Professor Side’s New PR Course, Part 3: “News Value—Do Japanese People Like ‘Averages’?”

This is Part 3 of Professor Side’s New PR Course.

In the previous installment, I explained that “visuals”
play an important role in “news value,” which is the cornerstone of strategic PR.
This time, I will explain news value beyond “visuals.”
The most familiar type of PR-driven news that does not rely on “visuals” is “data-based” content.

“Data-based” content refers to news built on survey results. Examples include a travel agency’s “Top 10 Overseas Resorts You Definitely Want to Visit,” a food company’s “Most Popular Must-Have Osechi Dishes,” or a financial company’s “Average Amount of Housewives’ Secret Savings.” In this PR approach, companies compile data related to their business based on public surveys and announce the results to the media.

This type of data-based content (also known as data publicity) is unique to Japan.
This is because Japanese people tend to be particular about rankings such as “Top 10,” compare themselves with others, and place importance on “averages.” In other words, this method creates news value by leveraging these characteristics of Japanese people.
Such news is mainly created by PR professionals, who carefully calculate everything from the survey questions to the timing of media exposure. In particular, when it comes to timing, they release it ahead of commemorative days referred to as “○○ Day”—that is, they announce it on dates that are meaningful for the media to report.

In addition, even if television does not cover it directly, it is one of the types of news that is highly likely to be featured in segments within morning and evening infotainment programs that introduce newspaper articles. This is because such programs make it easy to ask the on-air commentators for their opinions.

As mentioned in Part 1, since most online media news consists of reprints of newspaper articles, it is easy to predict that these stories will spread online and on social media as well. The key to data publicity is how to derive results that are interesting and unexpected.

To capture interest in rankings and numbers, “unexpectedness” is a major factor.