Chapter 06 – Media Relations
Teaching Notes
Chapter 6
Media Relations
This chapter shows how the corporate communication function has changed the
way that it interacts with the media over time. The original title for the chapter in
the first edition, “No More Press Releases,” said it all. Media relations professionals
today still need to get away from a focus on press releases toward a more strategic
and targeted effort that emphasizes two-way and digital communication.
To understand this chapter, you need to know a bit about what it was like in the
early days of public relations. I have given a brief account of what I see as the major
changes, but you might want to pick up a public relations book from the library if
I think the best way to make this material come alive for your students is to invite a
real member of the media to speak in your class. No matter what school you teach
at and no matter where you are located, you should be able to convince a local
journalist to come in and talk about what they do to write stories. Getting it straight
from the horse’s mouth is the best way to hear about how the media works. The
better the journalist, the more your students will take away.
If you feel uncomfortable turning your class over to a journalist, however, you can
certainly illustrate the material in other ways. For example, put yourself in the
shoes of a public relations executive pitching a story — do some of the initial
The Internet has completely changed the nature of news distribution and
consumption. Technology has introduced new challenges for media-savvy
corporations. The Internet disseminates information throughout the world with
unprecedented speed, which can be helpful but can also result in widely spread
misinformation if not handled carefully. Blogs, rogue sites, and published emails are
Chapter 06 – Media Relations
Teaching Notes
research the various blogs for references to corporations. Use these examples as a
basis for a discussion on the growing influence of the non-traditional media.
Students may also want to discuss what constitutes a credible Internet news source,
Teaching Note
The Adolph Coors Company Case
This case gives students a bird’s eye view of what it is like to be under fire by 60
Minutes. I have sometimes heard complaints about using older cases, but this one is
really a classic. Students universally love this case whether you are teaching upper–
level undergrads, MBAs, or executives. Overall, the fact that the product is well
known, while the 60 Minutes incident has been forgotten, makes this case
particularly delightful to teach.
Problems
1. Coors seems to discriminate against women, gays, and minorities. This comes
through in this case as a result of several things, but one of the main influences
is that the Coors brothers are so conservative.
2. Joe Coors is a Reaganite/John Bircher. So what? Get into a discussion about
how conservative most business people are, but we don’t see them being
boycotted or persecuted. This makes for a fascinating discussion about
company personalities versus the companies themselves. Should the company
try to distance itself from these conservative views? Isn’t it the right of all
Americans to hold whatever beliefs they want?
3. The industry is maturing and Coors now faces stiff competition from
Anheuser-Busch. Everyone in the U.S. knows enough about beer (especially
students!) to get into a discussion about the beer industry. Try to show that
the strategy for communication also depends on what’s going on in the world
around the company.
Chapter 06 – Media Relations
Teaching Notes
Chapter 06 – Media Relations
Teaching Notes
6-4
4. The company has no experience with advertising or public relations. Coors
was essentially still a private firm at the time of the case and has little of the
experience its counterparts would have had.
6. The AFL-CIO is a formidable opponent and in some ways a bigger organization
than the company itself. Although Coors may have the upper hand at the local
level, the larger union organization is making this the focus of its attention as a
way to take a stand after Ronald Reagan busted the air traffic controllers.
8. The company has a history of busting unions. This doesn’t help its image with
workers, but how will the general public feel about its anti-union stance?
9. The company only became public within the last seven or eight years and lost
50% of its value within three years. This is the kind of information that will
make any CEO’s hair curl. The last thing they need is 60 Minutes when they are
fighting to keep their stock price up.
11. The boycott is a real bummer. How would you like to have a tough
organization like the AFL-CIO on your case telling consumers not to buy your
products?
13. The producer has already told Richards that he wants to tear the company to
shreds. How can you possibly get a fair shake from this guy?
Chapter 06 – Media Relations
Teaching Notes
Communication Strategy
Use the corporate communication strategy model (from Chapter Two) to analyze
the case. What should Coors’ objective be? Who are the most important
constituencies? What are the best channels to use for each? A strategic approach
works very well in analyzing this case.
You might want to focus, in particular, on reputation and image. Coors had a
“mystique” as part of its reputation, but little focus on communication as a private
company. Now that it’s public, what has changed?
Solutions
So, what to do in the face of such a nasty situation? Your job is to get students to
choose sides in a debate that should focus on whether Coors should follow an open–
door or closed-door policy. Let’s take a look at each option.
Closed-door. Given all of the problems that we outlined above, Richards has reason
to suspect that a 60 Minutes interview would be a disaster. But, what would Coors
do instead of going on 60 Minutes?
A common response for a Plan B is “We will try to get another journalist to tell the
real story at Coors!” Encourage them to back this up, but be sure to point out that
it’s unlikely that Coors would get any fairer deal with anyone else. And, who is
bigger than Mike Wallace?
Any of the arguments that students come up with on this side of the fence are likely
to be pretty weak, but you need to get them to think about what they would do
instead of going on. Don’t let them simply weasel out of 60 Minutes and leave it at
that.
Chapter 06 – Media Relations
Teaching Notes
1. Research the producer. The producer is king at 60 Minutes, what has he done
before?
2. What do we want to get across to 24 million viewers?
4. What is Sickler and Co. likely to do? Get them to think about where we are
most vulnerable and how you would really deal with a situation like this. What
can you say about the allegations?
5. How do we follow up after the show?
Following all of the above, which should take about an hour to develop, you need to
show the program to let students know what really happened. It is still available
from the Coors public relations department in Golden, Colorado. The program is a
complete surprise in that it ends up praising the Coors Company. How did this
happen?
Teaching Note
The Adolph Coors Company Case “B”
The whole thing is laid out so beautifully by Richard that you really don’t need to do
anything more than let them read the “B” case to find out what she did. It takes 10