Competing for Coverage: Dodging Clutter

Two companies of about the same size make announcements of about the same importance to the industry. One gets major upfront news coverage (maybe page one, maybe a big story toward the front pages inside), the other gets only a paragraph mention in a roundup, or a tiny story deeper into the publication. If the news is the same, what makes the difference? It's what we call dodging the clutter.

The space race.

There are two factors that can affect the fortunes of otherwise-equal news stories: the space that's available in an issue and the degree to which other stories are contending for that space.

Space available.

The amount of space that's available for editorial matter in a particular issue of a publication is called its editorial well. For most publications, the size of the editorial well varies from issue to issue, with perceivable annual trends that may be indicative of trade show or sale cycles. The most direct determiner of the size of the editorial well is the number of pages of paid advertising running in the issue; generally, publications keep the ratio of advertising to editorial fairly constant and grow or shrink the total page count accordingly. At trade shows, for example, where advertising sales tend to run strong, editorial tends to have a big well to fill - which may help explain the oversize trade show issues you're used to seeing.

Competition.

At trade shows, of course, most exhibitors have new goodies to show, and are anxious to have trade publication coverage of their big announcements; the volume of press release mail a typical editor receives can easily double. With so many stories clamoring for attention - even with a bigger well - two things happen: story coverage gets shorter, and lesser news doesn't make the cut. The trade show previews, reports and roundups you see represent an easy way for a publication to cover a company's announcement with as little as a few sentences within a very long piece that may cover scores of companies. If the news is really big, it may get a few column-inches closer to the front of the book; the big-time players, after all, are spending big bucks on media events or whatever else they decide on to jockey for the front-most pages at show-time.

Other sections.

Notice anything about our discussion so far? It concentrates on news. What about the rest of the editorial well? Typically, news has the shortest lead time of all editorial elements, which is to say the quickest turnaround from the event to the story to ink on a page. Such factors as trade shows and press release volume most directly and immediately affect news sections; these things have little or no impact on same-issue features or reviews, and only some impact on same-issue contributed columns or new products sections. One way to dodge the clutter in the news channel is to concentrate on non-news alternatives.

Timing.

Recently, when we discussed trade shows, we mentioned that the best news timing begins the cycle some 8-10 weeks before a target date. Good timing is always the best way to miss bad clutter. Editors talk about having a "slow news week" when there are, coincidentally, few announcements or developments of importance to report. People who do make announcements during a slow news week find their news couched in unexpectedly large stories, placed in surprisingly prestigious positions in the front-most pages of the publication. Whatever the cause of clutter, it is likely ephemeral; once we're smart enough to anticipate it, we can always be smart enough to time news for just before it - and often make it look like competitors are reacting to our announcements.

B, E, A & T.

While most of the clutter effects we worry about are cyclical, the fact is, there's more would-be news than room for it in virtually every issue of every news-carrying medium ever. How do we differentiate our messages from the rest of the pack in a positive way that will break through the din? Think in terms of benefit, élan, avenue and thoroughness to b.e.a.t. the odds.

Benefits.

Our research among editors has told us, consistently, that more than 90% of all releases they get are missing crucial elements (like company or product names, prices, addresses, phone numbers) or are absolutely irrelevant to their readerships. Of the few percent that do cover the basic necessities - the very best of the lot - most concentrate on braggadocio and product features, but very few deal with benefits. The difference between a feature and a benefit is that the product owns the features, the user owns the benefits. Why, from the perspective of the prospective users in the audience of the publication, is the particular announcement significant? What problem does it solve? What ailment does it cure? What peril does it forestall? Releases that address benefits are so rare, and so important to editors, that they almost certainly break through the clutter.

Élan.

Sadly - and often opportunely - style can still outperform substance, in the short term. Release headlines with puns, alliteration, rhymes and other verbal trickery can catch an editor's attention (editors being word workers, after all) long enough to sidle a marginal release into acceptance. We've even had one of our headlines cited on page 1 of The Wall Street Journal - in a short blurb that was little more than the headline - for prestigious coverage of what was otherwise an unremarkable announcement. Dimensional mailings (with some small, unexpected solid item in the envelope) are very effective. We've orchestrated mailings of breakfasts, luncheons, champagne, handcuffs and other unexpected goodies, each tied to the announcement theme, with amazingly good results. Style, sizzle, top-spin, elan, pizzazz - call it what you will, it can work to good effect in helping an announcement, again, neutralize clutter.

Avenues.

There are only a limited number of ways in which news can reach an editor: releases (the most common), business news wires, phone calls (which usually require paper back-up), media events, personal visits, electronic mail and facsimile. The less cluttered a particular avenue may be, the more opportune it can prove as a back door around the clutter, but the more sensitive editors will be to its abuse. We spoke with computer industry gadabout columnist John Dvorak recently about the releases he gets. John says that unless things are really slow, he throws most releases away without even bothering to open the envelope. John also says (and our experience with him confirms) that the best, fastest and most effective way to reach him is MCI Mail. He even shields himself from phone calls by leaving the answering machine on, most of the time. There is no best avenue to reach every editor every time, but adding more avenues to our repertoire is an important approach to countering clutter.

Thoroughness.

Thoroughness can be an important attribute in several activities; its goal in each is the same - to reduce or deter editorial resistance to the message. It involves reaching all the right people at all the right times with all the right information - and those simple overstatements vary so much with each instance that we won't even try to generalize any more than we have.