Honestly, I didn’t read it. It looked like too much work.

It wasn’t all that long. Just dense, with type.

The release was all of three paragraphs long, because the person who put it together somehow decided that made sense … or there is poison on the Enter key on his or her keyboard and they just din’t want to touch it. The net result was a wall of type, with the first paragraph containing roughly 100 words. Yup, 100.

Sorry, that looks like way too much work to slog through and digest.

Take a look at how most information is presented in modern media, be that magazines or newspapers. The paragraphs are tight and organized by ideas and messages. You don’t have to pile everything into the first paragraph because it’s ALL so important.

Create some rhythm. Write a tight leading paragraph that is enough to grab people and draw them into the message.

Big blocks of type are like walls, and there’s nothing forcing people to climb them when they can just skip on by and read something else that doesn’t look like so much work.

No related posts.

As much as I would like to get on the subway to get over and see it first-hand, I don’t live in Manhattan, nor do countless people who would like to understand what’s really involved with this installation.

If only the PR company had put together simple visuals. It is soooooo easy to take still photos these days and sooooo easy to shoot and post video on Vimeo or YouTube or whatever.

But there’s nothing. The release I am looking at right now is promoting the Olympics, involves four companies, and is running on PR Newswire. And the most a reader can do is download the logo from one of the companies.

It is astonishing to see so many companies waste opportunities and use press and media relations techniques straight out of 1991. A press release IS content, not just a trigger to hopefully get media organizations to produce content relating to the release.

Dumb beyond words. And expensive dumb.

No related posts.

Marketing communications firm pressDOOH has developed a special program intended to help industry firms “tune up” their communications in advance of the many digital signage trade shows and related events scheduled over the next few weeks and months.

The “Message Tune-Up” program is aimed squarely at vendors, service companies and network operators looking to gain some marketing notice before and during such events as ISE, Digital Signage Expo, GlobalShop, NAB, Kioskcom/The Digital Signage Show and ScreenMedia Expo. The program offers quick reviews, recommendations and updates on marketing and press materials for companies heading into the show season, as well as fast turnarounds on newly crafted material.

“I have been going to these events for years, and know at least a couple of things will happen,” said pressDOOH founder Dave Haynes. “Some companies will remember at pretty much the last moment that they need to get out a release or update their hand-outs or mail-outs. So they’ll do it themselves and it will look like it. Others will hire a PR firm and get something cranked out that is polished but utterly pointless, because the PR writer had no idea about the industry or what the audience was actually interested in.”

pressDOOH is temporarily relaxing its minimum engagement policy for clients as a way to help a wider range of clients who don’t need a full communications program for the  shows, but do need two or three hours to get their material reviewed, tweaked and polished up by a fresh, experienced set of eyes. The most effective material for distribution is work that is clear, concise and relevant to the targeted readership.

“I think it would be refreshing change for everybody in the business if the big blitz of press releases and marketing materials that’s about to start was characterized by substance, effective messaging and far less hype,” said Haynes. “This industry is now at a level of maturity that the target audiences are knowledgeable and a little jaded. Their tolerance for BS gets lower every year.”

pressDOOH is a copywriting and marketing strategy firm working specifically in the digital…

It was nice to sit down this morning and read my services were cited as one of the Best of 2009 in the industry.

We don’t necessarily ‘grok’ (i.e understand) all the consultancies popping up all over the place or even figure out how they will all stay in business. There’s a lot of unemployed people looking for a new ‘gig’ and perhaps consulting looks like an easy option- we wouldn’t necessarily recommend many of them either but there is one place that we do throw work and that’s in Burlington just outside Toronto. That’s the home / work office of David Haynes who has made writing a press release an art form. When PressDOOH has written or massaged a press release the job of journalist is made so much easier. If only more people used his services.

Thanks very much Adrian and crew for the kind words and recognition. I have only been doing this since the summer 0f 2009 but the response has been very strong. Many companies seem to put little value in effective communications, and those that do reap the benefits of copy that people will actually read and fully understand.

I already have clients as far away as India and do much more than press releases (I am writing a book for one), but always eager to take on new work.

No related posts.

The B2B Technology Collateral Survey of American businesses was done with more than 500 technology-purchasing decision makers and it confirmed, Marketing Charts reports, “that sales materials of any kind – white papers, case studies/sale sheets, podcasts, videos, product brochures and data sheets – are most frequently consumed at the beginning of the sales cycle – before a company ever invites vendors to participate in an RFP.

Collateral subsequently is used less frequently as sales relationships evolve, the survey found.

Additional survey findings:

- 77% of respondents say they’d read at least one white paper in the last six months, with 84% of them rating white papers as moderately to extremely influential when making technology-purchasing decisions.
- Nearly half (49%) of respondents say they had watched a vendor’s video while considering a technology purchase, up from 20% in 2008.
- Collateral is more viral than ever: 89% of respondents say they share white papers with others, while 85% share case studies, 81% share brochures or data sheets; 80% share podcasts; and 79% share video.
- People prefer to consume collateral from their desktop: Only 1 in 4 surveyed even print out an online document.
- Data sheets and brochures are considered least influential written collateral but were also the most consumed type, indicating they are still valuable “table stakes” in helping solidify a brand’s product messages with potential buyers.
- Podcasts are, when compared with other types of collateral, among the least influential; Case studies – preferably thoses that are written – are gaining in influence.”

