Leveraging Parliament’s return for your comms strategy

On Monday 2^nd September, Parliament will return from its summer recess to a Labour government for the first time in 14 years. As a result, we can expect that there will be some big changes afoot.

The shift in Government will affect many of us on personal levels, such as changes in benefits, healthcare and taxes, and there will also likely be changes for businesses and employees. New policies raised, debated and passed will be influencing the news agenda and this is an opportunity for communications strategies.

Now is the time to prepare to hijack the political news agenda by inserting yourself or your client into the hot topics of conversation. When done effectively, this technique, often called ‘newsjacking’, allows brands to join a national discussion that potential customers follow closely. This will increase brand visibility, voice and engagement among relevant audiences, while positioning spokespeople as authoritative thought leaders in their respective fields.

These major news announcements give smaller companies with strong values and punchy statements a rare opportunity to gain as much cut-through in the media as more established businesses. This is particularly impactful when businesses and spokespeople amplify and reinforce these opinions on their own blogs and social channels.

Here’s how to do it.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

It’s a cliché, but in this case, being prepared is the key to success. The return of Parliament is a set date that we know is coming, even if we don’t know the exact outcomes and policies that will arise.

Take advantage of the head start – revisit the Labour Manifesto and see what politicians have been saying in the media over the summer. Begin to draw out themes that are relevant to the brand. For example, we are closely monitoring reports that the Government is considering making paid carers’ leave a statutory right for our client who operates in the social care sector.

This is the time to start having discussions around opinions and messaging, preparing for multiple eventualities when appropriate. You can also begin building a list of journalists who are likely to cover the story and reach out for broadcast opportunities ahead of news breaking.

Monitor the news

 Once Parliament reconvenes, there is a chance that a lot will begin happening quickly and the media needs to be closely followed to stay ahead of updates. Listen to the radio, set up Google Alerts and in-app news notifications, and sign up for newsletters. Social media is also an excellent tool as news often breaks there first, so take the time to fine-tune your following list.

Creating a culture of news sharing within teams and with clients will also help with oversight of a broad range of stories, topics and sources. You want to make sure you’re finding out about any updates as they happen.

Deployment

 The critical component of newsjacking is commentary that is appropriate, insightful and fast.

When a political story breaks, journalists need spokespeople on hand who can add to the conversation by offering analysis, insight and advice or who can approach the topic from a unique perspective. This is not a time to plug products and services, but to highlight expertise.

Preparing well should allow for thoughtfully crafted insight on the topic so that when the full story comes to light, only minor updates are needed before commentary is shared with media contacts. Being one of the first people in a journalist’s inbox offering them extra information that cuts through the noise will greatly increase the chances of being included in coverage.

Ethical considerations and best practices

• Company values and messaging alignment – avoid wading in on conversations just because you can. Ensure you are truly qualified to be commenting and that newsjacking output is congruent with your wider comms strategy.
• Be selective – there is always a lot of PR noise around new policies, so commenting can sometimes be a time-consuming and high-stress tactic with low reward. Choose when you employ it carefully.
• Don’t sit on the fence – one of the biggest downfalls of reactive commentary is a lack of punchy opinion. Simply saying something is great won’t get cut through, so don’t be afraid to be bold.
• Mindful spokesperson selection – there is a tendency to default to CEOs as spokespeople, but they might not always be the best option. Assess experience in the wider team as someone with previous civil service, government or NHS experience may well be more authoritative.

Newsjacking the return to Parliament and beyond

Once MPs return to the House of Commons at the beginning of September, there will be new policies as well as speculation. A climax is likely to come at the end of October when Rachel Reeves will deliver the Autumn Statement. This period presents a great opportunity to generate some top-tier coverage hits, but the approach needs to be strategic and considered to stand out amongst the racket.