The glossy press kit of days past has gotten a lot of ... well, bad press lately. Between email communications, handy media kits on lightweight CD-ROM, and anthrax scares that
have journalists understandably wary of snail mail, PR practitioners and media alike are eschewing the traditional press kit in favor of other methods of disseminating
information.
But is the press kit really a thing of the past? Not as far as luxury vodka brand Stolichnaya is concerned. The editors of PR NEWS recently received a glossy red press kit,
complete with Russian origami (the theme behind Stoli's first ad campaign since it was acquired last year), pop-up flowers and reams of information from Stoli's PR agency, Patrice
Tanaka & Co. We followed up with Judy Musa, VP at PT&Co., to uncover the reasoning behind one of the first traditional press kits we've received in some time.
PRN: Do you think most reporters find a traditional press kit useful or worthwhile these days?
JM: Reporters in the technology sector want just text email releases - no logo. That's coming from the technology world and is now swinging more into the rest of the media
because the technology is becoming more user-friendly, and getting things by email is not as arduous as it used to be.
But feature and lifestyle reporters still seem to prefer receiving hard copy. They keep track of certain subject matters and topics; for example, a food, wine and spirits
writer might keep something like this on file for a future piece.
The way we work is to speak with all our editors frequently and find out whether they prefer hard copy, phone calls, emails. We try to mesh our offerings with their
requests.
PRN: In the case of the Stoli press kit, the company and its promotions/advertising agency (which designed and created the kit) really went above and beyond a folder with a
business card and a few company backgrounders. Tell us a little about creating a press kit that really breaks through the clutter in a way most media kits would not.
JM: The kit was developed to get information to distributors, wholesalers and the people who would ultimately get the product in their stores. So it had lots of specs on
different things. When we came in to do media relations, we said, why don't we use the same piece? It's a visually impactful piece, and it would be more cost-effective. Plus, it
would be a way to talk about the new advertising campaign with the media. Sometimes visual things you're trying to convey may not come across in any other format. Press kits can
be evergreen to some degree, especially if they are chock-full of information on subjects with long-term potential like this one is. (Musa: 212/229-0500 ext. 242, [email protected])