By Monica Rosenfeld
I often get calls from entrepreneurs on the verge of launching their business and they often ask me if they should put on an event to launch their brand. Many of them are shocked and pleasantly surprised when I tell them we rarely think it’s a good idea to throw a party/event to capture media attention upon the launch of their business. If they are planning an event for other stakeholders besides media and there are solid business objectives for throwing a party then I say go for it! But don’t do it for media buzz alone. Here are some reasons why:
- Media are time poor – The media receive invitations to dozens of events every day and are not able to attend many of them, as they actually need to spend some time at their desks writing stories. Even if they have the best intentions to attend, a deadline gone awry, bad weather or a better offer may prevent them showing up at your do.
- Content is King – Journalists don’t need to show up to a launch event to be able to or have the interest in writing about your brand. You’d be far better off providing journalists with a strong newsworthy angle linked to your business via email than spending time and money on giving the media free booze.
- Parties are expensive – When launching a business every dollar counts and you should spend wisely. What’s going to give you the biggest bang for buck? When it comes to gaining media coverage, there are far more effective ways to spend your money than on an event.
- Journalists prefer a personalised approach – Journalists want to be the first to publish a story and don’t want to be competing with other media outlets for the scoop. They want to be given a unique angle that won’t be seen in their competitor’s pages.
