what’ s working
news with a purpose, aligned with a mission
One of the employers leading the way is Seattle-based Starbucks. The company has built its own news operation, which it uses to communicate human stories to multiple audiences, stories such as the work the company has done to hire military veterans.
Since 2013, Starbucks has hired more than 10,000 veterans and military spouses with a goal of hiring 15,000 by 2025 and plans to open 100 Military Family Stores by 2022.
Those numbers belie the fact that only 1 percent of Americans serve in the armed forces.
It’ s in this light, Starbucks created its 2017“ Ask Better Questions” campaign to highlight its effort to start a dialogue among its employees on the value and number of military members and their family members within its ranks, while showcasing the company’ s hiring efforts to the general public through authentic employee stories.
“ The whole point is to help people understand the value of veterans and military spouses. We underestimate the incredible value they bring to communities and businesses,” said Matt Kress, a retired Marine who is a senior manager on the Social Impact team at Starbucks, in a press release.“ If people can start conversations in a positive way, it’ s the first step to understanding. But many people don’ t know what to ask.”
The campaign was featured in television ads, social media posts and a feature on the company’ s newsroom blog. It also garnered earned media.
The campaign was not about coffee, but rather about acknowledging a real and, in this case high-profile, need within a community, explaining the company’ s strategy to address it and encouraging employees and others to join the effort.
That’ s just one example. Coca-Cola created an online magazine called Coca-Cola Journey to replace a traditional website. Alaska Airlines’ newsroom features values-driven stories like its partnerships with environmental groups to promote and build on the company’ s core value of sustainability. These and many other diverse companies are reaching out directly to their customers.
“ In the 1980s, there were roughly 40 Olympia statehouse reporters compared to six full-time statehouse reporters and three broadcast journalists that cover Olympia politics part-time in 2018.”
— Joseph O’ Sullivan, statehouse reporter for The Seattle Times
It isn’ t just the private sector. The Washington state Employment Security Department’ s“ Power of a Job” video series shares stories of how the agency’ s staff helps jobseekers find employment opportunities. Even AWB has its very own brand channel, AWB News, which launched during the 2018 legislative session.
“ A brand is not just a logo. It’ s not just colors and fonts. It’ s ideas. It’ s a philosophy and it’ s action.”
— Michelle Hege, president and CEO, DH
shrinking media, transparency concerns driving brand journalism
The decline in the number of traditional reporters is one reason for the shift. In the 1980s, there were roughly 40 Olympia statehouse reporters compared to six full-time statehouse reporters and three broadcast journalists that cover Olympia politics part-time in 2018, according to Joseph O’ Sullivan, statehouse reporter for The Seattle Times.
That means there aren’ t enough reporters to cover all the news, creating an opportunity for organizations to share their stories directly with their audiences.
Speaking to students at University of Nevada, Reno’ s Reynolds School of Journalism last year, Jennifer Sizemore, a marketing professional and current vice president and editor-in-chief at Starbucks, offered insights about her experience creating content for nonprofits and corporations in a presentation titled,“ Saving Storytelling?”
She covered the ever-changing and chaotic status of communications these days, from fake news to the opaque nature of traditional news publications that aren’ t always clear about how they are funded.
AWB embraced elements of brand journalism years ago with the launch of its blog, Olympia Business Watch, and early use of social media. AWB continued building its capacity to tell the story of Washington employers with the introduction of AWB News, branded video coverage of AWB President Kris Johnson’ s testimony before the House Appropriations Committee on a bill that would partially reinstate the bipartisan business and occupation tax relief for Washington state manufacturers.
It was a big issue to AWB members and real news and it aligned with AWB’ s Mission to be a“ catalytic leader and unifying voice for economic prosperity.” AWB News coverage on the tax bill hearing was a way for the association to bridge the news gap with packaged soundbites for media use as press numbers decline.
There are many iterations of brand journalism— expressing values, sharing victories and highlighting initiatives. But they all share one thing in common: They tell a story— a story that resonates with the customer, employees and the general public, and, most importantly, reflects the core values and mission of a brand.
26 association of washington business