Business Wire is a PRSA National partner.
“Trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really notices.
But when it’s absent, everybody notices.” – Warren Buffett
It seems that every day a new story breaks on the ever-increasing number of data breaches, social media hacks, spam and phishing scams, while network security systems are under constant, anonymous attack. From Anthem Health to Home Depot to JP Morgan, personal account information has been compromised or made public in a way that has corporate IT departments scrambling for 
solutions. A recent study from Gemalto, a Dutch security firm, claims that over 1 billion data records were stolen in 2014 causing millions of dollars in damage to businesses and consumers (http://bit.ly/1AqbSib). Often it was the responsibility of PR professionals to craft the messages explaining these incidents and develop crisis plans to navigate the rough waters at the time.
In the social space, highly public account hacks affected everyone from Taylor Swift, CNN, and iCloud to CENTCOM and the Pope. Things got so bad for Sony that they pulled the release of The Interview and saw the resignation of its high-profile co-chair, Amy Pascal, as a result of embarrassing internal emails published across the web. The company was rocked so hard that they delayed quarterly financial reporting due to the “highly sophisticated and damaging cyberattack” that cost Sony Pictures over $15 million in damages.
While the communications industry constantly seeks new tactics and techniques to differentiate pitches and media engagement strategies, when it comes down to it, reporters are more likely to rely on sources they can trust for information. The rise of spam has led to consistent pushback from journalists against impersonal, unsolicited email pitches. A recent piece by Business Insider’s Steve Kovach reflects how many in the media feel about email spam: “For journalists, it’s especially bad with the hundreds of unsolicited pitches we get each day. I delete them all.” It is estimated that over 66% of daily email traffic is spam. A recent study of spam volume by TrendLabs saw an increase of 60% in 2014, while open rates, click throughs and the efficacy of email spam continue to plummet.
For these reasons and others, media relations can often seem like an uphill battle. With so much on the line when critical, market-moving information or company news needs to be shared with the world, the question is why would any company bring risk into the equation by employing anything other than a reputable, industry-compliant and trusted news distribution platform?? If you are looking to become a part of the news conversation in a positive, reputation-enhancing way, marketing evangelist and critic Seth Godin says “being trusted is the single most urgent way to build a business.” (http://bit.ly/1DP7PuC)
In news and financial communities, trust is a powerful and precious asset that is earned over time, requires mutual consent and is a disciplined pursuit. A great Buffett quote that is worth repeating is: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”
News consumption is at an all-time high and according to a media survey conducted by Business Wire in 2014, 90% of the responding journalists referenced using a news release in the previous week with almost 62% of those surveyed using one in the past 24 hours. Due to the instantaneous nature of today’s news industry, newswires are a vital utility in the media industry, providing an ongoing feed of vetted, factual news. Business Wire built its reputation with media professionals and our clients on a bedrock foundation of trust. It drove our commitment to creating, and patenting, a simultaneous and secure distribution platform – the NX Network. It is why we undertook the painstaking process in 2014 to achieve the SOC2 attestation engagement report, providing independent validation that our internal security controls are in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Applicable Trust Services Principles and Criteria (http://bit.ly/1A9SfKI). It is why we offer 24/7/365 services with over 22 full-service newsrooms and 32 bureaus around the globe. It’s why we attracted the attention of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, recently named the #3 most admired company in the world by Fortune (http://for.tn/1AM3wDg).
Companies turn to wires to satisfy their regulatory requirements but also to get the word out quickly and simultaneously to all market participants from a source those audiences know they can trust. When you use Business Wire, you are assured of satisfying disclosure and getting the broadest distribution to media, financial and consumer communities possible. The benefit of broad distribution via a trusted news delivery system for the finance, healthcare and other high-profile industries is that it provides equal access to all possible audiences. Anyone interested in your news has the opportunity to act, whether it is to buy a product, buy/sell a stock, attend an event, analyze a company, report on a story, blog, tweet, etc. And with new multimedia social and mobile capabilities, everyone can access your complete news package (text, images, video, supporting documents and contact information), quickly and easily via their choice of platform — and most importantly, rely on the authenticity of the issuer.
As Business Wire’s President, Gregg Castano, frequently says “It doesn’t matter until it matters, and then it’s all that matters.” Therein lies the power and value of TRUST. It always matters.
—
Scott Fedonchik is Vice President of Marketing, Business Wire. Follow him on LinkedIn:
* This is a sponsored post.
