Tech PROs should drop the drivel and stand up to their clients Banish ‘corporate bollocks’ for ‘common sense and plain English’ in UK press releases, advises Rainier PR's Chris Lee in a byliner in today's PR Week (sub required).

Does this sound familiar? ‘Unheard-of Company X [NASDAQ: UCOMPX08] today announced the availability of market-leading fault-tolerant 24x7 enterprise solution UNHEARD-OF COMPANY X INNOVATOR to optimize system integration…’

This drivel continues for a 70-word opening paragraph by which time you find yourself lying on the office floor blue-faced with asphyxia.

How can a tech PR professional ‘sell in’ a press release when the US HQ forbids you to anglicise it beyond swapping the odd ‘z’ for ‘s’?

I am an angry ex-journalist who gets driven up the wall by corporate bollocks. Even worse, there are too many UK firms here that appear to want to follow suit.It is the responsibility of the PR industry to educate in-house marketing people that press releases should be designed with the audience at the core, not the egos of C-level executives or channel partners.

Unless you are happy with coverage on www.postyourownturgidreleasehere.com and nowhere else, of course. Any respectable journalist will tell you the same thing.But if the demand is for quality editorial coverage in the UK then PR people must train clients that style and content has to be suited to our media style.

What does a journalist want? A story of interest to the magazine’s readers. Who are the readers? Predominantly tech buyers and professionals. What do they want to know? -Something relevant to their market about how a product or service is going to save them money, improve efficiency and make them look good internally. What don’t they want? Corporate drivel, backslapping and internal promotions.

It is not just about the style, it is about the vocabulary, too. Overuse of certain words, such as ‘solution’, has led to Private Eye dedicating space to firms who offer, say ‘complete glazing solutions’, when ‘window cleaner’ will suffice.

All that is required is common sense and plain English. This is PR, not advertising. We need to tailor comms and stand up to clients, regardless of their home market’s style. Clients can no longer expect us to send out the same old hackneyed, self-serving rubbish and then fall over themselves wondering why little or no coverage appeared. We’re consultants; we’re paid to consult. It’s about time we all did our jobs.

Labels: media, PR

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