Media relations experts

What our media relations experts do

Media relations at Profile begins with the themes a senior person should be known for, because a pitch with no position behind it is a one-off. Profile then identifies the business, finance and trade titles the client's buyers already read, and works out which stories those titles will actually run: research findings, a considered argument on a live issue, a comment offered to a reporter on deadline. Profile writes every piece, and the client reviews and signs off. Placement is genuine editorial, secured with journalists directly. Paid space is never presented as coverage.

How they work

Media relations runs on other people's judgement and other people's deadlines, which makes it a relationship business rather than a distribution one. A journalist takes a pitch because the person offering it has been useful before, understands the beat, and is not wasting their time today. That is built slowly and spent quickly. Profile's press team works its own contacts rather than sending releases at a list, and turns down more than it sends, because the pitch that should not have gone out costs the next three. The other half is being ready: a reporter working to a four o'clock deadline will use the spokesperson who answers by two.

When to bring them in

The usual trigger is a senior figure whose standing inside the business is not matched by anything a buyer or a journalist finds when they look them up. Others include a leadership team that needs two to five people profiled in parallel, a corporate position that only carries weight when the people running the company say it out loud, or reporters currently calling a competitor for comment. Profile asks for at least six months, because coverage compounds.