Well that didn't take long... Bloggers eschew press releases

A few weeks ago I wrote a post wondering how long it would take for bloggers, now being recognized as legitimate media in -- of all places -- Electronic Design Automation, to crumple in a disgusted heap under the weight of bad marketing techniques from EDA companies.  The answer to that question is: almost immediately.

Brian Bailey posted in his Verification Vertigo on Chip Design August 5 that press releases and marketing practices he is being subjected to are crap and admitted to ash-canning everything he got for DAC.  He stated that only on one FAQ was he able to find anything of real interest and it had nothing to do with the announcement.  He bemoaned to requirement to sign NDAs on information that companies wanted to make public, He gagged on repetitive, unimaginative presentations.  And Harry the ASIC guy agreed with him.

Let me quote Brian directly:

"I don’t care if so-and-so just landed a new customer, or that the latest release of the tool runs 20% faster or has an extra feature that was already available in the competitors tool offering. I don’t care that two tools that were obtained through acquisitions have just been integrated or that the company big-wig will be presenting somewhere. This is all irrelevant information to the blogosphere. Keep giving that to the tradition press – they know what to do with it!"

This is the same issue I've been hearing from the press for 10 years, and what I have been telling clients as well, but to deaf ears.  The only contention I have with Brian's position is the last sentence.  A lot of bloggers without a journalism background believe that the traditional press wants to see all that dreck.  It's not important to them either, Brian.  Nor is it important to the market.  The only people it is important to are the people announcing it.  Most of the time, the "partners" would prefer that nothing was said at all.

So with that in mind, I'd like to welcome the blogosphere to the real world of journalism.  The kind of investigation necessary to sift through the dreck has to be done for free at present. But that is going to change...real soon

Comments

  1. Paula JonesAugust 10, 2009 at 7:23 AM

    But Lou, you just need to hear about our next new product! (Couldn't resist) Wait - the paid journalists are supposed to cover new products - but who's paying for the journalists? Fewer and fewer companies, that's for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. marketingeda.myopenid.comAugust 10, 2009 at 9:23 AM

    Lou,

    When I worked at Mentor in product marketing part of my annual bonus was tied to meeting certain objectives like, "Win three new accounts in the target segment, get customer quotes, and issue a Press Release for each."

    Of course I would first write the customer quote and then ask for approval.

    I find value in EDA press releases when they contain:

    1) Something new and newsworthy
    2) A quote from a top-tier customer
    3) A compelling reason or ROI to use the tool
    4) Pricing
    5) Who uses the tool (ie circuit designer, layout, RTL, etc)
    6) What problem does it solve
    7) How is it different from all other tools

    Daniel Payne
    http://www.marketingeda.com/
    http://www.chipdesignmag.com/payne/
    http://www.twitter.com/marketingeda/

    ReplyDelete

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