Amy Dares Us to Give Up Press Releases

Amy Gahran's blog aint called contentious for nothing. She's daring us to live without press releases...

"What if the press release were outlawed today? What if you’d get burned at the stake if you wrote or transmitted another press release? What other types of documents, channels, etc. would you use to get your communication job done? I dare you to think creatively about this issue."

Amen, sister. I love this. Yes, it's time we question the security blanket we've held onto for far too long - the press release. Some PR people cling to press releases like Linus holds his blue blanket. Now before you go hootin' and a hollerin' , let me say that press releases are a necessary part of our business - for now. However, my feeling is that some PR people rely on Old Faithful too often instead of pushing the envelope. As journalism and marketing evolve into a conversation, unidirectional channels won't work with the same bite they once had.

Back in February 2004 when CooperKatz helped the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) launch their blogs we could have easily sat back and counseled them to stick only with press releases. It was working. But we didn't. We pushed the envelope with blogs. And it clicked. While we didn't give up press releases entirely, the blog certainly reduced our need to use them. What's more, it opened up new avenues for media coverage. One of Dan Jaffe's blog posts was republished in Broadcasting and Cable as a byline. In fact, the editors approached the ANA. Not vice versa.

Now blogging is just one approach. Like Amy says, blogs don't cure cancer. So who's up for Amy's challenge? Let's break out of our doldrums.