Love it or hate it, politics is a part of doing business nowadays. The climate of business changes readily with the news of the day whether it’s a shift in the interest rates or something as simple as a bill or slate of bills making their way to the floor of Congress.
So how do you get ahead of the headwinds of politics? By inserting your company into the story of course.
Companies around the globe are looking to craft a narrative in the media to either protect or enhance their image or to take away from the negative storylines that threaten their stockholders.
Think about big tech companies for a second. This Congress came to Washington vowing to hold big tech accountable for censorship. The House Oversight Committee has been holding hearings, but what is the last story you saw come out of those hearings? Instead we’re talking about Threads and Twitter’s rebrand to X.com and a cage match between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg?
These things don’t just happen. Controlling the narrative to take advantage or detract from the powerhouse media driver that is politics can be critical to your company’s future.
How you do that is a different story. Creating news takes focus and determination, not to mention a compelling reason to cover it. Let’s think about the Inflation Reduction Act for a moment. A client of ours wanted to highlight a little known portion of the IRA that provided oil and gas producers funds to purchase American made, zero emissions technologies to reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere. For big, household name oil producers, those funds are a drop in the bucket, but for mom and pop operations that are responsible for nearly 50% of methane emissions, these dollars could make all the difference.
Our strategy? Target the Washington DC market where national politics is always a hot scoop and legislators representing target states as well as the EPA staff who will be approving the company’s status as a preferred vendor for these purchases will be watching.
Being proactive, thinking aggressively and beating the headlines are essential when it comes to keeping your company/s head above water when the political news cycle tidal wave crashes down.
-Justin Giorgio