Re: News Story Pitching - Call & Blab?

From: Gil Lavie <coffee_at_netvision.net.il>
Date: Mon 16 Oct 2000 15:25:47 -0500

ION VITAE <ivitae_at_mail.com> WROTE:
> Do any PR, Marcom & Marketing experts out there have
> any tales & advice on what truly works when pitching
> a story? How about sending a pitch email 1st, then
> calling? Or, is calling not effective, since it takes
> forever to reach the journalist, & they never listen
> unless you're a close contact?

Hi Ion,

I'm not a PR firm but have had quite a bit of PR
experience, esp. in light of our new product lauch.
I'd like to share some of my experience:

1) Journalists are inundated with pitches. Some claim
to receive nearly 200 emails per day.

2) I've found that when the company (not PR firm)
pitches by email, it is more likely to get noticed. We
have a PR firm but I, as VP Marketing, also send some
emails to journalists after having read their related
article. In such cases, the journalists are more
likely to even acknowledge receipt of the email.

3) The Story Angle is very important. Must be creative
here. For example, we're an email program. However,
the inspiration for our concept came from Mission
Impossible. This opened up the entire Entertainment
media for us.

4) I've also found that the media now-a-days is less
likely to cover start-ups or new services. They want
more certain success stories, concluded business deals
etc. Journalists are not as excited anymore to bet
their credibility by gambling what may be to be the
next big thing or a new trend.

5) Overall, the market is really tough and the stock
market situation is definitely reflected on the PR
game.

Gil Lavie
VP Marketing, IncrediMail Ltd.





Received on Mon Oct 16 2000 - 15:25:47 CDT