A Student's View: Press Releases

By Erica Wenham, Friday 01 March 2013.

Overall, conducting a launch event to introduce a new product to the industry is extremely effective. An organisation can earn an innovative reputation and stand out above competitors if the event is successful. It helps the company to reach its target market in one instance rather than spending thousands of pounds on advertising to an audience not as specific. In the ever changing market, the event launches a “positive and exciting product on the business community” (perfectionsquared, blogspot, 2009). Additionally, the importance of a well-planned campaign lies in “integrating various aspects of marketing communications and ensuring a consistent core message to all stakeholder groups” (Masterman and Wood, 2005, p.7). Generally, this can increase customer value and competitive advantage. One way to help achieve this is via press/news releases. The news release helps to front the overall campaign and develop reader interest. However, a study has shown that 97% of news releases are binned and unread due to various factors, shown below.

To avoid this from happening in a given business situation or news release creation, a successful press release worth being published should follow “The 5 C’s” in order for it to be eye-catching, interesting and newsworthy for the reader(s) and the media;

CLEAR Logical and Accessible.

CONCISE Shortest Path with Fewest Words.

CORRECT Correct Spelling and Grammar.

COMPLETE Well Rounded and Appropriate to readers’ needs.

COMPELLING Convincing/Gripping, Focus on one/two key messages and repeat.

A successful news release should “get the news angle, to the point of the story, in the first couple of paragraphs” (Foster, 2012, p.113). It is essential that the initial two paragraphs of the release clearly outline what message the company is trying to put across; if it is not striking enough, the audience will not read on.

According to Bivins (2005), if a carefully-crafted news release follows this concept, it can “maximise exposure for the company, grab attention of potential consumers, shape perception and achieve retention”. 

This tactic is particularly useful “to gain as much publicity as possible in order to put the product at the front of the consumer’s mind and differentiate from its competitors” (Franklin et. al, 2009, p.54).

The tone and style of a news release makes all the difference between success and failure. Foster (p.212, 2012) emphasizes “put your message across in the best possible light, the right tone. After all, that is what public relations is all about.”