When Press Releases Are Incomplete, Where to Turn?

by lisa ~ May 7, 2009

A new partnership between Microsoft Advertising and Brand Affinity Technologies (BAT), which manages endorsements by sports figures and celebrities, will allow marketers to browse personalities online for use in advertising. Microsoft Advertising’s role is managing the media buying and selling.

BAT’s press release promises that marketers “can easily secure talent and launch national and locally targeted campaigns in a matter of days.” As someone who has spent weeks making phone calls to dozens of talent agencies to price comedians and musical acts and obtain their availability for various corporate events, this service could be a real convenience.

Unfortunately, interested parties are left in the dark because the press release has some serious flaws. Although it says that BAT has existing relationships with thousands of celebrities, it mentions only sports figures. Therefore, the standard “who” portion of a good press release is at least partially missing. As for the “why,” the press release briefly mentions the eye-catching value of well-known endorsers and the resulting higher click-through rates. But when is this service going to be launched? How will advertisers access it? And, most important, how much will it cost?

Let’s hope that some good reporters or bloggers will provide the curious with answers to these most basic questions.

To read the complete press release, click here.

Lisa Tibbitts is a New York-based corporate communications professional with an MBA in marketing. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FinancialPR.