Corporate and press relations: Need for initiative, openness, transparency

“In case of necessity, we always proactively contact press agencies to share authentic information to help journalists process information quickly,” shared the experience of Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Kinh Luan, Communications Director of UNIBEN Company specializing in instant noodles, rice products and spices at the workshop “Posting economic information in the digital age” organized by the Vietnam News Agency Journalists Association in coordination with the Press Department and Reuters news agency on November 6.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Kinh Luan is discussing with partners. (Source: UNIBEN)

Mr. Luan emphasized three factors that demonstrate the effective and successful cooperation between the press and UNIBEN in recent times, which are "Proactive - Open - Transparent."

To clarify the above point of view, Mr. Luan gave an example of the promotion program "Open a lottery and win gold" of UNIBEN that was recently organized, applied to the 3 Mien instant noodle brand with a total value of up to more than 14 billion VND, through the form of scratching to win prizes.

To build consumer trust, the Company has proactively invited the press to participate, report on and monitor the program. At the same time, the Company has also been open, sharing concerns, difficulties... of the program to ensure business confidentiality as well as techniques to avoid counterfeiting, fraud... This openness has helped the company receive effective suggestions and solutions from management agencies and the press.

In addition, to ensure transparency, the Company also allows the press and the supervisory board to participate in the process of putting scratch cards into the noodle pack, at any time, at any stage, to ensure that this process is completely transparent and random, including all stages: from mixing high-prize winning cards into tens of millions of other cards; storing mixed card boxes; putting cards into noodle packs and to storing finished products to prepare for delivery to distribution channels.

UNIBEN's instant noodle production line. (Source: UNIBEN)

A story about a consumer who won the first prize of the program and was in very difficult circumstances was shared by Mr. Luan about the effective coordination between the press and the business. That was a 78-year-old woman in Dong Thap, living alone and relying on products bought on credit to sell to neighbors in the neighborhood to make a profit, just enough to eat porridge every day.

Information about the old lady was quickly collected by UNIBEN's PR department and sent to a reputable electronic newspaper agency for publication. However, the editorial office said that information about the old lady's poor life had a relatively large social impact, online readers were very sensitive, they could spread information on social networks, verify the old lady's situation and organize charity events directly to her or through the editorial office.

Therefore, to ensure public trust, the editorial board needs additional valid documents to verify the old woman's situation. "Although the article was published later than expected, the result was even more surprising than the above story. With the content "Small surprise, big happiness from the program "Opening a lottery to win gold", we achieved Erned media of more than 320%, an unprecedented result for communication activities for an instant noodle product," Mr. Luan shared.

According to Mr. Luan, the one-way information method has long been no longer suitable. Today, Vietnamese press has applied and increasingly promoted the two-way element in communication. Interactivity can only be established when there is initiative from two or even more than two sides.

In particular, according to Mr. Luan, openness always helps people form personal sympathy, helping to open invisible doors that are not easily overcome through social communication.

“Journalists, in their role as public opinion leaders, certainly always have the editorial office’s views and their own opinions, especially for information that is sensitive or requires citing many arguments with legal value. Therefore, in all cases of communication with the press, we must strive to create a collaborative and responsible dialogue, and we understand that openness can only be built on the basis of sincerity,” Mr. Luan emphasized.

In addition to proactive interaction and openness, transparency in information is indispensable for legal bases, and at the same time, the spokesperson must be confident in a journey of dedication to society, based on the core values ​​of each enterprise. Therefore, transparency is the most important factor in the coordination between enterprises and the press./.

According to Vietnamplus