The life of a media relations manager at a bustling communications agency is one that cannot be defined by a day to day schedule – it is ever changing! One day you can be planning an event, the next you’re writing news releases for clients, or like I did recently, you’re attending a tv segment with one your clients.
We recently secured a coveted segment for one of our clients, Brew Box, on one of Toronto’s number one morning shows, Breakfast Television, to talk about Oktoberfest. Our client offers monthly craft beer subscriptions and the segment featured traditional Oktoberfest food and beer pairings. The segment had a lot of moving parts to coordinate including finding traditional Bavarian costumes for the Brew Box spokesperson and host Dina Pugliese, getting the decor for the table set up, and of course, coordinating the food for the pairings. Utilizing our strong contacts with various vendors we were able to secure the costumes from Malabar and the food from Beer Bistro without any additional cost. We made sure to ask for a shout out to both of the vendors during the segment.
The morning of the segment was an early one! The segment was set to go live to air at 8:15 a.m., with a 7:30 a.m. call time. For me that meant an arrival time of 7:00 a.m. to ensure everything was ready to go and to be there to greet the clients and bring them into the studio. As the On Q team (myself and our two awesome interns) arrived on set, I first spoke with the producer to find out where and when we could set up. We brought some amazing props to to help create a harvest table which went well with the theme of the segment. Once we got the go ahead, we started setting up the table while I ran through the segment with the client to ensure he is felt confident and had his key messages ready to go.
After we set up the table, the client and I talked to the producer once more to go over some key details. He then met with host Dina, who talks to the client, asked him a few questions including how to properly pronounce his name. With a few minutes to air, I offered our client some reminders and we were ready to film the segment! Live TV is so much fun to watch but it can be unnerving if you haven’t done it before. Having those few minutes before going live to air with my client helped calm his nerves.
Once the segment started, I watched from the sidelines, making note of everything that was said and listening for a mention of all the key messages we crafted. The five minute segment seemed to fly by! Dina was super engaging and our client did a fantastic job! Brew Box hit all the messages and showcased why they are experts in the beer industry, and everyone was happy. Once the segment ended, I recapped the segment with our client, talked about the great parts and offered pointers for the next time. Then, all that was left to do was pack everything up. We left the food and beer behind for the producers, hosts and crew to enjoy as a thank you.
Now it is back to the office to work on my other clients, send some pitches and get ready to do it all over again.
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