IF THIS IS IMPORTANT PLEASE CALL THE OFFICE AT 555-555-5555. PLEASE DO NOT RELY ON EMAIL TO RELAY A MESSAGE. WE DO STILL LIKE SPEAKING TO YOU LOVELY PEOPLE. THANKS.
This and the rest of the poorly crafted press release can be translated like this:
Hi, you don't really matter, so we will send you our mass press release via email. We will also send it to you twice, and the second one will say "Dear Robert" at the beginning. Has anyone ever told you that you look like a Robert? Really, if all the bloggers and journalists changed their name to Robert, it would make our job so much easier. We are also going to assume that since you write one of those cute blog things that we detest but sorely depend on these days for client publicity that you don't personally know both of our clients represented in this email. In addition, we are far too lazy to use a proper business communications tool such as email to talk to you, and feel the need to let you know that email is sooo 2009. Typing in BOLDED ALL CAPS however, is very in. Call us, we won't call you.
I do happen to personally know both of the companies represented and will say that both are fabulous. Unfortunately, neither received coverage on ANY of the wedding blogs within the past month because of the way the blog editors were treated by the public relations firm hired to handle their promotion. Talent isn't everything. How are you, or the people you hire to represent you, interacting with others?
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For millennials, the generation that accounts for more than 70% of today's weddings and the first to grow up with the Internet, technology has done more than give unprecedented access to information; it has physically changed their brains on a microcellular level. What worked in bridal marketing just ten years ago is no longer effective because the way today's engaged couples think is actually different than couples of generations past. In 
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10 comments:
PREACH it, sister!
I am so over receiving form email pitches, and have lost count of the many that come addressed to "mindy" "jane" "jenny".... Anything but "Dana".
Or worse, just To :
Get it together, people.
That's great. Thanks 'Robert' for giving me a laugh at the end of a very tiresome day.
As a PR professional in the wedding industry, I have pitched a few companies only to hear, "I like your style, know you get results, but I can't afford you". What you have described is a perfect example of, you get what you pay for. How sad that two companies who have 'killer products', had their coverage and possible opportunities 'killed' by lack of professionalism.
I can't stress it enough to my clients, after having been in this business for over 14 years that it's about building and taking care of your brand. Every release, even if you know the blogger/editor personally, should be professionally crafted. The one thing I know to be true, "once your reputation is killed, it will cost you twice as much to get it back." In other words, a few dollars spent now, with a reputable PR firm will save you in the end.
Today must be 'take a bad publicist to task day' as Preston Bailey blogged about good/bad publicists as well.
http://www.prestonbailey.com/2010/07/common-mistakes-having-a-bad-publicist/
As a former publicist myself, I am appalled by the lack of professionalism I've witnessed from some PR folks via pitches to my blog. This example (above) should be in a textbook of how NOT to do it. Gives the entire industry a bad rap.
Well said! I can't begin to count the emails that are addressed incorrectly, have really poor grammar and are just generally a deterrent to an otherwise great company.
I honestly got one the other day that said, in parentheses, "list something you like about the blog here."
Um...delete.
So true!! And sadly, even the "well-crafted" press releases are usually terrible. Sending a press release to a blogger seems like just a terrible idea in general - five paragraphs of incredibly dense text with no images? And on a topic totally unrelated to my blog content? Yeah, let me get right on that...
Ranette away, Liene!
As a long-time blogger, I've pretty much seen it all with PR pitches. I can say that, especially in the last year, they're getting worse.
It's also worth mentioning that PR professionals are becoming quite demanding and aggressive. True story: I had responded to a particularly nice press release. They wrote killer copy, they seemed to know my blog well, and they had a product I thought would be of genuine interest to my readers. When I told them I was putting together a post and wanted to ask a few questions, the PR "pro" wrote back with all of the keywords and links she wanted embedded in the post and wanted to "scan the post before publication to make sure it was on message". I killed the post and put the PR firm in my "straight to trash" list.
There are some great PR professionals out there that I enjoy hearing from. Unfortunately, they're not the norm.
Thanks for the giggle, although my mouth opened in shock when I read your reply Khris. I've never heard of such behaviour! That's shocking!
I've actually tried to educate publicists on my contact page, linking them to posts about how NOT to pitch bloggers ... but it never worked.
And if I get one more email from a casting agent looking for free help finding brides to mock on their reality show... AARGH!
My degree was Journalism and PR. It's one of those tough industries to get "professional" experience in because in order to be hired at an agency, you have to have agency experience. And the only way to do that is work at least six months in an unpaid internship.
And then I see posts like these. And replies like Khris.
Do I truly need agency experience to learn how to write a poor press release and badger the blogger to let me read it? No, thanks.
NO journalist will let you read their full copy before it goes to press (or screen?) - you should be able to see your quotes, but that's about it. Why PR "Pros" think they're entitled is beyond me.
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