local business conditions for our local operators, we can forward a clip directly and let them and everyone else see what it looks like.”
TVEyes benefits the company not only reactively but proactively as well. “If we have a store opening or a marketing campaign or a product that we’re trying to tell the world about, TVEyes comes in handy,” he says.
Client Benefits
The specialist says he has only found pleasant surprises after making the switch to TVEyes. A slew of perks he did not even know existed became clear the more his team dug into the service. He says that TVEyes makes editing, sharing, and saving clips simple. “Once we decide that a clip is worth looking at and editing and we save it, it is saved to our account permanently.” With TVEyes’ unlimited monitoring, the specialist can trust that TVEyes will keep him up to date on what’s going on around the country so he can spend more time accomplishing all the other components of his job – and he never has to worry about surprises on his bill as it’s “all I can eat – a flat monthly fee regardless of usage.”
Beyond the numerous features provided by the service, the specialist says he has been impressed by their expertise and willingness to help. In several instances, the company’s TVEyes assigned representative helped track down a clip and personally ensured it was delivered. The specialist says this was a big and welcome change after dealing with other companies who didn’t know its systems as well. “Within a matter of hours, we had what we were looking for,” he says. “They know their industry.” Lastly, he summarizes, “They have always been there for us.”
Want to learn more, or check out a free trial? Contact TVEyes Sales at +1 203-254-3600 x100 or email us at sales@tveyes.com.
