Riding the Warhorse

Wednesday November 15, 2006

Some want to party. Others have bigger fish to fry. October 2006 marks the 100th anniversary of the press release, and the PR world is split.

One camp still considers the press release the “warhorse” of the industry. Another prefers to focus on more modern tools of the trade — the World Wide Web, experiential designs, C-level strategy.

The warhorse crowd has it right. If you can’t create a clear, compelling story in 400 words, you’re unlikely to fare better handling the sprawl of a Web site. True, the press release is now just one piece in the PR toolbox. But I won’t hire a carpenter, no matter how many whiz-bang tools he boasts, if he can’t hit a nail with a good ol’ fashion hammer.

While the press release has to adapt to modern times (by employing, for example, Internet-savvy “keywords”), the old challenge of creating a compelling story looms alarmingly large.

Moan and Drone
Cruise a PR wire service and you’ll see what I mean. Much of what’s posted reads poorly, or slinks off into a beige corner to die of blandness. Often, the content seems divorced from the concerns of everyday life, as if the writers and perceived audiences exist in a dimension ruled by abstract corporate-speak.

The press release suffers from the same affliction Katie Couric recently diagnosed in broadcast news. The Perky One told New York Magazine she’d like to deliver “less what I call Newzak, the kind of droney thing that has no relation to normal conversation.”

In a super-stimulating world, the “droney thing” won’t do, on the news or in PR. That’s always been true, but it’s even more important as the PR world expands its offerings and goes head-to-head with the advertising industry — which, whatever its failings, does have a way with words and the compelling creative flourish.

Quality Still Counts
The good news is the market craves quality. I’m happy to report that the best-crafted press release I’ve ever cranked out is also the most successful.

The piece followed a classic feature story formula — real, relatable characters confronting a problem and looking for a solution (which turned out to be our client). But the main copy didn’t mention the client until the second paragraph, and then only in passing. The piece was all about people. And it resulted in a visit and soon-to-be-published story from a national media outlet that competitors would gouge out eyes and sell their kids to cozy up to.

The people we’re pitching want you to inform them, entertain them, excite them, and most of all, to give them something authentic that leads to a big story. Story — that’s the key word. Not “announcement.” Not bragging. Not drone. Story. And every good story is connected to problems, emotions, dreams we all, on some level, share.

Like a Pop Song: Clear, Compelling, Connected
If you think this sounds grandiose for 400 words of copy, you’re right. Once you’ve figured out the problems, emotions, dreams you’ll address, you have to clear out the hot air and bring the ideas back down to earth. Just as in a punchy pop song, the magic is in complexity made simple, grandeur made hummable.

First, break your thoughts down into crisp little sentences. The kind Hemingway would ply with wine and try to marry. Use scenarios grounded in real life. Make them snap with action verbs. Then arrange these sentences to create a forward momentum that propels your reader toward the big idea (which, hopefully, has something to do with your client).

Your biggest ally in creating clear, compelling and connected content is conflict. When you think in terms of opposing sides, it’s much easier to cleanly organize your narrative and craft strong, gripping supporting sentences.

Not long ago, we reported a wrenching conflict about to unfold at an annual event. The lead went like this: “Once deeply rooted in Native American culture, tobacco is not welcome at the 30th annual Indian Unity Conference .... The change comes in response to the fact that the Native American population suffers from the highest death rates of tobacco-related diseases.”

“Once deeply rooted” but now “not welcome.” “Change.” “Suffers.” Conflict. The result was a tidal wave of on-point TV coverage and a major section front story in a newspaper critical to our client.

Challenging the Client
The biggest hurdle to writing compelling press releases, if you take the word of agency folks, is clients who insist on zipping everything up in “the drone.” Still, the agency is on the spot to coach and challenge.

I’ve taken to calling clients who drift toward “drone” and saying, “You know, as it stands now, this press release isn’t going to do a thing for you. At this point, it’s probably a waste of money. Can we go back to the strategy board and look for better ways to put your resources to work?”

Delivered with respect and matter-of-factness, this gets attention, and often an opportunity to do the job right. Clients want to succeed, after all. Then comes the hard part: delivering clear, compelling, connected content.

All of this, of course, has been said before (probably much better). But repetition hasn’t made things right. Perhaps what will is the notion that if the PR industry wants to become the primary means of mass communication for business and other market players, it has to master the demands of its most basic tool. It has to get its stories straight.

Billy Warden is a former journalist and television producer who now runs accounts at the strategic communications firm Capstrat.