How to do trade press. A continuing series
You’d be surprised…
… how often I get press releases or phone calls from agencies about ad campaigns they’ve created where it then comes as a surprise that if I’m going to write about it, I’d need to see the ad.
Tim Burrowes
But Tim, surely 3 or 4 random stills and a bunch of useless narrative is more than enough…
I’ve always wondered why they do that. We have YouTube channels for a reason!
Open on any agency or PR firm.
Boss: Quick call the trade rags and get them to talk about our new ad.
Office junior: This is my first week. How do I …
Boss: No time to teach you. Just do it! NOW!
It’s all pretty much bread and butter stuff really. Most trade mags – well the ones I’ve worked for – don’t give a hoot about the creative rationale and are more interested in the business of advertising. How much is said client spending, where will the ad run and which media companies will benefit, what is their market share, how are sales tracking and can it be better and how much market share can they steal for the competition. Unfortunately most PR companies are unwilling to depart with such info. So in that sense, a couple of fancy stills to attach to the story are fine!