Anyone who watches TV has seen an SMT, but many don’t realize it. As a 22-year old intern, I had never heard of a Satellite Media Tour, or SMT. I quickly learned that entertaining video content can be shared quickly and efficiently through an integrated SMT, which can reach national and even international audiences while adding credibility through earned media.
It may sound complex and confusing, but it’s not. Here’s how it works.
Our clients come to AKA with an idea to pair a brand or a company with a talented spokesperson. AKA’s social and media relations team works to develop a story incorporating the unique point of view of the spokesperson while maintaining authenticity for the media and the brand. The result provides consumers with a reason to engage with the brand, as the spokesperson participates in as many as 30 interviews, which are shared on radio shows, online media and television news programs over the span of a few hours from a single location in one day.
With a celebrity, social influencer, famous athlete or even a CEO, you can generate earned sharing of your video content.
Two of my favorite projects while interning at AKA were SMTs for Chocolate Milk and Wilson.
Each of these SMTs strategically cut through the content clutter, pairing a spokesperson and a timely topic to generate tons of earned media coverage for each brand.
Klay Thompson SMT Case Study
For Chocolate Milk’s SMT featuring Klay Thompson, we filmed just days prior to the NBA All-Star game, which dominated sports headlines during President’s Day weekend.
The interviews were revealing, timely, and exclusive during the hype before All-Star Weekend and resulted in massive internet and media impressions, all earned. In total, 31 interviews yielded 131 million impressions. Additionally, Men’s Health turned their interview into a print story for their magazine!
Roger Federer SMT Case Study
We worked with Wilson on an SMT with all-time tennis great Roger Federer. As always, strategy and timing were essential to success and we used this as a kick-start to a new brand-wide campaign for Wilson. Filming on site from Melbourne, Australia, the interview was distributed to international networks in Australia, China, Japan, London and the United States, all major global tennis markets. Then something crazy happened. Federer actually won the tournament!
Overall, I was amazed to see the efficiency of SMTs in action while interning at AKA.
When I first arrived at AKA as an intern, it was a Monday and I sat in our weekly staff meeting. Our CEO, Andrew Krause, as he often does, reiterated our company value proposition and our simple mantra: Quality + Speed = Value.
I first interpreted the equation as a directive to employees regarding our work ethic, but I quickly realized what the equation means to our clients.
Time is money. Our clients cannot afford to waste either. Quality must never be compromised. Speed is delivered with our team’s proficiency and experience. The combination of the two creates value for our clients in video content production, live streaming events and satellite media tours. I did not realize it was possible in today’s fractured media environment for a brand to engage with millions of people in such a short period of time.
The added credibility of earned media coverage, and the opportunity to spark sharing of other forms of video content, combine to make SMTs a model of efficiency.