Overseeing the Agency Entourage internship program gives me a lot of opportunities to teach and instruct our best practices to marketing and advertising students. Every spring, summer and fall, I enjoy giving students a lot of new experiences. One new experience I did not expect to give was press release writing. With nearly each intern group I encounter the same statement, “I’ve never written a press release.” I can’t help but wonder if less and less professors are instructing students on how to write a proper press release because soon, the press release may be dead. A morbid thought, I know. Surprisingly, brands such as Coca-Cola actually want to kill the press release and have stated that they will by 2015.
Here at Agency Entourage, press releases, primarily digital, are alive and well. We work with several clients on their digital public relations strategy while measuring the results and ensuring their breaking news is reaching every corner of the DFW area.
Diane Schwartz, PR News, doesn’t believe the press release is dead and that it’s simply “misunderstood.”
Diane Schwartz, PR News
“There are millions of companies that need to issue press releases; they state the facts, they announce something important,” said Schwartz. “I don’t see a decline [in press releases] but I do see an issue with poor writing…if you can’t capture someone’s attention in the headline and in the first paragraph, we’re going to be bored. I would say press releases need to be more interesting and engaging.”
Schwartz went on to explain that the reason PR News issues press releases is to add more gravitas to what they’re doing.
“It’s not just for the press, it’s for all of our stakeholders,” Schwartz said. “The press release is just one vehicle that we’re using.”
Using press releases as just one vehicle amongst the many we use for clients is a great way of explaining the Agency Entourage approach. We’d have to side with Schwartz on the issue by saying the press release will continue to live but it will also continue to evolve in the digital landscape. But you tell us: will the press release soon die? Is it dead already? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook!
Ready to discuss your public relations and digital marketing approach with a professional? We’d love to chat. 214.414.3035
