I'm a web strategist and aspiring know-it-all with a passion for all things digital. I've worked in PR, advertising and not-for profit industries, and now I run a creative agency. These are the things I think about, and am sometimes compelled to write. More...

If you listen hard, you can hear the high-fives

Aug 01 2007
2

After reading the Bad Pitch Blog for so long, it’s nice to see something like this on a journalist’s blog.

But kudos to 5wpr and its client the Hanger Network for crafting a great lead to tout the EcoHanger:

‘No wire hangers…ever!’ Joan Crawford was a woman before her time in the 1981 cult classic Mommie Dearest. These days, she would be happy to know that people share her thoughts on the wire hanger and are finally starting to do something about it.

Because they were kind enough to entertain me, I’ll share with you the second paragraph of the release to tell you what the product is all about.

I’m sure whoever wrote that release is over the moon, despite the fact that they’re still stuck hawking coat hangers.

A little creativity goes a long way with reporters who read about synergy and crap like that all day long.  One of my favourite things about my job is the fact that I can be as creative as I want with our press releases, and it always seems to get approved, regardless of how ridiculous it is.

Frankly, that’s always been my problem with the SMPR.  I like it in theory, but its just-the-facts format seems to neuter the ability to be creative with the release.  Of course, for most brands and clients, this works… I’ve always preferred the creative latitude of the regular format release.  I guess I’m an ad guy trapped in a PR guy’s body.

  • http://www.pr-squared.com Todd Defren

    Ryan, the SMNR is a *template* – use what you like, but always feel free to change it as you see fit. You can use the narrative format but still incorporate plenty of 2.0-era concepts (e.g., enabling comments and trackbacks, adding a Digg button, etc.) :)

  • http://www.ryananderson.ca Ryan

    Todd – don’t get me wrong, I’m a believer in the social media news release, and I’ve used variations for a few campaigns. The point form format works very well for some things… obviously not everything requires extra ‘zazz to get headlines. It’s just the only thing that I go back and forth on.