Paul Gourvitz of Gourvitz Communications, a New York video production house, recently solved a tough publicity challenge with a very clever approach. Matchbox wanted to do a video news release about its new toys, R.C. Ripskate and R.C. Radskate. "They were clever toys," Gourvitz says, "but we needed to make the product newsworthy."
Gourvitz and his colleagues interviewed a national skateboard champion, who used the toys to demonstrate safety tips for young skateboarders. With safety as a peg, this became an interesting news story, and, with action footage of an actual skateboard competition, "... the video news release was well-accepted by news producers across the country," according to Gourvitz' account in Playthings.
A good news peg is only the start of effective product publicity. You have to provide solid information about your product. If you say that your product's performance is superior, you have to be able to back it up with solid facts. And, if you can provide data to support your claims from an independent source, so much the better.
Keep in mind that whenever you deal with product claims, you have to conform to Federal Trade Commission regulations, as well as a plethora of state and local laws. It's a good idea to have your lawyer review the copy for all publicity material with product claims. For great tips and advice on how to ensure your work is newsworthy and you can back up your claims see David R. Yale's report "How To Get Free Publicity For Your Products"