The Ideal Online Newsroom

These days, it seems pretty obvious that any smart company has to prominently position its expertise/experience to:

• Be clearly heard and stand out in all of the right ways.
• Best “manage the conversation” around its image and reputation.
• Be timely and relevant.

The hard part is expressing its corporate voice above the noise of the marketplace, where often people much less qualified – but far more vocal – pump out their opinions into mainstream and social media. The sheer speed, volume and rapid dissemination of information – right or wrong – can inundate communications and sway public opinion. A company’s “Google-ability” – and the news that appears about it on page one of any search engine – often can determine its believability. To have a meaningful conversation online, a company needs to:

• Articulate clear points of view on the things that it cares about the most.
• Identify its own experts and champions to tell compelling stories to advance its case and strengthen its market position.
• Create ever-evolving public platforms/forums where it can consistently and frequently showcase its views – along with other respected industry experts and thought leaders.
• Create a forum for sharing comments, generating a conversation and listening.

The team at The News Group Net, of which I am a member, recently created the ISC Newsroom. It is intended to position the Imperial Sugar Company as an authoritative voice in the sugar industry – U.S., Mexico and elsewhere. Meant to be a one-stop shop for the best thinking and views on sugar and all of the issues/market forces that surround it. We think it is one of the best online newsrooms around.