Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Questions Or Form To Get Pr Content

Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 5/14/2013 at 8:28 PM ET 500 Points
I've been asked to write some press releases for a company I know. Normally, my work involves getting more involved with a company such that I know a lot of the company and its products, so have a start in understanding what is new or different with their products and who the key players are to get good quotes from. But in this case, they would just like me to do the press releases, so I need to also get this data from scratch.

Once I get the data, I am sure I can do fine. But not sure about the best way to get the data.

Does anyone have a set of questions they use, a form they follow, or similar to guide me to efficiently get the key info I need and to draw out good quotes from the key players?

Thanks in advance.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by Moriarty on 5/15/2013 at 4:11 AM Member
    Without the business playing along you're in a tight corner. If the company in question is Japanese, they are not always candid, which I'm sure you've met before. And that's even when you think they're being candid - only they're not because they're talking to a foreigner.

    So given that you know what the product is, you could do a SWOT analysis of the marketplace it's intended for - and reverse-engineer the results. That way at least you'll have something different to offer people.

    What are your thoughts on this? Or am I missing something obvious, as usual?
  • Posted by sarvavelamuri on 5/15/2013 at 8:41 AM Accepted
    Hi! Sharing with you the questions that we ask for covering PR or proposing a new campaign...hope you find it useful

    Client business and background - who are they and what is it that they want to convey
    ( each article/ press release could focus on different aspects )
    Business and objective
    Who they want to talk to ( their target audience)
    tone of voice (how do they want to say it)-
    the proposition (what is the one thing you want to say)
    the support (how do you justify the proposition)
    Mandatories (things you can’t ignore)

    I also have a suggestion..why dont you propose an interactive kind of forum in the local media. Ie..depending on the nature of their business they can brand themselves as 'experts' in the field and can have a weekly column with redears/ listeners asking questions related to their product/ service.

    Good Luck!

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 5/15/2013 at 12:12 PM Member
    Unless the person you're talking with is comfortable being asked specific questions (with an eye towards being used in a marketing piece), it's better to ask them to tell you the story of how they chose the product/company, what they discovered/learned, and how it's changed their (business') lives. A good story is much more powerful than a simple quotation.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 5/15/2013 at 12:20 PM Author
    Company is not Japanese, and they will provide info. Just looking to line up the questions to ask up front (and hoping for ones like what sarvavelamuri provided) so I can make the info gathering section of the project much more efficient.

    I am sure I would get the info if I just worked through on my own, but knowing what sort of questions other ask will help me be much more efficient about it (and make me look much better!).

    Thanks for the early responses.
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Advertising/PR)