Battering the Old Press Release: Just tell me a story
Press releases take a lot of heat. Considering that over time, these standard tools of the PR world have proven themselves pretty effective, it's amusing that they continue to be the butt of jokes and constant redesign.
Back in the heyday of the dot-com bubble, you'd see releases loudly touting "paradigm shifts" and "robust, scalable architectures." We've tried to get away from a lot of this overblown writing, but it still gets through.
The latest debate is over the "Social Media News Release." SHIFT Communications has taken the lead on this concept, putting out a template for others to use. Today Search Engine Watch took the template to task for not really accomplishing its goal and Brian Solis fired back.
The problem is, we're debating the wrong issue. The problem isn't the format, its the content of the information we're putting out and determining the true goal for that information. Frankly, unless you're a major corporation like Disney, GM or HP, no one really cares that you just hired a new CEO. You may write a release and put in on your Web site, but do you really need to send it over BusinessWire? And does it really need to be three pages long?
No, we need to learn from bloggers and change our style. We need to start talking conversationally in our tone and attributing information to individuals. We need to write compelling stories, not just make announcements. This takes talent and skill, something many PR firms have in spades.
The most interesting news release I've seen recently comes from Google when it announced Android. What's that? You didn't see the release?
Right, there was none. They put out a blog posting on it. But, this is no less a news release than one formatted in the traditional manner and put on BuseinessWire. It's just a different way to get out information--one that is truly part of the conversation, not trying to push itself into it.
And the best part? It actually worked. Not because it was a blog post, but because it gave people information they wanted in a tone and format that made sense.
In fact, it included this paragraph, which you would normally find in any old press release (though, in the first person):
Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications -- all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities.
Yes, I know what you're saying--Google can get away with a lot more than any small company. And you're right, no Wall Street Journal reporter is eagerly reading every corporate blog looking for tidbits of information. But, we can learn a little more about writing for bloggers here, since the tone of the "release" was truly conversational. This wasn't written from high on a mountain top, but from a person with a voice. You can feel it in the very first sentence: "Despite all of the very interesting speculation over the last few months, we're not announcing a Gphone." In fact, it IS from a person, it's attributed to Andy Rubin.
The bottom line: a release should become indistinguishable from everything around it, not because it looks different, but because the content makes sense and tells a real story.
Posted by Chuck Tanowitz on November 28, 2007 at 7:23 PM
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