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MOTORCYCLING AUSTRALIA MEDIA GUIDE

FOR RIDERS, CLUBS AND PROMOTERS

Media plays an increasingly important part of Motorcycle Sport, and MA are pleased to provide the following guide for riders, clubs and promoters in order to learn more about how the media can best be utilised to gain publicity, maximise sponsorship and promote the sport to a wider audience.

The Motorcycling Australia Media Guide can also be found on page 32 of the 2010 Manual of Motorcycle Sport.

Get your local media involved:

Local media such as newspapers and radio stations are a great place to start to increase coverage of your efforts as a rider or for an event you are promoting. MA has electronic lists of Australian media contacts, which are available by contacting the Communications Department at MA’s head office.

If you’re just starting out and haven’t done much promotion work before, don’t be afraid to ask the media what information they need and if they have any advice for you.

Remember, if you have any questions about media/event promotion, your SCB and the MA Communications Department are only a phone call away.

Also consider asking around for someone studying Public Relations, Journalism or Marketing and Communications, who might be interested in helping out with your promotion as work experience. Contact your local university or TAFE to see if they run related courses and have some students who may be interested in helping out. There are many websites where you can advertise work experience placements to help with your promotion.

Find out if your local newspaper has a separate sports editor (if not speak to the news editor) and tell them about your efforts or event. Ask them if they’d be interested in coming out to see you ride or to attend the event, or if they’d like you to send more information through.

Similarly, when ringing your local radio station ask to speak to the news producer, or if you are interested in getting promotion on a particular program (e.g. the Sunday afternoon sports program) then ask to speak with the producer of that program.Again, explain what your news is and ask if they would like you to send them some more information.

If they ask you to send through more information, find out the best way to send this information through to them – fax, email, hard copy. Most of the time email will be preferred; as such the best format to present this information is as a press release.

PRESS RELEASES:

- Download a SAMPLE PRESS RELEASE     - Download a PRESS RELEASE TEMPLATE

A press release is a short, one page news story that provides the reader with the: who, what, when, where, and why of the story. This information should be included in the first one – two paragraphs of the release. It should also include a headline – which summarises the story, a date, and contact detailsat the end of the release for anyone seeking more information. (A downloadable press release template is available for you to use from the MA website at www.ma.org.au/media.)

In a press release you should;

* Write like a reporter writes a news story (read it through in your head in a news-reader voice to see if it works)
* Use simple and easy to understand language, as if a 10 year old could read it.
* Ensure your writing is short and snappy and get to the point quickly - one sentence is the equal to one paragraph in press releases
* Answer any questions a journalist may have, make it as easy as possible for them to write the story.
* Present the facts in an ‘inverted pyramid’ style of writing – the most important information always goes at the top, that way if only the first two or three paragraphs are read they still get the most important information.
* Proof read, proof read again and have someone else proof read your release for you. Check for spelling, grammar and the correct wording.
* Include an image.

INTERVIEWS:

If you are speaking with your local media and they are interested in interviewing you or someone else in order to write a story, the following are some of the do’s and don’ts of interviews for TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and websites, as well as pointers on preparation.

Preparation:

* Be accessible, return all calls within 24 hours and ensure you have a professional voicemail message that you regularly check.
* Write down key messages you wish to tell them about so that you stay focused when answering questions.
* Think of questions you might be asked and prepare some answers.
* Practice! It might sound stupid, and feel even worse but getting someone to ‘mock’ interview you is a great way to practice, as it will be much easier talking to a journalist than having a friend or family member interviewing you!
* Dress to suit the situation, always wear your team/sponsor/club clothing for interviews and official occasions. (And be mindful of visible tattoos and obvious piercings.).
* Be Punctual!

During the interview:

* Find out how much the journalist knows on the topic, it will change the type of answers you need to give.
* Find out the length of the interview, so you know how long your answers should be.
* Don’t feel like you have to start talking instantly, take a slow breath and take your time to think about the question. Speak slowly; be confident, clear and to the point.
* Don’t feel that you have to keep talking to fill the silence, if you’ve said all you want to say, stop talking!
* Avoid - waffling on and using; ‘um, ah’, ‘yeah, no, yeah’, ‘you know’ and putting ‘but’ and the end of each sentence. If you’re talking to someone from outside the industry, don’t use technical industry-specific words.
* Never ‘bag’ or talk negatively about others, the interview should be about you, and never lie.
* Keep in mind the facts of the event or your story; don’t go off on a tangent. Make sure you know all the facts about the race, the club, the championship, and the event, whatever it is that they are interviewing you about including things not directly related to you.
* If you had a bad race, or an event was rained out, don’t dwell on the negative, look for a positive angle. E.g. if you fell off and DNF’d, rather than talk about how bad it is, talk about how you’ve learned from it and will hopefully be able to improve next time.
* If you feel yourself loosing it, don’t be afraid to ask them what the question was again, and take your time to think about an answer.
* Use the opportunity to thank sponsors, teammates, parents and any anyone else who has helped you.

