Rehame writes new chapter in national monitoring

NATIONAL media monitoring group Rehame has expanded its service to encompass print media nationwide.

Australia’s size has often posed a problem for print monitoring, especially when issues are played out in regional publications.

Until now the group has kept its focus on the electronic media, where it has developed an effective and speedy delivery service for clients, according to Rehame general manager Nick Hayes.

Rehame never previously became involved in print because its focus was on developing a superior delivery system for electronic media. The challenge in the print media monitoring game was to get clippings from publications, often based in remote regional areas, out to clients quickly and efficiently, he said.

“The national print media is quite easy to monitor, but it often takes [print clipping services] three to five days to get a regional press clipping,” Mr Hayes said.

“Our plan is to deliver the [regional] article on the day of publication.

“That’s what our electronic clients said they would need.”

For clients, the speed of their print monitoring service determines whether a company or individual has time to respond to important community issues, he said.

“Especially when we’re talking about weekly regional publication. If the client doesn’t get the article until up to five days later there’s no chance for them to respond before the next publication.”

Rehame has taken advantage of its existing network of electronic re-porters to provide print media monitoring,

A number of new staff has been put in place in regional WA.

“On a national level it has included about 45 new members of staff,” Mr Hayes said.

“The advantage for us is that the people who read the papers, because they live in the area, also monitor them for us.”

Rehame is adamant the print media service is more than just a press clipping service.

The electronic delivery system central to its electronic media monitoring is an important feature of the print service.

“The electronic delivery is very important to us,” Mr Hayes said.

The service Rehame offers provides clients with a brief synopsis of stories via e-mail. Clients are then invited to choose which clippings they require.

“Clients were saying to us that they were getting too many articles that they didn’t want,” Mr Hayes said.

“With our service they can read through the summaries and save money because they’re only choosing the articles they need.”

The venture into print media means Rehame is now a full service agency that provides benefits for the staff as well as clients, Mr Hayes said.

“This has been almost two years in the making and the design of the product has been undertaken over many months,” he said.

Rehame intends to broaden its print service to encompass magazines and trade publications in the not-too-distant future.

“We also have associations with monitoring companies around the world, so clients can access publications from anywhere in the world,” Mr Hayes said.