Polished presentations

Here’s an odd one. The people who own the MyHome franchise appeared on TV and have garnered quite a bit of positive coverage as a result, including the piece on this link.

It’s odd from a couple of perspectives, at least if you’re a journalist or commentator. First it’s a piece that essentially suggests MyHome is doing well because it’s on TV. Never mind the fact that it’s probably spent ages marketing itself in that particular direction – the coverage suggests almost that it’s arrived on the telly by some sort of osmosis. This is successful PR and the report takes it as read that it’s an indicator of a successful business.

The second odd thing is the quotes from MyHome. Nobody speaks naturally in that way and yet the quotes, no doubt polished and developed over a period of time, have been put in there uncritically. They don’t relate to the piece much either, they just state the MyHome vision of how their business works.

It’s a polished performance indeed, and one that gets MyHome quoted and positioned exactly as it wants to be. There’s a lesson to be learned by other franchisors in here; no matter what a journalist asks, no matter what the article is ostensibly about, stick to your main message and you’ll probably get quoted on that instead.

Which can be well worth knowing if you’re looking to promote your company.

Guy Clapperton is a freelance journalist who specialises in small business issues and has written for the likes of The Guardian, the FT and the Daily Mirror. Guy has written about finance and franchising for SmallBizPod. http://www.guyclapperton.co.uk