Staying visible is one of the biggest marketing challenges for maritime companies operating in a global industry with multiple actors, strong competition and a constant flow of information. Whether it is promoting digital innovation or sustainability strategy, continuous media engagement is essential to remain relevant – and face-to-face interaction is key to building trust.
Many companies though lack a structured media strategy to stay in the news between press releases announcing major milestones, missing opportunities for direct engagement that can both promote their expertise and meet the media’s need for deeper insight into complex industry topics.
Arena for personal interaction
Media events – such as multi-day press tours involving several companies or media days for a single company – provide a valuable arena for industry players to present their unique offering and connect with journalists from different publications through interviews and social interaction to forge long-term relationships.
At the same time, journalists can benefit by gaining direct access to experts with domain knowledge who can address difficult questions related to key industry issues such as regulatory changes, emerging technologies, fuel transition strategies, voyage optimization and operational challenges.
This is particularly important in a complex industry like shipping where ship owners and operators, suppliers, ports and logistics players operate in a highly technical environment with rapid advances in areas like digitalization and decarbonization, creating a unique need for direct engagement. This can help journalists transform complex subjects into compelling content.
Engaging story environment
Media events – from executive presentations and technology demonstrations to facility tours, vessel visits and operational briefings – allow journalists to experience a company beyond written announcements to create a more engaging and memorable story environment.
Rather than a single article from a press release, a media event can produce numerous editorial opportunities to generate a wide range of coverage across multiple themes such as sustainability, innovation and operational excellence.
Personal interaction remains one of the most effective ways to build media trust. Through face-to-face engagement, journalists can better understand company strategy, develop stronger contacts, gain confidence in company spokespeople and identify future story opportunities.
Domino effect on publicity
The relationship benefits of such connections carry on long after the event, establishing a solid platform of mutual trust and credibility between company participants and media representatives for ongoing communication that makes story placement easier.
Companies that make themselves accessible to media in this way are more likely to be contacted by journalists for expert opinion on future stories related to their specialist field, expanding opportunities for future editorial coverage and increasing the volume of published articles with top-tier placement.
By promoting executive thought leadership, this can have a domino effect with speaking opportunities, TV appearances and other interviews to give wider industry recognition – building stakeholder trust and strengthening market reputation.
A proactive media relations strategy that creates focused opportunities for direct engagement can enable companies to build personal relationships and boost visibility over the longer term.
With an extensive media network and in-depth industry knowledge, Blue-C is well-positioned to help you with an effective media relations strategy. Feel free to drop us a line at Blue-C, the leading maritime communications agency in the Nordics, and NME partner. Contact: kent@blue-c.no