I was discussing Parknews.biz with editor Astrid the other day and was wondering why there was so much news about the new Tech companies in the parking business. She laughed and said “that’s where all the news is happening. There simply is very little about the legacy companies.” I wonder?
The tech companies, the app companies, the pay by cell companies, they all seem to have news releases almost daily. They send us information, they have stories about themselves in local papers (we find that), they are everywhere. They seem to know how to create buzz about themselves. What happened to the legacy majors — the mainline revenue control companies, the gate companies, even many meter companies, I know they are still out there.
They have marketing departments. They have people who are assigned the task of promoting the companies. But the amount of information that comes from them is about a 10th of that from the new startups, the tech guys, the pay by cell folks.
The tech companies thrive on media. They grew up with it. They know that when something happens in their company, a new hire, a new installation, a bit of news about a new product, an injection of cash it is a vehicle to get their name in front of their potential customers. They know about impressions. They know that even in our rather niche market, impressions make a difference. I know that if I see Charlie and Bobby’s mugs or the name of their company (Passport) one more time I may scream, but I also know that they are working hard to keep their name out there.
Charlie and Khristian blog almost every day – the topics aren’t necessarily about their company but about things that might interest their customers. They are active on Twitter and Facebook. And so are Cherie, Wen, Mike, and Mark at Park Mobile, Smarking, SMC and Spot Hero just to name a few. They send out news releases when anything happens, of interest or not. They are on a first name basis with the editors of outlets like Parknews, ParkingNetwork, and the like.
It is not possible that legacy companies with 350 employees, major manufacturing operations, dozens of outlets across the country, and hundreds of installations, don’t have enough information to spread around the parking media. But getting it is like pulling teeth.
We are there, its free. So why not take a few minutes and tell us what’s going on in your organization. You don’t even have to be a manufacturer. You could be a city, a university, a hospital, a shopping center, a business complex. Tell the world what you are all about. If you need help we can help you.
By neglecting the media you are neglecting yourself. 20 years ago someone told me that there simply wasn’t enough parking news to fill a magazine every month. We are finding that there is enough to fill Parknews daily. More than a dozen stories every day. We have a lot of bandwidth. Help us fill it. You neglect self promotion at your peril.
JVH
2 Responses
John I agree wholeheartedly with your views that by far the newish companies are the ones making all the noises and super claims.
One would think from all the media hype that parking worldwide is now run digitally by apps and smartphones. The reality is that as of now, the total 🅿 market penetration of all these digital outfits although growing significantly, it is still quite small.
I am amazed that other than using their internal ‘something news’ company magazine if we are lucky, most of the established , traditional and significant industry player, don’t appear to be joining or actively using the media com revolution to shout aloud about their news and technological developments. It is a real shame and something it would be great if media organisations like yours can persuade the heavyweights to get much more media savvy and active.
Manny: Legacy companies are glacial — they move so slowly that by the time they change, they are two generations out of the mainstream. One CEO told me he just doesn’t have the time or energy to invest in alternative media, or in social media. I commented that I’m sure there is a young someone in his company that would love to dip their toe into the murky waters of Twitter, Facebook and the like. Frankly even a news release to mainstream media (like PT) would make a difference. JVH