Independents

Ian Skellern
14

• Show profile
• Show other posts

Mea Culpa. And why press releases are (often) as they are.

I wrote the press release for the UR-110 ZrN so please do not blame Yacine (who is still on maternity leave).

And like yourseves, I also dislike the vast majority of press release texts: usually because they either all fluff saying nothing of substance, or they are so boring I lose interest before the second paragraph.

But even for those writers with much more talent than I possess, it isn't easy to write a press release that pleases the majority and it's impossible to write one that pleases everyone. That's because the readership is so diverse.

Until around five years around, press releases generally tended to be fairly dry technical texts designed to supply the facts to the press. Professional journalists then took that basic information and wrote interesting stories in their own style specifically for their own readership.

With the advent of discussion forums (such as this one) and Blogs, press release texts evolved from being information for the professional press to being copy/pasted on websites where they are read directly by the 'end-user'.

In short, press releases now have to be interesting enough to captivate the reader's attention - a reader who is an impatient mouse click from leaving the page - and contain all the information a serious journalist (there are still a few around) may need.

While magazines have a fairly clearly defined readership - country, sex, technical knowledge, etc - so you have an idea who you are writing for, text on the web will be read by all and sundry from an incredibly diverse range of backgrounds, knowledge and interests.

And among the smallest readership constituents - in terms of size, not importance - are those (including myself) who hang out on forums like these.

I welcome constructive criticism and will certainly take some of the comments here on board, but I have to say that the fact that some here are so passionately discussing this press release is no bad thing.  I very much doubt anyone would remember the URWERK 'UR-110 ZrN' is a few years, but I think quite a few will not forget the URWERK 'Champagne Supernova', even if it was because you didn't like the style of the writing.

I thought that the term 'Champagne Supernova' nicely encompassed both the fact that the watch has orbiting satellites and its colour. Only the first three sentences play on that name and try and create interest for the vast majority who don't hang out on watch discussion forums all day.

Thank you for your time and caring enough  - whether you like it or not - to read the press release at all. I often wonder how many actually do read them.

Regards, Ian

Site Info.