Press kits used to be a simple matter of some smart-looking file folders and well-written material. Today, though, that once mundane delivery unit has become increasingly important. In our environmentally-conscious world, the ditto machine has gone digital and some major industry events have even banned paper press kits entirely! Instead, we rely on DVDs and flash-drives of all shapes and sizes to ensure our friendly editors have what they need to write about our clients.
Next week will bring the annual PhotoPlus Expo, the largest photo imaging trade event of the season. With so many digital imaging brands on our roster, it is a date marked on many calendars throughout the Matter offices. So, as we are making preparations for our clients at the show, some colleagues and I ended up talking about the next evolution of the press kit. From folders of printed pages, to a simply digitized version of that folder….what comes next…and after that?
In my mind, the traditional press kit is almost unnecessary. The ability to simply load all of your media collateral onto the company website and make it available for download seems to be simple enough. So, the true value of the press kit is as a leave-behind, a reminder of how your client is changing the way we do something…share images online, reduce our carbon foot print…build a better wrestling turnbuckle…it’s all important stuff and we want to stand out from the hundreds of other brands telling similar stories of innovation.
So, the question becomes, how do you craft a press kit that delivers the necessary information while being memorable in its simplicity, and still continuing the trend of smaller, easier, more accessible material? Here are a couple of the ideas that came from our impromptu brainstorm.
Zach: “Why not just offer iPods with all the files loaded on, maybe you turn the collateral into a video deliverable. Then when the iPod is plugged in it synchs all the data to the computer.”
While this achieves the goal, I was reminded that iPods are sooooo 2001…and they still cost a little more than a flash drive. Plus, auto-synching data to someone else’s computer could be frowned upon….”I’m just gonna leave some unwanted data right here for you til you need it…okay.”
Kristin: “If you use a QR code, a simple scan of the code and you have the online media kit in your bookmarks.”
I like it, but I think the QR codes are not as widely used by consumers as we’d like to think. Plus if the editor doesn’t have a reader app, it could take an extra few minutes to install, time they may not have.
Andy: “You gotta Bump it! We already trade contact info with a simple bump of the smartphones, so why not press release, pictures and video?”
I think he’s right. This is quick and, unless you’re Jim Harbaugh, usually painless. Again, its dependent on everyone have the right app though.
These are some great tech, okay mine was not so great, solutions to the questions, but I still think there is value in some sort of deliverable that stands out of that tchotchkes menagerie. So, ponder on, faithful reader and post your thoughts in the comments.