The report also indicated that good writing really matters.

“Some 86% of respondents felt that high-quality writing was at least moderately influential and 51% ranked good writing as either very or extremely influential. By contrast, poor quality writing was the most frequent reason respondents gave for decreasing the influence of a white paper.”

This is, of course, all quite lovely to read, given that I do things like white papers and case studies for clients. BUT, as you…

On one hand I am happy to read people are hiring again, as there is no shortage of people looking for work and that’s not going to change for a while. On the other hand, big whoop.

Press releases by software development companies that are well-established in the space are warranted when a big name is attracted and hired in. Someone who makes readers think, “Oh, well look at that …” It is warranted when a senior or thoroughly strategic position is filled.

It is not, however, warranted when the hires are support staff and back-office folks who do good work, but will provoke no more than a shrug from the industry or clients. Press releases like that, inadvertently, make people wonder if there is much really shaking around the place, if that’s the only thing they’ve got for making some hay.

If it ain’t news, it ain’t news, and some bot news portals picking it up verbatim doesn’t make it anymore so.

No related posts.

Here’s a case of PR that is pretty well executed, albeit in a highly conventional way, but misses the opportunity at hand.

PlayNetwork is a Seattle-area company in the business of blending audio and video to create an overall experience in a retail environment – something that I believe is a huge growth part of this digital signage sector. Many chains have audio entertainment and messaging. Not that many, yet, have video. Very few have the two working seamlessly together. The guys who do that well, and reduce the overall offer down to one vendor, one bill, one throat to choke, are on to something good.

So we have Play announcing this week it’s people have deployed PlayNetwork’s Serenade Service to deliver music and messaging content in all of the Dickey’s Barbecue Pits around the US.

The original Dickey’s opened in Dallas in 1941, with a simple goal – “Serve barbecue so good people will crave it.” By harnessing the power of Serenade’s user-friendly and secure web-based interface, Dickey’s embeds that timeless mission into the music and promotional messages that play in all sites. These promotions, narrated by Roland Dickey himself, bring the heritage of Dickey’s to each individual location. Dickey’s also uses the Serenade tool to control their messaging on-hold content, extending its brand experience beyond the lease line to fans placing phone orders.

The release says the deal enables Dickey’s to serve up a uniquely Texan taste, smell, feel and sound.

To complement the popular Texas barbecue menu, PlayNetwork designed a music concept deeply rooted in Americana, mixed with a hefty dose of classic Southern rock, blues, and boogie-woogie, a Texas-style Western swing. There is no mistaking the Texas roots of Dickey’s Barbecue after listening to this home-grown collection of songs. The sounds reverberating through the restaurants are as distinctive as the taste and smell of Dickey’s Signature Beef Brisket – it’s down-home Texas barbecue.

Great. Sounds very cool.

And as a blogger who might even write about…

BUT, if I did, pulling the text out of PDF files is a pain in the butt, and depending on the way the PDF is formatted, possibly a giant pain in the butt. Couple that with images that look very nice in the PDF file, but now have to be grabbed via screen capture and then fiddled with in some image edit software.

By putting something out that looks polished and pretty, you have created a bunch of irritating extra work for editors. On a busy day, they might not bother dealing with your stuff because time is limited.

If you insist on sending a PDF, send it as an attachment and have all the text in simple, unadorned text form in the email message body, and send images and logos as attachments.

Make it easy and you will get better results.

No related posts.

Don’t. Just don’t.

It’s meaningless to most people, but all the wrong people will jump all over it and make all the wrong hay with it.

No related posts.

It is one of the world’s most recognizable icons and companies like to include it when referencing clients. I would imagine this is interesting for the retailers who see maybe a dozen software companies for show and tell sessions, and start wondering how all these guys could ALL be working with McDonald’s.

Well, they are … in a franchised location or group here and there. Whether the main office approved or even knows about the screens is another matter.

This also happens in press and marketing materials, and it is something that makes editors a little crazy. Barnaby Page of UK-based Screens.tv calls it “scale by association.”

“A few people are guilty of sending out releases that imply they are, for example, rolling out to a retailer’s whole estate when in reality it’s only a trial in a few branches. Don’t tell me SupaPharm has 865 stores. Tell me how many the screens are going into,” explained Page.

If it is a pilot, congratulations. It may lead to something. But be honest and indicate it is indeed a pilot. If it is a local franchisee going rogue on head office, and the press and marketing materials imply there is more to the deal than there really is, be prepared to get slapped around.

This happened to a rather larger technology provider this year, when a small job was trumpeted loudly as a rollout.

Lionel Tepper of Digital Signage Universe, in the wake of that one, went so far as to introduce a new editorial policy:

While we expect a certain amount of embellishment in a press release, we also expect that it will be accurate. It seems that some companies have been pushing the envelope on their facts in an effort to gain attention and market share. At a time when we are all looking to raise the profile of the industry, none of us can afford to have our credibility damaged. Credibility matters—yours and ours.

We recently carried a release…