Six months ago, I would have argued that stories within certain markets are just not ‘newsworthy’. That is, until I started researching and writing press releases myself. As the examples below prove, no matter what your brand, by thinking outside the box there is always a way to come up with an exciting, sharable story.
Cash Strapped Women are Painting their Shoe Soles Red to Get the Louboutin Look for Less
Brand: Homebase
Read here.
When I read this article, I immediately thought ‘SEO’ – the thin data, the tell-tale links to Homebase products – but I had to give the writers points for creativity. The fashion market and home improvement market are not easy to align, yet by tapping into our national obsession with arts and crafts, the writers found a clever way to promote their brand. They even provided readers with instructions to try sole-painting for themselves (using Homebase products, of course).
I’d be very, very interested to see sales figures for ‘Show Stopper’ and ‘Flame’ immediately after the story was published!
Image from Pinterest.
94% of UK Adults Would Rather Live Without Sex than their Mobile Phone
Brand: Mobile phone insurance company
Read here
Funnily enough, many readers seemed to disagree with the findings of this survey (if the Best Rated comments are anything to go by) – but whether or not it’s true, the story created a huge amount of links, shares and interaction.
Mobile phone insurance might not seem like an immediately exciting topic – but by finding a provocative angle and acquiring unique data by running a simple online survey, the brand managed to spark a debate around the question, “what would you give up for your phone?”
Getting Back at your Ex – By Getting Surgery
Brand: Cosmetic surgeon
Read here.
I wish I could say this billboard wasn’t real…
Normally, a story has a window of just a few days before it becomes ‘old news’. Yet in this example, the writer revisits a survey from 2011 and uses his status as an industry expert to refresh and build on it, making it new and interesting today.
The cosmetic surgeon tells the story of ‘Carol’, a recent divorcee approaching him for ‘revenge surgery’ to make her ex jealous. He goes on to estimate that such patients represent 20% of his clientele.
While the 2011 survey focused on the post-divorce cosmetic surgery trend, this writer goes a step further to examine the reasons behind the trend, providing a unique perspective and all the while promoting the quality of his surgery (‘The corners of her eyes were slanted upwards, like a cat, and her eyebrows were overly arched, resembling Mr. Spock… “Well, because you wouldn’t operate on me, Dr. Youn, I went to a different doctor.”’)
Takeaways
- Be creative and look for opportunities to ride the wave of the latest trends
- Unique data – especially when the results are surprising – is a strong foundation for a story
- Use your expertise to add to the existing dialogue on your subject
These three examples prove that whatever your industry – whether it is home improvement, mobile phone insurance or even cosmetic surgery – there is always a story to tell.
