Media relations can play an important role in almost any brand’s marketing and communications strategy. A favorable mention in a major media outlet, for example, might not only help reach a much larger audience, but also position a brand as a trusted source of knowledge on a given topic.
Elon Musk and Jamie Dimon lead corporate charge to Beijing as ties with US fray (Financial times)
Brand: China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
Thanks to our media monitoring efforts, I learned that a group of high-profile US executives (including Elon Musk and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon) were set to visit China to meet with local government and corporate leaders about the challenges facing companies doing cross-border business.
At the time, we had on hand a draft of a paper authored by one of our faculty offering advice on how businesses on both sides could navigate geopolitical tensions. Working with my media relations specialist, we revised the paper (to reframe it in the context of the upcoming meetings) and pitched it to our media contacts.
Although media declined to publish the paper (most were planning their own coverage), the Financial Times asked us to have our faculty on stand-by to speak with them immediately following the meeting.
The subsequent interview resulted in our faculty being quoted in what was the biggest story in China that week in a newspaper that averages 22.4 million readers each month.
Read the article here (subscription required).
MBAs with Chinese characteristics: Chinese management schools are thriving (THE ECONOmist)
Brand: China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
By 2020, Chinese (and other Asian) business schools were starting to make waves as they moved up the international business school rankings. Among other things, this meant we were also attracting increased interest from international media.
Following a discussion with a journalist from The Economist business magazine, I arranged for her a two-day campus visit, during which she sat in on MBA classes, toured our facilities, met with students and admissions staff and interviewed the school’s dean.
The resulting coverage in both The Economist‘s print and digital versions was overwhelmingly positive, noting the school’s rising application numbers, prestigious alumni network and ability to compete with other top schools. The magazine reaches 5.1 million weekly readers.
Read the article here.
China must become a central player to stabilize crumbling world order (SCMP)
Brand: China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
During my time at CEIBS, we were fortunate to have a number of high-profile faculty on our staff, including former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin (de Villepin is best known for leading France’s opposition to the US war in Iraq).
In mid-2022, de Villepin gave a lecture to a group of doctorate students about China’s evolving place in the new world order. Recognizing the broader appeal of his talk, I directed a freelance writer to ghostwrite a thought leadership piece based on a recording of the talk which we then pitched to South China Morning Post (SCMP).
While the piece wasn’t earth-shattering in its views, de Villepin’s message was aligned with the school’s position as a bridge between China and the world, and his name was enough to get it printed in one of Southeast Asia’s most influential daily news outlets; one which reaches more than 35 million monthly active users.
Read the article here (subscription required).
China’s battery king faces scrutiny over EV market dominance (Financial Times)
Brand: China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)
At the height of China’s COVID-related border closure, many foreign (non-Chinese) journalists, unable to secure Chinese visas, were increasingly finding themselves covering China from outside the country and struggling to find trusted sources they could rely on for information.
In response, we stepped up our outreach to journalists overseas. One of the journalists I connected with, covering China from Seoul, responded with a request to interview our faculty about a story he was writing on Chinese battery-maker CATL (the largest battery-maker in the world).
The published faculty quotes offered insight into how CATL and other Chinese companies had learned from their Western counterparts and how they were now using that knowledge to compete on the world stage.
The article was pushed to the Financial Times‘ 22.4 million monthly readers. A translated version also appeared in the FT‘s Chinese-language edition.
Read the article here (subscription required).
Michael Thede | Marketing Communications 