Does The Press Release Need To Die

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Permalink Reply by Howie Goldfarb on September 22, 2010 at 4:37pm

Yes

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Permalink Reply by Howie Goldfarb on September 22, 2010 at 4:48pm

Damn you won't reply! You want content? Insight? What do you think I am?

I think it died as an Art the minute Technology allowed 1 press release to be sent to hundreds and thousands of people with the click of a mouse.

Press Conferences are a different story. Still art.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Knorpp on September 22, 2010 at 4:54pm

Ha! I said almost the exact same thing on the Ad Age poll comment thread. Nicely played.

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Permalink Reply by Danny Starr on September 22, 2010 at 5:35pm

Of course it does!

Although I come from a mainly marketing background, I have recently starting doing more communications type work and recently picked up a contract doing comms work (my employer has a marketing person). Being obsessed with metrics, I spent some time looking at what kind of juice I got from a recent release and it was really shocking to see that it how ineffective it was. In my head I was like "geez, I hear about how bad this sucks all the time and I can't believe I'm seeing it".

At the same time, I spent as much time I could trying to generate great content and connect with people through social media to get that content out and even though I only spent about a 7 working days doing that, it got more response that the release did. I am going nuts in my head thinking about what I could do with some additional time to REALLY get out and connect. Some smart comms/pr people I know have told me quite blankly that twitter is by far the best tool for developing press contacts and I can't help but think they are right.

My contract is probably going to end in a few more weeks and I'm not upset about that because that's life doing contracts but I am FOR SURE going to drop some serious science on them before I leave about what I was able to accomplish in only a few short weeks using some new thinking in this regard.

The one thing that I also saw first hand is that people really seem to be starving for something that is not the same old boring text they always see. I had some people send me pretty quick and dirty videos/pictures from events I was supposed to promote the result of and I have been really pleased with how often that type of media has been shared/viewed.

So while I would never tell somebody to throw anything out there, I would advise them to consider doing something in video or picture form, even if it has not been shot by an Oscar winning cinematographer, because it is likely to get more response than some run of the mill press release.

Great shows lately as always Bob - keep up the good work.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Knorpp on September 22, 2010 at 5:48pm

A real PR pro once told me that PR is not press releases and events. It's relationships built over time with trust outlets. So if that's the case, PR shouldn't be about promotion at all. It should be about relationships built on the exchange of helpful information.

This is where I see PR going wrong these days. It's become another avenue of promotion. And while yes, PR is supposed to make sure the client's information is noticed, it's being disseminated not through relationships but via business to business direct marketing techniques. There's nothing wrong with direct marketing, mind you. But it's not PR.

I guess my gripe is not so much over the technique of emails blasts. My problem is more with disguising it as useful news, i.e, a press release. It's just disingenuous.

Bob

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Permalink Reply by Paul Jones III on September 23, 2010 at 9:21am

Interesting thoughts! My take from a layperson background is that press releases are nothing more than glorified advertisements looking for validation by news/media outlets. It is my impression that the very people that are sent the press releases, are inundated with them by every 2 bit organization that is looking for promotion. If they would work to build the trust and interact with the recipients of the releases, then the message may get read and acted on. Otherwise, it just goes into the pile with the other 150 press releases announcing fundraisers or other run of the mill occurrences that are sent out daily.

The release is a tool, much like Social Media, Traditional print, radio & television, and other forms. All have to be worked with a personal touch.

Great topic!

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Permalink Reply by Bob Knorpp on September 23, 2010 at 9:56am

Great insight. This endless churning of press releases has become the journalist's version of the junk mail stack in the mailbox. The best PR folks I know don't even trade in a release unless they are asked for it by the journalist or have an ongoing relationship with the journo.

Thanks.

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