PR, promotion and marketing dwell on pushing self-serving messages and ideas at audiences. Brand journalism focuses on continually engaging audiences in news stories, features, resources and images they find appealing.

Brand journalism enables any company or organization to create and communicate it’s own news and to become the respected and trusted voice for an entire industry. In a time when press releases achieve little interest and are viewed as little more than self-serving promotion, brand journalism cuts through competitive clutter to capture attention … among target audiences and the media.

Brand journalism news sites require:

• Constant updates and news stories. The influence of brand journalism online news sites is driven fresh, new material every day. By contrast, there is nothing as boring as yesterday’s news.
• News style writing, aka USA Today and the Associated Press stylebook. PR writing does not deliver the needed credibility and looks shallow by comparison.
• Journalists and other people with actual working news experience.
• News style photos and images that grab attention.
• News b-roll HD video viewed from YouTube and available via a special FTP site for television news outlets.
• No press releases. Nothing kills the credibility and appeal of a brand journalism news site quicker than a typical press release.

More than anything, brand journalism enhances and favorably differentiates a company’s reputation as a leader, qualities that ultimately influence a unique image that is brand.

Few things are more effective or economical than brand journalism in today’s digital era when tradition PR, promotion and marketing tactics are either broken or have less impact.

When did online brand journalism begin? Possibly in 2002 when David Henderson was working with a team of attorneys in Washington to represent 12 Kuwaiti citizens who had been hauled off to the prison at Guantanamo even before anyone knew of their innocence. In order to underscore the much larger issue of denial of due process and human rights as well as to present background on the 12 Kuwaitis and provide legal documents, Henderson developed the web site – www.KuwaitiDetainees.org (no longer online) – which achieved worldwide prominence.

Some good current examples of online brand journalism are:

Imperial Sugar Company’s online newsroom – www.iscnewsroom.com. Imperial Sugar’s news site has been widely acclaimed as one of the best examples of contemporary online brand journalism.

Louisiana Seafood News – www.louisianaseafoodnews.com

Los Angeles Kings Hockey – http://www.insidesocal.com/kings/

(l-r front) Quynh-Luu Ha, of Imperial Sugar's marketing team, and Brand manager Hyuna Lee, (l-r back) The News Group Net's writer Gordon Curry, founding partner Ed Lallo and Imperial newsroom editor Springfield Lewis, celebrate two Bronze Quill awards from IABC Houston for strategic online communication.

Developed with Imperial Sugar CEO John Sheptor and managed by News Group Net, The News Group Net, the ISC Newsroom won an “Award of Excellence” for strategic communication processes and an “Award of Merit” for electronic and digital communication.

“The partnership between Imperial Sugar and The News Group Net has produced a one-stop source of news about the company and the sugar industry,” said Imperial Brand Manager Hyuna Lee. “The ISC Newsroom offers a broad perspective on industry developments, as well as credible news about the company’s business to internal and external stakeholders.”

The ISC Newsroom was developed originally to ensure Imperial Sugar’s brand reputation and point of view were well-represented as the company restored its business and reputation after an explosion struck one of its sugar refineries in early 2008. It has evolved into a one-of-a-kind online news site that blends Imperial Sugar’s market leadership with up-to-date industry news, creating a unique category of “brand journalism.”

News Group Net co-founder, Ed Lallo, joined Lee and Quynh-Luu Ha of Imperial Sugar’s marketing team in receiving the Bronze Quill Awards. Ed credited senior management’s ongoing commitment to the website, combined with the spirit of the company’s employees, for the newsroom’s success.

In less that a week, News Group Net developed an online site – www.LouisianaSeafoodNews.com – filled with legitimate news stories about the fishermen, chefs and the seafood industry, along with high resolution photos and HD video. The site is being updated on a daily basis with new stories.

“It is an authentic online news resource,” said the News Group Net’s David Henderson, a former television network correspondent. “We avoid press releases to focus on timely, legitimate news stories together with many visuals that present the scope of the impact this crisis is having on Louisiana fishermen and all those in the industry.”

News Group Net LLC – based in Washington, DC, and Austin, TX – has developed similar sites for Imperial Sugar Company, Cargill and Louisiana Sugar Growers. The firm has a team of journalists who research and craft the stories.

“The dynamic online newsroom is similar to that of a daily newspaper,” said Ed Lallo, a former People Magazine and Associated Press Photographer. “It is important to tell the story of the Louisiana seafood industry through the voices of its members; the fishermen, processors, marketers and chefs.”

News Group Net’s signature is creating online news sites quickly to manage communications during crisis situations.

Imperial Sugar Company's real-time online newsroom

Imperial Sugar Company’s online newsroom succeeds where many others do not. The site surpasses typical newsrooms and media centers, functioning as a vibrant news portal for the sugar refining industry.

Imperial’s newsroom is guided by journalistic style and dynamic content, which is central to its success.

