Product Publicity
Product publicity is when an organization attempts to attract public interest about a product that it offers. Publicity falls under the giant umbrella of promotion, which is a component of marketing. Other elements of promotion include advertising, sales promotion, and personal selling.
Product publicity will happen through a planned and organized campaign, often known as a publicity plan, that has be created in order to launch a brand new product or else provide further information to keep continuing interest in an already established product. The publicity plan is aimed at obtaining positive media coverage for an organization's products. The main purpose of product publicity is to inform rather than persuade, but the ultimate goal of product publicity is to promote the product and create interest so that people will buy it.
The public relations team for a company, either an in-house department or a hired agency, is responsible for product publicity. The public relations team, or publicists, wants to make their products look as appealing as possible to the public through the different mass media channels. There are several different promotional tools through which a product can be publicized:
Press Release
A press release is a basic tool for product publicity. It is a written or recorded statement that is issued by an organization and sent to members of the media. The purpose of a press release is to announce a product launch, a specific event, or to promote someone associated with that organization in order to attract the attention of the media. Typically, a press release is mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to newspapers, magazines, radio stations, or television stations.
Press Kit
A press kit, also known as a media kit, is another common tool used by publicists for product publicity. It is an important packet full of promotional materials that help an organization's product get noticed. A business that wants to be well prepared to show its products to the public and project a positive image should have a press kit prepared.
The press kit can range from a basic folder with a press release and business card all the way to an elaborate package that includes photographs, reviews, testimonials, CDs, DVDs, and free samples.
Other Techniques
Other techniques used for product publicity include telephone press conferences, in-house media tours, video news releases, and Internet releases.
Publicists can also try to add excitement about a product by creating their own news surrounding the product. Here are some examples of ways product publicity can be furthered:
- Hold a contest
- Have an exhibition or demonstration
- Sponsor an event
- Arrange a speech
- Conduct a survey or poll
- Arrange for a testimonial
- Present an award (invent one if necessary)
- Stage a debate
- Organize a tour of the company
Product publicity isn't the only type of publicity. Hand in hand with product publicity is business publicity as well as advertising. A smart publicist knows that these three types of publicity complement each other. After a publicity campaign has been around for a while, it becomes old and stale. While product publicity focuses on the product of a company, business publicity focuses on the company itself, while advertising is specific publicity.
An example of this blended publicity in action is if a company launched a new product to the world with the use of the different publicity tools, such as sending out press kits and holding a press conference. Then a few months later after the product campaign, a business publicity campaign, or a corporate campaign, would be launched. This would be a focus on the people behind the product. Also, new positive developments that have occurred since the product launch would be highlighted as well.
Finally, after both of the publicity campaigns have winded down, advertising would begin. The product publicity and business publicity were used to help the public understand and hopefully accept the product. Advertising is used to show off the product, and in return the company, that the public has already heard about. Valuable advertising space doesn't need to be wasted on describing who the company is.
