Comments on: Are PR people boring or just bored?

By: Four steps to better press release optimization

Four steps to better press release optimization — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:45:26 +0000

[...] really don’t like press releases. So when Portland-based search engine marketing firm Anvil Media posted something about press [...]

By: Journalists will reward humor in PR

Journalists will reward humor in PR — Fri, 28 May 2010 22:02:39 +0000

[...] 3. Journalists are desperate for press releases or pitches that exhibit some originality. [...]

By: Andrea

Andrea — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:45:16 +0000

The news release writing process is very monotonous to a PR practitioner, so yes, I agree that adding a little creativity and humor with the work would be an excellent way to grab attention. Like you said, people should sell their writing and ideas via press releases, in the same way someone tries to sell a product face-to-face with an interested buyer. We’re humans, not robots! It’s okay to design your press release instead of forcing it to fit a formula.
The only thing I would have to say is to watch how creative you get with it. Press releases are serious business for PR practitioners as well as the companies. Too much humor or creativity may lead to confusion. However, as long as it conveys appropriate information, I don’t see how humor could affect anything. Journalists can have humor in their column, why can’t PR practitioners have it in their press releases?

By: Carrie

Carrie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:32:16 +0000

I’m glad to see some of the comments here. Yes, we were taught to give just the facts in a press release — that we could have some fun with the headline to try and catch the eye of the journalist — allowing the journalist to be creative — that journalists don’t want to be told how to write. Today, as many have said, you have to find a happy medium. What a PR person can do is follow up and help the journalist understand why the factual, and, as you say boring release, should be written.

By: This van was a rockin’ and people came a knockin’

This van was a rockin’ and people came a knockin’ — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:44:25 +0000

[...] long ago I wrote about the boring press releases from this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. And just when I thought all hope [...]

By: The Guhmshoo Gallery

The Guhmshoo Gallery — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:10:03 +0000

[...] at CES – Exciting show, boring [...]

By: Humorwire: A Creative PR Playground

Humorwire: A Creative PR Playground — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:05:50 +0000

[...] on the feedback from last week’s post, one thing appears to be clear: PR people want to be funny and creative but sometimes their clients [...]

By: Kathy Klotz-Guest

Kathy Klotz-Guest — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:17:42 +0000

Sad, but true. Clients say they want to be different and stand out, and yet they tie your hands creatively. It’s completely false that levity or lightheartedness = less serious. It’s about connecting on a human level with your HUMAN customers. Sadly, and esp. in B2B, companies get scared and revert to the same boring familiar crap. Aversion to a little risk-taking. But fun – not comedy – is not super-risky if done right and the upside is huge! Playfulness is about putting your customer first – it’s completely consistent with what great marketing is about.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:30:08 +0000

So many itches that this only begins to scratch. Unless that’s psoriasis. But some of the issues to look at here:

1) journalists like to say that they are serious and want only the facts. but look at the paper today. how much sensationalist journalism do you see? they have realized that people want to be entertained. even by the news. and they are happy to oblige to sell more papers. (hard to do these days with a “just the facts ma’am approach)

2) we need to remember what a press release was even invented to do. it was created to convey the appropriate information to a journalist to get media coverage. it was created in a time that there really was no other way. now there is. and editorial staffs are much smaller these days. how are you going to get their attention with an inverted pyramid that looks like every other one. (ready to topple by the way… they need a good sturdy base–like an interesting story.)

3) why is advertising considered more creative? because they’ve had to learn to break through the clutter to get their ad noticed. PR is selling column inches in a paper where nothing sticks out. they haven’t had to really compete in the way advertisers have had to. well, guess what? now they do. so let’s see the good story-telling, creativity, and really “earn” your earned media.

4) there are more drama and action movies made in Hollywood than comedies. why? good comedy is hard to achieve and is more subjective than the other forms of story-telling. but if it was easy, everyone would be doing it, right?

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:58:45 +0000

Communication students are taught to use the inverted pyramid style and include only the facts with little personality or excitement. When I first started writing releases post-college I was initially terrified to stray from this style because in school “creative” press releases are condemned. While I now recognize that both styles have a time and a place (SEC releases etc. should probably stick with the inverted pyramid), I think it is hard for those who have more traditional backgrounds to throw everything they have been trained to do out the window. Recent graduates just perpetuate the cycle because they flock to the big firms or traditional companies (before landing at a start-up or somewhere else) where they do things the way they have been doing them for decades which in today’s market is no longer sufficient. In order to change things, we need to start at the beginning and how students approach the basic press release because while pitches are more effective, press releases can and do garner coverage on their own sometimes if they are well done.