David Henderson, author of “Making News in the Digital Era” and partner in The News Group Net, a strategic communications and corporate journalism advisory, helped create Imperial’s newsroom. He encourages communicators to return to journalistic roots when developing news for online consumption and insists that newsrooms are not only for the media.

“The core audience for an organization’s newsroom includes shareholders, business partners, customers, donors and volunteers in non-profit instances, employees and, then, the media,” Henderson says. “Static newsrooms are the least-visited part of a Web site because most are just graveyards of old press releases. Your newsroom needs to present the spectrum of all the things that your company is doing within its industry, and hanging press releases there kills credibility.”

It comes down to identifying and understanding the people who care about your company, according to Henderson, who advises clients and practitioners to develop journalistic writing skills. To reach your audience, replace formulaic writing with a style that draws interest.

“Nobody cares what your company does unless you tell them in a way that adds value,” Henderson says.

Newsrooms need to sustain a supply of articles, photos, videos and industry observations. Imperial employs freelance writers and photojournalists who post two or three stories daily. The company understands that its audience seeks credibility and transparency, so stories often cover competitors and include information that challenges the industry, such as an American Heart Association report examining the negative effects of sugar.

Think like a journalist

Ed Lallo, News Group Net partner, says that a newsroom’s tone should not be directly about your organization. Instead, he suggests that you view your newsroom as a daily newspaper covering the industry.

“If something runs in The New York Times almost everyone else picks it up to some degree,” Lallo says. “So write stories for your core audience, which can include media who may take them whole or use pieces to expand on an idea.”

Building on the right foundation is also critical. Henderson and Lallo say that WordPress has evolved into an ideal content management system. Even The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal use it for their blog networks.

Other essentials for your online newsroom include:

• News articles (300-500 words)
• Short videos (HD for B-roll)
• Links to company facts and contacts
• Search capability

A boat amid the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico

Headlines shout, “BP, Transocean Lawsuits Surge as Oil Spill Spreads in Gulf” and “BP’s Response to Oil Spill Lacking, Officials Say.” More stories … more coverage … of the worsening situation in the Gulf are being added to the first pages of Google and other search engines every few seconds, 24 hours a day.

What the companies may not know is that these stories will dominate the all-important first pages of search engines for months or years to come … unless something is done, soon.

What’s lacking is any apparent attempt by BP or Transocean to aggressively manage their online images during the deepening crisis … a crisis that has global impact. A few corporate PR stories about the situation on the corporate home pages not only is ineffective, it has the adverse effect of linking everything about the corporate brands of BP and Transocean to the Gulf disaster. It’s the wrong action to take online. Attempting to manage a crisis from a corporate home page can cause self-inflicted brand damage.

What could BP and Transocean be doing online at this very moment?

They could launch and maintain special online corporate journalism sites … tangible assets as interactive places to share and constantly update all aspects of their action steps. While the Coast Guard desires to control press events, such online content management sites can focus, manage and provide the most timely, transparent and open connection with no only those involved along the Gulf Coast but everyone else in the world who is watching … and judging … how BP and Transocean behave. The special sites can be credible online assets to underscore corporate accountability.

The online crisis management team at The News Group Net – seasoned journalists and communications professionals – can have such operational newsrooms online within a matter of hours … for timely and instantaneous news updates, statements, photos, video and live coverage … far more influential information than press releases. BP and Transocean could become more reliable sources for the world’s mainstream and online news media. A single corporate Web site lacks the credibility and clout to do the job … especially to manage the fast-growing other media stories about the oil spill that are now dominating search engines.

Research by The News Group Net’s David Henderson while writing “Making News in the Digital Era” and in the interim has shown that many, if not most, online sites – even those of organizations claiming to be immersed in social media – are more like Chinese walls to prevent contact from outside.

Despite listing general Contact information, a site visitor with a question often will not find it easy to reach either the right person or receive a timely and meaningful response.

Glock

By some twist of irony, it is easier to contact the gun maker Glock online than Kraft Foods.

Test it yourself … check the sites of such organizations as Ford.com, Dell.com, Kia.com … the list can go on and on. For all the illusion of the Web and social media delivering more openness and transparency, these and many other companies send a signal that they are in a world by themselves, still doing business in an old-school mentality of pushing out marketing messages and advertising rather than engaging with and listening to customers. Dell is among the worst.

The poster child for such insular corporate behavior is, of course, Toyota, a company that cooked up myth about its products and aggressively goes after those who question that illusion. And, then, there is Microsoft. Well, forget them because they haven’t given a damn for customer opinions for decades.

By contrast, companies like Apple and Zappos have struck gold by listening to customers.

About blogs … Henderson looked closely at many of today’s more popular personal blogs, and despite all the trendy Top 10 tips and superficial pontification by people who have become a new type of celebrity through Twitter, many sites lack a way to contact the blogger. Sure, you can leave a Comment along with all the other groupies but no direct contact.

Henderson wouldn’t go as far as saying such a closed style is hypocritical, just not very open and transparent in the digital era.