If television cameras are present:

* Don’t look at the camera, instead look at the person who is talking to you, maintain eye contact with them and don’t fidget.
* Don’t wear sunglasses on camera, however if they are sponsor glasses, place them on the top of your head.

At the end of an interview:

* Thank the journalist for their time.
* Ask who else they are interviewing and put them in touch with other people in the field (even your competition) and ask if there’s anything else you can help them with.
* Be a good resource for the journalist about the industry, not just what directly relates to you; if you help them out they will more likely cover your events.
* Journalism is based on trust so don’t burn a journalist with bad information.

It is important to remember that even if you have spent hours writing press releases, made countless phone calls and have been interviewed by a journalist, if something more ‘newsworthy’ comes up - it could be a dramatic car crash or something seemingly ridiculous like a dog saving a chicken - your story could be dropped and forgotten.

This can happen, and is not meant to discourage you, however it is a reality of promotion and public relations. It pays to have thick skin and to persevere no matter how many times your story gets rejected.

OTHER PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES:

In addition to media coverage there are other ways that you can increase promotion of an event that you are organising or riding in, which include:

* Creating posters and distributing them to shops along your town’s main street to put in their front window is a great way of increasing the event’s profile.
* Printing flyers to put in mail boxes of people in the local area.
* Visits to local schools with a bike and a rider to have a chat about what you do and rider safety. This is a great way to get children interested in the sport and you can take posters and some free tickets to give away.
* Setting up a static display in your local shopping centre (with centre permission) is also a great way of getting more people interested in the event.
Speak with your SCB or with the MA Communications Department for more information about these promotional activities.

SPONSORSHIP:

Sponsorship plays a vital role in the success of our sport, for an event or so you can continue riding in your chosen discipline. Before approaching sponsors it is important to do some research and preparation. You should research potential sponsors with a similar interest, or who could stand to benefit from exposure in the industry.

Preparation:

* Create a brief sponsorship proposal. Don’t be put off by the name; it’s just an information pack that sells you! It should include things like:
  - A letter introducing yourself and explaining what you want (product or financial support) and how it would help you. It should also include an explanation of what’s in it for the sponsor – what you can offer them in return for their sponsorship, which is the most important part of the proposal. The letter should also include background information such as: website details, statistics, member numbers of your club and your contact details. Even though you need to put most of this information in, the letter still needs to be short and sweet one to two pages max. It pays to do several drafts and get a few people to proof read them for you.
  - You should also include a record of your recent results or successful events that you have run, and if possible include some photographs.
  - Any positive newspaper clippings about you (keep the originals and use photocopies instead).
  - In total the proposal should be no longer than four pages.

* Find the right person in an organisation to approach about sponsorship, often the Marketing or Brand Manager or in small businesses it is often the General Manager.
* Have reasonable expectations and don’t be discouraged by rejection, you will be rejected more times than you will be accepted.

Approaching potential sponsors:

* Send through a copy of your proposal – email or hard copy - and follow up with a phone call the day after. Explain what you are interested in, and offer to come in and meet them.
* Be punctual.
* Present yourself well; stand up straight, pull your pants up, speak clearly and don’t have chewing gum in your mouth.
* When you first meet them, take off your hat, shake their hand and make eye contact and introduce yourself.
* Sell yourself, what’s in it for them? How can they get value for their sponsorship of you or your event?
* Have a copy of your materials (see preparation section) on hand to show them even if you’ve already sent it to them.
* Answer any questions they may have and thank them for their time when you head off.

Retaining Sponsors:

If you are successful in securing sponsorship make sure you keep them informed and up-to-date with your activities.

* Ensure that you service your sponsor and that you fulfil the terms of your agreement at events. Don’t do the wrong thing by a sponsor, word travels fast and you could find yourself blacklisted.
* Following each race/event let the sponsor know how it went and keep in contact with them, let them know of any exciting developments and include them in your press release list.
* If, unfortunately, something goes wrong, keep your sponsors informed.
* If you receive any media coverage keep a record of it and send them a copy.
* Provide them with a yearly report to show them (in words and pictures) what you’ve done as part of the agreement, another alternative would be to provide them with a framed picture with a message of thanks for their support included.
* If for some reason a sponsor cannot continue working with you (it happens), be good natured about it, politely ask for a reason, and irrespective of the answer extend them the opportunity to re-establish the relationship in future if they are interested.