Minnesota’s agriculture and food industry is the second largest economic sector in the state.  The 156 food manufacturing companies in Minnesota export more than $1 billion in products each year and employ more than 31,000 people.  Food-based retailers employ more than 121,000 Minnesotans and pay more than $1 billion in wages annually.

Increased inspections are leading to more warning letters, enforcement actions, and recalls in the food industry each year.

Businesses are judged on how fast and how well they can respond to an incident or crisis.  News and information today travels quickly, making it important to communicate immediately, effectively and efficiently with the media, consumers, regulators, and elected officials.

Goff Public is excited to join forces with Rural Strategies and McClung PR to bring this new offering to the food services industry.

Learn more about our new venture in this press release.

When you find yourself chatting with a member of the media, there’s typically one primary reason – the reporter is working on a story.  That means everything you say is fair game.

As a result, you need to go into that discussion armed with your key messages – sometimes called your “single overriding communications objectives” or SOCO for those who like acronyms.  Then stick to that SOCO like your life depends on it.

Here’s an example of a paid PR pro forgetting that rule.  A major new hotel and convention center that opened in the Washington, D.C., area had a norovirus outbreak and mice sightings.  When media reached the facility’s PR director, her response was, “I was like, ‘Oh, my God’ … it was a PR nightmare.”

OMG, yes.  It was totally like a nightmare – one that got worse when she responded that way.  A thoughtful and prepared spokesperson would have opened with a description of how the company has taken responsibility for any issues it could control, described steps that were taken to remedy problems, and moved on to highlight how things are headed in the right direction.  This PR flack does eventually get to some of those points, but the opening was atrocious. 

So keep in mind that you’re not just having a friendly chat with that nice reporter – he or she has a job to do and so do you.  You’re not talking to that reporter because you’re friends or to impress him or her with your extensive knowledge on a topic.  Whatever comes out of your mouth could end up in the story.  Know what you want to say, say it, and then say it again.  It’ll help keep you from having a nightmarish day, week or month.

(This is the first of three rules I have for media relations – the next two will follow in upcoming posts.)

Brian McClung, president, McClung Communications & Public Relations, LLC, is a strategic partner of Goff Public.  You can find Brian on Twitter at @bmcclung and @McClungPR.

In the three-part memo, Brian recaps the past week, previews the upcoming week, and analyzes the Minnesota public affairs scene.  The goal of the e-mail is to spur thought and discussion about Minnesota politics, public affairs, and policy issues.

Brian, former deputy chief of staff and spokesman for Governor Tim Pawlenty, is a major player in the public affairs industry.  His voice is a strong addition to political discourse in Minnesota.

In the first two weeks, more than 600 people subscribed to Brian’s memo.  To sign up for “McClung’s Midweek Memo,” click here.